Blumhouse and director James Watkins should be ashamed of themselves. This American remake of Speak No Evil goes against everything the original succeeded at and turned it into a happy bullshit Christmas gift in the end. What a waste of McAvoy’s talent in this horrendous piece of remake garbage that should be thrown out and burnt to ashes. There’s not one redeeming element in this remake and only destroys those perfect, brutal pieces that make the original Danish film so memorable. But ultimately, Blumhouse has produced another turd of a film that will be forgotten in a week’s time.
That original Danish film and its director must be rolling over in their graves with this new take on the film that dares to call it a remake. Only two years ago was the original version released and it was met with rave reviews for its raw, visceral carnage that takes a left turn after its first act seems awkwardly funny. This remake has none of that and completely changes the course of the story in its final 30 minutes becomes a farcical, rote climax that has been seen a million times with no consequences or tension. It’s as if Blumhouse and director James Watkins wanted to make an alternate version of the film, void of any grit or horror, and gift-wrapped this alleged horror movie into a family-friendly ending that pays no respect to the original material.
Speak No Evil follows a couple with their 12-year-old daughter in town as they bask in the glorious views of the beautiful European countryside on vacation. They meet another couple with a child at their hotel and begin a friendship with them. About a year later, the family visits their new friends where a creepy Seinfeld episode plays out for the bulk of the film. The societal norms and what’s acceptable when visiting someone are all scarily thrown out the door in Speak No Evil. James McAvoy’s character seeming welcomes his new guests into his house, however, when he berates his child in a ferociously abusive way and forces his guests to eat meat when they are vegetarian is truly unsettling. However, his character is so charismatic and has an answer and reply for everything that seems like everything is on the up and up. As time goes on, it becomes apparent that this couple and their young child are anything but nice, but truly evil.
In the original film, these elements are played out in a truly horrifying way with subtle actions that mix with sudden bursts of raw carnage and blood. But here in the remake, there is none of that horror. It relegates itself to a home invasion movie of the worst kind where each suspenseful moment can be seen coming a mile away and has virtually no gore or visceral moments of violence that the first film had. Plus what was so scary about the original movie was how harrowing the ending of the movie was, whereas this remake is the epitome of a Disney Pixar film – and that’s the horrifying thing about it. McAvoy is fun to watch as the coked-up version of the previous character, however, he is never truly allowed to set loose his maniacal side, even though he is itching to go all the way.
This version of Speak No Evil doesn’t even have the craziest scene that made the original movie so memorable. It’s all lost in this remake and again, NBlumhouse and director James Watkins should be completely ashamed of themselves as artists and filmmakers. What a shit show and waste of a movie. Skip this movie and watch the original. It’s the only way.