There is a handful of actors that pop up fairly frequently but almost always in small roles or cameos that I really love. Occasionally they may have a larger supporting role and every so often they even land a lead gig. One of my favorite actors that fits this bill is Clint Howard. He’s a guy I just love to see on screen. He has a presence and a special persona about him. No matter how big or small the role, you always remember him. One of Howard’s first (and really one of the few) starring roles came in 1981’s Evilspeak, from writer/director Eric Weston. It’s without a doubt the perfect movie for Howard.
Howard stars as Stanley Coopersmith. Just think about that name for a moment – Coopersmith. Outside of a pub in Colorado, Coopersmith isn’t that common of a name. Cooper, sure. Smith, absolutely. But the two combined as one? That’s sort of odd, isn’t it? Then you see a young Clint Howard screwing up in a big soccer game, ultimately costing his team a victory and you’re like “Yeah, that’s Coopersmith.” Add that with Stanley, which is no winner either, and you’ve got the perfect name. Of course most of the time he is referred to as Cooperdick, but that’s another thing all together.
Young Stanley is basically an orphan. His parents died and now he’s attending a military school where he is most certainly an outcast. He’s picked on by the cooler, jock-like bullies, led by the horrible Bubba (Dan Stark). These kids are a bunch of assholes and pick on Stanley at every chance they get. Bubba is a major prick with this cocky arrogance and a stupid face you just want to punch. Stark gives a great performance which is why I wanted to punh him so bad. Then there are the girls in the school. They don’t pick on Stanley so much but they kind of view him as a pathetic joke and enjoy the other boys picking on him. The school staff, from the soccer coach to the teachers to the reverend and all the way up to the colonel are no better. They all treat Stanley like he’s worthless and act like he’s responsible for everything that goes wrong. It’s pretty sad.
There is one kid, Kowalski, that stands up for Stanley when he’s getting picked on. So he does have that but the relationship between the two is never really explored. Kowalski just kind of shows up just in time to prevent Stanley from really getting pummeled. Joining Kowalski is the school’s cook, who befriends Stanley and actually gives him a puppy.
While being punished for whatever reason, Stanley is ordered to clean the cellar of the school church. While doing his cleaning he discovers a secret room that formally belonged to Father Estaban (Richard Moll). Estaban was a Satanic leader and Coopersmith finds one of Estaban’s books on black magic. The book instantly intrigues Coopersmith who sneaks a school computer down to the cellar and begins to translate the book from Latin to English. Eventually the black magic takes over, first starting with the computer and then moving onto Coopersmith. Now controlled by Estaban and the black magic, Coopersmith seeks revenge on his tormentors.
Evilspeak is an awesomely fun movie. It’s very, very gratifying when Coopersmith gets his revenge on Bubba and all the other jerks in his school. This vengeance comes in one incredibly chaotic and violent scene. Decapitations, fire, mad man-eating pigs, the finale to Evilspeak has it all. From the audience perspective this is all pure joy because those on the receiving end of all this madness are completely deserving. It’s very reminiscent of Carrie in this way.
What’s really cool about Evilspeak is how it deals with technology. Estaban rises to power through the computer. How he does that exactly, I’m not entirely sure, but that’s hardly the point. Just the idea in 1981 is incredibly impressive. Plus the way Coopersmith uses the computer is pretty cutting edge. He basically does Google searches to gather information on black magic and the like. Was anybody else doing that back then? I don’t think so. Except for Richard Moll who plays Estaban and aslo played in a similar forward thinking role a few years later in The Dungeonmaster.
My most recent viewing of Evilspeak came courtesy of the region B Blu-ray release from the UK’s 88 Films. This was my first experience with 88 Films, and I think it was quite fitting since Evilspeak was one of the infamous video nasties banned in the UK during the 80’s. The film has also been released stateside via Scream Factory, but I haven’t seen that release so I can’t compare the two (though Patrick Cooper did write an awesome review of the Scream release and you should read that). I can say, however, that the 88 Films release is fantastic. The transfer looks great. Just watch the trailer and then take a look at the film and you can see the clear improvements 88 Films made.
The special features are what really make this release shine. I haven’t had a chance to make it through all the special features yet, but I checked out the various interviews (Clint Howard, Don Stark, Joseph Cortese, Allan A. Apone) and they’re all fantastic. I highly recommend listening to the Howard and Stark interviews. It’s interesting hearing the two of them talk about their experiences on the film and how they feel about it all these years later. Howard has a few really interesting notes on working with the various actors and just his career in general. Also included is an extended SD cut of the film, audio commentary with Weston, Howard and location manager Warren Lewis and a making of featurette.
We all like to see jerks get their comeuppance. It’s enjoyable to see the bully get taken down and the picked-on-kid rise to the top. That’s exactly what Evilspeak is. What makes this better though is there’s Clint Howard, man-eating pigs and a good chunk of gore. What’s not to like?
Evilspeak is now available on region B Blu-ray from 88 Films.