Horror fans may not want an English-language remake of Speak No Evil, but the trailer teases a different ending that could make it worthwhile
Apr. 12, 2024Will the remake go a little further?
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Inthe footage, we see an American family meet a British couple (James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi) and their child whilst on holiday, but when the Brits invite their newfound friends over to their country home, the guests soon realize that their summer pals are not what they once seemed. The teaser is incredibly chilling, with a terrifying McAvoy embodying the most unhinged father figure - but the issue is, it’s exactly the same as the original.
Directed by Christian Tafdrup, the original movie follows a Danish family who visit a friendly Dutch family they met on vacation months earlier, but their reunion turns sour when they realize the holiday friends they made are not all they seemed to be. Sound familiar? With the two movies appearing to be seemingly identical, horror fans have been asking themselves if there is any point to a remake.
What’s the point?
From the trailer alone, it looks as though the Speak No Evil remake, directed byThe Woman in Black’s James Watkins, follows the exact same premise, only swapping out the unsuspecting Danish family for Americans and the villainous Dutch family for Brits. Even worse, it’s even shot-for-shot identical at times! Also, a lot of the tension from the original comes from the fact that both families speak different languages, causing greater separation and rivalry between the two, one that may be hard to achieve in the English language remake.
Worse yet, the remake’s trailer gives away major plot points for the original, including the cut-out tongue of the British couple’s young son. It seems as though horror fans have picked up on this too, asone tweeted:“So.. the Speak No Evil trailer is just the entire movie huh!” Another added, “The fact that they showed all of the things that made the original Speak No Evil so scary, in this trailer for the remake, is so disappointing.”
However, although the remake looks like a shot-for-shot retelling of the original, we have to remember that the film is coming from Blumhouse, the same production company that brought usGet OutandInsidious. So, maybe the filmmakers have something a little different up their sleeves with this one, that they didn’t show in this trailer… the ending.
It seems bizarre that Blumhouse would remake a movie two years after its release, and then give away the whole plot in the first trailer. But this may be the point - are they telling us what happens already because they are going to switch up the ending?
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For now, it seems a little premature to judge the upcoming flick based on just the trailer alone, but with McAvoy and Blumhouse behind the project, I don’t think we should expect a straightforward remake from Speak No Evil.
Speak No Evil hits theaters on September 13. The original is available to watch on Shudder now.
For more, see our list of thebest horror moviesto add to your watchlist, or keep up to date withupcoming horror moviesheading your way this year.
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