31 Days of Horror: Scream & Shout! Day 15

Evilspeak (1981)

What's It About?

Stanley Coopersmith (Clint Howard) is an outcast who is mercilessly bullied by the other kids and adults at the military academy he lives in after the tragic death of his parents.  When Stanley is ordered to clean out the church basement he stumbles on a secret room where a satanic conjurer kept his alter and books.  With the help of a computer, Coopersmith begins casting spells and preparing a ritual to summon a demon.

Is It Any Good?

Have you ever wondered what 976-Evil would be like if it were a good movie?  Wonder no more!  Evilspeak is a darker, meaner, and more bleak tackling of the same type of material, though it trades in 976-Evil's satanic 900 number for a satanic computer.

This is not the sort of movie that could ever get made these days.  It's a really slow burn of watching Coopersmith's classmates all treat him awfully, hurt him, take his things, break his things, and ridicule him.  This all plays into the finale where everything goes off the rails and there's head chopping and pigs devouring people everywhere.  Evilspeak is essentially a Satanic Panic school shooting movie.

Of course it made sense at the time, outcast kids didn't lose it and start murdering their classmates often back then so it was fine having a movie where only a couple characters don't have it coming to them and the protagonist is some pure sad-sack kid who is bullied to the point of snapping.  There's no moral greyness to Coopersmith's journey like there is in a lot of movies like this, what happens seems like the only option.

You'd be forgiven for thinking this is another cheesy Clint Howard horror filme like The Wraith, Ticks, or The Ice Cream Man but it's none of those things.  Clint Howard brings his a-game to this role and instead of a sweaty weirdo he's a decent kid who can't catch a break.  There's real thought and emotion put into this film and watching the events unfold is tragic and upsetting.  Even if you're bored of the movie just stick with it for the end, it's worth it.

Watch, Toss, or Buy?

Definitely buy this.