Remember: It's always a good idea to learn the dance steps to "Cotton-Eyed Joe" just in case you happen to be invited to a psychopathic doctor's house for the weekend.
The first trailer for Universal Pictures and Blumhouse's remake of disturbing Danish horror film Speak No Evil debuted last night during CinemaCon, and has now been released online.
The movie follows an American family who befriend a seemingly gregarious British doctor (X-Men: First Class star James McAvoy) and his wife and son while on vacation and agree to go and stay with them for the weekend. Before too long, the friendly facade begins to slip, and it soon becomes clear that something is very wrong in the household.
“It’s remarkable what a kind, generous, funny, charismatic person my friend James is,” director James Watkins told the room of theater owners at Caesars Palace. “Because he’s also capable of plumbing into some pretty disturbing depths in his roles.”
To say any more would run the risk of giving something away - although this trailer doesn't seem to mind showing way too much. If you haven't seen the original, here's your spoiler warning.
When an American family is invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family they befriended on vacation, what begins as a dream holiday soon warps into a snarled psychological nightmare. From Blumhouse, the producer of The Black Phone, Get Out and The Invisible Man, comes an intense suspense thriller for our modern age, starring BAFTA award-winner James McAvoy (Split, Glass) in a riveting performance as the charismatic, alpha-male estate owner whose untrammeled hospitality masks an unspeakable darkness.
Speak No Evil stars also Mackenzie Davis (Terminator: Dark Fate, Halt and Catch Fire) and SAG award-winner Scoot McNairy (Argo, A Quiet Place Part II) as American couple Louise and Ben Dalton, who, along with their 11-year-old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler; The Good Nurse, Riverdale), accept the weekend-holiday invitation of Paddy (McAvoy), his wife Ciara (Aisling Franciosi; Game of Thrones, The Fall) and their furtive, mute son Ant (newcomer Dan Hough).
Written for the screen and directed by James Watkins, the writer-director of Eden Lake and the award-winning gothic ghost story The Woman in Black, Speak No Evil is based on the screenplay of the 2022 Danish horror sensation Gæsterne, written by Christian Tafdrup and Mads Tafdrup. That film earned 11 Danish Film Awards nominations, the Danish equivalent of the Oscars.
Speak No Evil is produced by Jason Blum (Five Nights at Freddy’s, M3GAN) for Blumhouse and by Paul Ritchie (McMafia, The Ipcress File) and is executive produced by Beatriz Sequeira for Blumhouse, Jacob Jarek and Christian Tafdrup.
The movie is set to hit theaters this September. Do you plan on catching this one on the big screen?