EntertainmentMoviesHorror MoviesSpeak No EvilI was dubious about a Speak No Evil remake but having seen it, I now want a whole bunch moreWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
EntertainmentMoviesHorror MoviesSpeak No EvilI was dubious about a Speak No Evil remake but having seen it, I now want a whole bunch moreWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Universal Pictures)
As a big fan of Christian Tafdrup’s jaw-dropping horror Speak No Evil, I’ll admit to being a little skeptical when it was first announced that Blumhouse and Universal were teaming up for a English-language remake. For starters, the original is largely in English anyway, thanks to the central two couples being Danish and Dutch, and secondly, it’s not like they were setting out to bring it to a younger audience, given that the first film was only released two years prior.
While I wasn’t vehemently against the idea like many on Twitter were, I simply couldn’t understand the “why?” of it all. Those doubts started to ease slightly when the first few trailers emerged – and they evaporated completely once I’d seen what Eden Lake helmer James Watkins had cooked up…
The new movie, which we gave a whopping four stars to in ourSpeak No Evil review, is more fast-paced, fun thriller than nerve-shredding bone-chiller, all while basing itself around the same concept: how far would you go to be polite? And it’s made me want several more “reboots”.
A few weeks later, when the pair receive an invitation to come visit from the Felds back home, Louise pushes back but ultimately agrees when Ben argues that it’ll be good for them and their daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler) to get away from the city. What starts out as a peaceful weekend in the country soon turns into a waking nightmare, though, when Paddy and Ciara’s sinister intentions with the Daltons come to light.
(Image credit: Universal Pictures)
I remember when the 2022 version came out and almost every conversation I had surrounding it ended in, “Would you have gone for the weekend? When would you have left? Would you have left?!” I’ll never forget when one friend hung his head in shame and told me in a whisper that he’d “almost definitely die” because he wouldn’t have the guts to get the hell out of Dodge. In short, everyone would – or at least, believes that they would – react differently to the same situation, which suggests that the premise of Speak No Evil is peak material for a franchise.
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“There’ll be people that see the original movie and go, ‘Why hasn’t he remade that movie? Why hasn’t he made this incredibly punchy, unrelenting ending?’ I would argue, with my characters and their journey, I’m following through [on] their journey in terms of agency and how they would react,”Watkins previously told SFX magazine. “What I’ve taken from Christian’s film is the satire, the exploration of the social rules, and how we react.”
Presumably in a nod to its predecessor, there’s actually a Danish family staying at the same Tuscan hotel as the Daltons and the Felds in Watkins’s movie. But due to them being so stiff and boring, the Brits and the Yanks try to avoid them as best they can. It had me thinking that, if things had been slightly different,thatcouple could’ve been the ones that Paddy and Ciara wound up targeting.
Speak No Evil is in theaters now. For more, check out our list of thebest horror moviesever, or our guide to the most excitingupcoming horror moviesheading our way.
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