Stephen Abell What surprises me most about this title is that I haven't seen it up until recently, as it's right up my alley... dark, nasty, and messed up.This is the story of Stanley Coopersmith, a strange gawky kid who finds it hard to make friends and so ends up as a joke and punching bag for the other cadets at military school. However, while he's being punished by having to tidy up the chapel's basement he finds a secret room and a book of Satanic spells and worship. These were hidden away by a rogue priest Father Esteban, who had been banished to the Americas.Unable to read the scriptures in the book, Coopersmith uses the schools' computer to translate them. and when he finally carries out the Black Mass all hell breaks loose at the school and the chapel.One of the better aspects of this film is the cast as it stars Clint Howard as Coopersmith and it's really nice to see him in a lead role and not just playing a strange and creepy secondary role. Though he's young here, he does a good job.Then there's R J Armstrong who plays Sarge, the drunk janitor looking after the school and chapel, who hates kids and has it out for Coopersmith. Armstrong is great in this portrayal, he gives the air of a man you just wouldn't trust.Charles Tyner does a brilliant representation of a prig of a Colonel who finds it demeaning and below him to run the military school.Finally, Richard Moll is excellent in the role of the Evil Father Esteban. He adds the right amount of power, menace and violence to the character to make him believable as being the hand of Satan.For the time, the special effects would have been superb, especially the computer graphics (which today are cringeworthy and laughable) and most are still passable today. The climax of the film in the destruction of the God's house is very well done and created.All in all, this is a pretty decent horror movie with a lot of the right elements and well directed by Eric Weston. A definite watch for a horror nut and if you're not, it's still worth a look-see on a dark night...

gwnightscream This 1981 horror film stars Clint Howard, R.G. Armstrong, Joe Cortese, Don Stark, Charles Tyner and Richard Moll. This begins in Spain with Priest, Esteban (Moll) who becomes banished for practicing Satanic rituals. We move to the present where we meet troubled, military cadet, Stanley Coopersmith (Howard) who gets picked on by some of the guys in his academy and also puts up with demanding teachers. Soon, Coopersmith finds an ancient text belonging to Esteban that contains black magic and he translates it via computer to invoke the evil spirit to strike back at his tormentors. Armstrong (Predator) plays drunk worker, Sarge, Cortese plays priest, Jameson, Stark (That 70's Show) plays main bully, Bubba and Tyner (The Outlaw Josey Wales) plays Colonel Kincaid. This is a good horror/revenge flick and Howard is great in it. If you're into horror & occult flicks, I recommend this.

BA_Harrison Following in Carrie White's footsteps, meek military academy student Stanley Coopersmith (Clint Howard) wreaks bloody revenge on the bullies who are making his life a misery. After discovering an old Satanic tome in the basement of the academy's chapel, he uses a school computer to translate the text within. By reciting these words, and with the computer serving as a portal for demonic forces, Coopersmith is able to transform himself into a freaky, floating 'angel of death' and mercilessly hunt down his tormentors.One of the better titles to be condemned as a video nasty in the 80s, Evilspeak is actually fairly tame viewing for much of it's running time, giving Daily Mail readers and their ilk hardly anything to get het up about until the film almost reaches the hour mark; this time is spent getting the audience to fully empathise with poor old Stanley, who is taunted, beaten, and humiliated by his peers, and treated unfairly by the staff at the academy. After that, though, it's splatter time!Barring a brief decapitation in the pre-credits sequence, the film's first juicy moment arrives when Coopersmith's computer twists the head of a drunken would-be rapist Sarge (R.G. Armstrong) until it is facing backwards; soon after that, there's an even gorier scene in which tarty secretary Miss Friedemeyer (Lynn Hancock) is gored to death by pigs whilst taking a shower (we even get a shot of the hungry hogs yanking out her intestines).Director Eric Weston briefly takes time out from the nastiness for a delightfully tacky beauty pageant in which all of the contestants are voluptuous teenagers in teeny bikinis (Suzy is sweet sixteen and wants to be a body stocking model, informs the academy's lecherous coach), before giving Coopersmith the final impetus to unleash hell on his tormentors: his pet dog is killed by head bully Bubba!Boiling with rage, Stanley gets the human blood he requires to complete his ritual (by impaling one of his teachers on a chandelier), traps his wicked classmates in the academy's chapel, and proceeds to teach them all a lesson by hacking at them with a huge sword. Skulls are crushed, heads are lopped off, blood gushes freely, and the pigs make another appearance to help Stanley deal with any stragglers.With its efficient direction from Weston, chilling Omen-style soundtrack, over-the-top splatter, gratuitous teenage eye-candy, bloody shower scene, fiery climax, and enthusiastic performances from all involved, Evilspeak is a solid piece of trashy 80s horror fun.7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

Vincent Romeijn I live in the Netherlands and as far as I know, Evilspeak was never released here, nor was it banned. Also, I don't think much people here have ever even heard of this movie. I only discovered it about a year ago. Turns out it was banned in the UK (and possibly other countries too) for years, until 1999, when they released a cut version. Well, I myself have only seen the uncut version, and I can see why some people would be offended by the gore or the Satanism, but I don't think the cut version is as good as the original. Not that I'm a Satanist or I like to see a lot of gore, but after all, it IS a horror movie. I mean how much movies do exist that have Clint Howard going around decapitating people? Before I saw this, I only knew him as Balok from Star Trek. I think the only actors who actually did a decent job at acting were Clint Howard and Don Stark. Also the guy who played 'Kowalski' was pretty good. The acting overall, I think, was pretty cheesy. The soundtrack to me wasn't really memorable. Near the climax you pretty much only hear a choir of some kind (possibly a church choir) which gets repetitive soon. Overall, I think this is an okay movie. Not bad, but nothing special.