The Speak (2011) Poster

(2011)

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3/10
WTF...Where Did The Budget Go ?
graeme-206-2550022 October 2012
Warning: Spoilers
..oh wait, there it is...in Tom Sizemore's back pocket.

A rather impressive opening ten minutes, quickly fades away leaving a mediocre found footage candidate, and one that will equally as quickly, fade away from the viewer's memory.

Valiant efforts clearly went into developing the characters as they slip and slide through the introductions and scene-setting, however, of the three main protagonists, only one, Paige, shines through the torrent of ad-libs and scripted dialogue. The other two, especially Luis, struggled to get to grips with the basic premise of not only the movie, but also, the genre in which they are filming. Emotions were tortured and unbelievable, giving the viewer very little in the way of empathy, and this continued throughout.

The addition of Tom Sizemore in this movie, is lost on this reviewer. His part was so small and confusing, that it really didn't add anything to the experience, indeed, for someone with a rich history is some top movies, he seemed out of place and uneasy about his part, struggling with the script throughout.

It's the same old clichéd main content as you move into the bulk of the film, and whilst there are movies out there (Grave Encounters) that pull this off with great ease and stunning visuals, The Speak falls into the category of trying hard, but not hitting the mark.

There was/is huge potential with the storyline they put across at the start, however the plot is buried amongst some pointless exchanges between the lesser cast members, so that if you blink, chances are, you've missed it.

It's difficult to not give away spoilers, because The Speak is your run of the mill standard found footage movie ie...movie makes stumble around a disused building, meet some maligned spirit, and all die.

Anthony Pierce makes a good job of trying to include a sense of foreboding, however some major errors in continuity spoil the movie - for instance, when Tom Sizemore's character states very clearly, "I hope you've got torches, cuz there ain't no power in there" - you would rightly expect a nice dark atmosphere, lit by torchlight and the occasional infra red shot, but no, Pierce forgets all about that, and has the building under full power with lights switching off and on at will.

Small things like that, will stick in the mind of the hardened found footage fan, and as a result, spoil the experience.

Another "it could've been so good" movie, let down by not concentrating on what makes these movies successful.

Fear.
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5/10
Not that bad
mercedes_sk20 January 2019
I don't regret watching it. I actually jumped a few times. If you like horror movies don't pass this one by. Is it a big budget flick? No. But was enjoyable all the same.
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5/10
Utter Disappointment
sportsbros8086 July 2013
I wanted to like this movie, I really did. I am a huge Tome Sizemore fan and I wanted it to work. It didn't. This film really had some promise. The cast seemed good and I like horror movies. It just never came together. I have I seen it a couple of times hoping it would get better but no luck. The opening is great, has lots of opportunities, but then the movie starts to fall apart and just gets worse.

The dialogue has its moments where it works, but then becomes laughable a few seconds later. The storytelling starts to work, but then becomes cliché. It's like the movie continually tries to get going and then falls apart. It's maddening.

I did enjoy the main character and Sizemore for the few seconds he's in the film, but the rest of the acting was terrible, frankly that doesn't even describe it. At times it seemed like the actors were reading from cue cards it was so bad. The film couldn't build any suspense or gain any momentum.

The special effects were yet another disappointment; we've seen this done way too much. Flickering lights in a hotel with no power just doesn't cut it. The one long continues take is the best part of this film because it goes so quickly. I had to check the runtime because it felt so short. It should tell you something when the best thing about a movie is a camera trick.

If you're looking for something scary and you have never seen Blair Witch or Paranormal Activity, then you might find this to be watchable. Otherwise I would say you can find a much better film to watch.
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1/10
More like The Sleep...
Beebatron28 October 2019
Boring, nothing happens in what feels like forever, and when it does happen its so cringy i had to turn away! Not sure what any point was, acting was terrible, audio was bad. I love horror movies and i can safely say give this a miss!
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1/10
I never write movie reviews but..
luckystar-3617912 June 2020
Omg this was so bad. Like high school drama club bad. The acting, if you want to call it that, was dreadful. The closer to end it just kept devolving and was somewhat comical, but not in an enjoyable way. Please don't waste your time on this. I love the genre, but this just trashed it.
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1/10
Snore
won-5537228 August 2019
Absolutely unbelievable and I'm not even talking about the premise of the "movie"
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4/10
Standard and mediocre
jmbovan-47-16017326 February 2020
Nothing new here really. There is the introduction of a Native American spiritualist. And that's the only new thing. Otherwise most of the characters are unoriginal, annoying, and cliches of the types one finds I these films.
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7/10
Cool film
redban0223 January 2021
This film was overall cool, considering the budget. The sound and visuals were very crisp and clean-looking. The acting was a little weak (though Malia was drop-dead gorgeous), but the plot makes up for it. There are some genuine scares. Overall, the film reminded me of "Grave Encounters," so if liked that movie, then you will definitely like this one.
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