SPEAK NO EVIL is an indie horror/mystery with a small town setting. The story, which isn't bad, is about the disappearance of a number of innocent kids who soon return to their families, somehow...changed. There are a few minor grisly moments but mostly this is amateurish boredom with unconvincing actors struggling through underwritten parts. Generally, this is a poor addition to the 'killer kid' genre.

For such a small budget, this film delivers fairly well. The actors made do with what they were given and carried it along smoothly.Acting isn't the only spice required in a good film. Plot is important also, and here it's thin at best. I actually like that they didn't bother to try explaining things. It gets pretty cliché to me when the writers throw in some convenient explanation delivered by some Native American medicine man, or some psychic who is drawn into the area by the bad vibes, or the crazy old priest who used to read up on demonology in his early days... You've seen it. They didn't bother with it this time, and that was actually fairly refreshing to me.Unfortunately, those are the only two points I can make that work for this film. The rest is fairly sub par. Overall, the film fails to pull you in because it superficially makes use of everything else. There is no depth to the development of the characters or treatment of the environment.What do I mean by that? Let me give some examples.For starters, the director relies heavily on shaky camera work. This sort of thing is designed to pull you into the action, but at it's worst it fails to give you a lasting impressions because you haven't really seen anything at all! You've only seen shaky flashes of action, bits and pieces of character expression, etc. Nothing sticks because you fly through it too quickly. Hence, it means very little to the viewer.Secondly, the sound is heavy and brooding, ALL THE TIME. Despite what some reviewers say about things starting slowly, the reality is that in terms of music and ambient sound, there is simply no room to breathe at all. From start to finish it's the same thing. It's like having a weight put on your shoulders all day long, after a while you get used to it and then you don't think about it any more. So without that change of ambiance, everything sort of blends together, nothing is distinct and new.Thirdly, the children are under represented. Even though this movie is about possessed children, they seem to fall by the wayside in terms of importance. They are all dressed the same. They all have the same make-up on. They all act the same. Most all the girls are blonds, most all the boys have longish hair (with the exception of one boy who seems to have a mohawk or something). Each kid, including the heroine's daughter, gets precious little screen time. Only perhaps two children in the entire movie get any lines (and they are short). Their faces are almost never really focused on, and even when they are the make-up gets in the way. Couple that with the shaky camera work and you almost never really truly see them at all! ***Small spoiler included in next line*** What we have here is the objectification and eventual dehumanization of all the children in the film. It's easy to kill what you don't consider worthy of your affection. It makes it a simple thing to dismiss the fact that children are being killed, and if you don't care about them then there's no real point to the movie.

So I thought this was a different movie.. the 2014 new release. But it caught my attention because it was shot in Apache Junction where I live. I recognized Superstition Mountain immediately and at the end the Motel 6 off of the 60 by Waffle House. The name of this movie should have been Joey.. because that's about all I heard throughout the whole hour and a half. The lead actress was good, but her character was slow, clumsy and irritating. The characters thought processes were that of special ed students.. nothing was thought through, decisions took forever to make and when they were made, they were the wrong ones. Don't waste your money.

While the concept of demonic possessed children does have a certain sense of dread and horror about it, "Speak No Evil" didn't fully exploit the potential that it had at hand.The story starts out a bit slow, but quickly picks up pace and gets into gear with lots of things happening. Although a lot is happening, it is not difficult to keep up with the story, because it is done chronologically and in a well-presented manner.What didn't really work about the movie was that it came off as too shallow, as if the director didn't really delve into the many layers that were made available by the concept of the movie. And as such, the end result was a rather hollow experience at best.The characters in the movie were fairly one-dimensional and never really got to portray any proper characteristics and that just made you didn't care about the protagonists or anyone else for that matter.Acting-wise, then "Speak No Evil" was adequate, but the actors and actresses were fairly limited by the script and the direction. Again, the potential wasn't fully taken advantage of here either.As for the ending. Well, let's just say that it was alright, although is very just oozing with a cliché ending for a horror movie. But the ending worked out well enough for what it was.The best part of the movie had to be the children. I mean, demonic possessed children running rampart in a small town killing and maiming the inhabitants. And the eyes were actually one of the more interesting things about the entire movie. I liked the thing they had done with the children's eyes.For a horror movie, then "Speak No Evil" was a fairly poor experience. It wasn't scary, nor was it particularly interesting or appealing.I am rating the movie a mere 3 out of 10 stars.