Supernatural forces using modern technology rarely works for me. Not sure why as, if I can believe a demon in a movie can communicate through a Ouija board, it isn’t much of a leap to have them manipulate computers and cell phones.
In 1981’s Evilspeak, Clint Howard uses an Apple II to decipher an ancient text he found in the basement of the chapel of the military school he attends. That text was that of Father Esteban (Richard Moll, Bull from the original Night Court), a dark ages heretic banished from Spain and who apparently settled in…America? I imagine his boat somehow passes Vikings returning from North America, while Columbus’s ships sail behind his. Anwho, the instructions from the ancient book will resurrect Esteban, who is also Satan, maybe. It wasn’t very clear.
No points for guessing Howard is the very lowest of the pecking order at the military school he attends. I’m sure that type of school is several circles of hell I’m glad I never experienced, yet the one here seems ridiculous. Howard is hated by students and faculty. The soccer coach suggests to the other team members they could injure Howard to prevent him from playing again. The school janitor actually tries to rape Howard.
Only two people aren’t completely repulsive. One is Howard’s only friend, who is also the only black guy at the school. The other is the cook, and I can’t being to tell you how relieved I was when his invitation to Howard to “show him something” was only to show a dog who just had puppies. He gives one of the puppies to the kid. Spoiler alert: things will not go well for the puppy.
The computer soon goes beyond translating text to delivering instructions straight to our protagonist from the other side. I was willing to suspend my disbelief for this, although I’m unable to when a demon face appears on a phone screen in later films. I even accepted the images on the computer screen which are obviously animation, as technology was far too primitive back then to display something of such resolution.
While largely a picture catering to the lowest common denominator, theirs is some wit and humor on display. I especially liked a transition of a decapitated head flying off somebody’s shoulders in the middle ages going straight to a soccer ball arcing through the air in the present day. The transition was well-done and the gag made me smile.
There are some elements here which I haven’t decided are interesting quirks or unnecessary diversions. The school’s porny secretary is an expected staple of the genre, but I’m not sure why we see her amused (aroused?) when Howard is receiving a whipping in the adjacent room. Also, I’m unclear as to why Howard suddenly has super-strength in a scene that only required violence somebody of his build could actually do. Maybe it was explained and I missed it, but I doubt it. Lastly, the ritual requires unholy water, which would be…regular, unblessed water?
Then there’s the pigs. Apparently, pigs are raised on the school grounds which has me wondering if they slaughter their own meat. Then there’s pigs that inexplicably appear in the house of, and devour, the porny secretary in the shower. Odd how Hitchcock opted for stabbing as the means for committing homicide in a shower, when he could have used pigs.
The strangest aspect of Evilspeak is its structure, in that the summoning isn’t successful until ten minutes before the end of the picture, and that’s including the credits. The expected plotline would have Howard complete the summoning and become possessed in the first third, with the final third being a battle to rid him of the demon.
Overall, this is a movie largely too conventional to recommend, but quirky enough to be more interesting than I expected. Fans of supernatural horror could do worse, especially some the film seems to have its tongue planted in its decapitated-head cheek.
Dir: Eric Weston
Starring Clint Howard, Joe Cortese
Watched on Shudder