Dissimilar remake

Blumhouse’s latest strike at upping the fear quotient, ‘Speak No Evil’, is largely a straightforward lift of Christian Taldrip’s 2022 Danish horror thriller ‘Gaesterne’. The only difference in the remake is that it ends on a note way too dissimilar from the original that it feels rather alien to what came before it.

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Writer-director James Watkins’ narrative focuses on a needy friendless couple, Americans Ben and Louise (Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis), who are vacationing in Italy with their 11-year-old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler).

They are more than ready to welcome the overtures of Paddy (McAvoy), his wife Ciara (Aisling Franciosi), and mute son Ant (Dan Hough), and their subsequent time spent together brightens up the holiday mood. So, when Ben and Louise, struggling to cope after their relocation to Europe, get an invite for a weekend at Paddy and Ciara’s farmhouse, they immediately accept.

We see Paddy’s farm from a height and it isn’t a pretty picture. The insides are no better. Shabby artworks, dirty blankets and the lack of amenities come as a rude shock for Ben, Louise and Agnes. Agnes is even expected to share a bedroom with Ant, while Paddy’s behaviour sends out warning signals right from the word go.

Paddy’s perversity comes across when the couple find themselves becoming the butt of his uncomfortable jokes. The prolonged build-up of bleakness is beneficial in generating the ‘horror’ sentiment. The invitees fail to object to Paddy’s boorishness due to politeness, at first. The tension builds up as Ben and Louise initially suppress their fight-and-flight response and then try to make a break for it with their daughter.

The film also plays out like a dark comedy of a marriage coming apart when exposed to extenuating external circumstances. The eerie, tense atmosphere changes to a wild one where Ben has to end up awakening his machismo. McNairy does a good job going through angry, leaden and desperate phases when faced with Paddy’s alpha male masculinity.

As a director, James Watkins manages to generate incrementing tension. It’s the third act that fails this otherwise exciting horror thriller. The obligatory action-packed third act is quite a letdown after all that effortful build-up. The entire cast manages to eke out a dramatic impact just by playing out its fears and dysfunctions.

This remake comes only two years after the original’s release, yet it manages to score well on the horror scale.

Watkins’ film pays homage to the original while justifying its own existence through a very messy finale. It takes a left turn away from the familiar narrative, giving vent to a brutality that fails to feel organic. From the original’s unsettling endling, this remake prefers to go for a pulpy populist one. The change to the ending, from that of the original, is quite frustrating for those who have seen the original. This attempt to set this remake apart comes at the expense of logic and coherence.