I have seen many people asking what other Human Horror movies that are similar to Speak No Evil, but no one seems to mention Nothing Bad Can Happen.
Yes, there are quite a few movies of people doing nasty shit to other people…just because they can; Eden Lake, Kidnapped, Martyrs, Funny Games, Red White & Blue, Inside, Grotesque…the list goes on. But while we can draw some sadistic similarities to Speak No Evil none of these movies comes anywhere close to Nothing Bad Can Happen. Speak No Evil & Nothing Bad Can Happen are the evil cinematic twins of human Horror…and here’s why.
SPEAK NO EVIL
The main thing that really annoys people about Speak No Evil is the lack of fighting back from the parents. The one thing cinema has made us believe over the years is that if someone is in trouble, the protagonist becomes an adrenalin-fueled killer who will stop at nothing to save a loved one. Folks, we are not all Jason fuckin’ Bourne. We might think we would be…but think about it hard? are you really? are you Jason God damn Bourne? hey, maybe you are but let’s face it, the answer is more than likely a nope! This was the whole point of Speak No Evil. it is a film about the weak and the vulnerable, the cowards and wimps. As I said before it is a film that really demonstrates so well that when push comes to shove, the characters chose to get shoved. They didn’t actually choose this, they couldn’t help it, they were weaklings. They literally walked to their own biblical slaying without saying a word. Not to mention what they let happen to their kid.
NOTHING BAD CAN HAPPEN
Nothing Bad Can Happen is definitely a more heart-wrenching movie than Speak No Evil. I also think the final act of shocking violence hit harder with this one. This film is about a young man called Tore. He is a devout Christian and a member of a cult-like club called the Jesus Freaks. From the beginning, we can see the pure innocence of this young dude. He is so innocent, it almost makes him vulnerable to almost anything or anyone. I would even argue that Tore was slightly on the spectrum with Aspergers or autism (sorry, I am not sure). After a storm Tore gets lost in the rural countryside and finds warmth and shelter in the home of a seemingly nice family. On the outside, this family seems perfect. Tore truly believes that Jesus guided him to that house away from the storm. It ain’t long before Tore is put through the cruellest, nastiest and sadistic torture imaginable. Why? for no reason other than he has a lot of FAITH in god.
Both these films show a truly vulnerable and weak protagonist(s).
These protagonists are so weak, they have no fight whatsoever in them. That already messes up the cinematic formula that we are all so used to. They’re both films where, if we like it or not, the bad guys win. I’m afraid in real life, this is more than certain the outcome, not what we’ve been fed to believe through Hollywood. Humans are monsters, people are pieces of shit. We are not all Jason Bourne, the innocent don’t deserve to die but people enjoy killing them just because they can. Not only because they can but because they know that these victims will put up no fight whatsoever. The manipulation and what leads up to those final acts of violence is, in my opinion, the equivalent of a serial killer taking their trophies after the kill. They get their kicks out of building a fake trust with the victims and when that trust is replaced, their true killer intentions will finally show. It is all part of their cruel game. They won. It’s a sad world, but that’s the world we live in.
I hope this article answers some questions you had regarding Speak No Evil. I also hope that you’re gonna check out Nothing Bad Can Happen now (if you haven’t already). As always, thanks for reading.
