Speak No Evil (3 Stars)

This is the 18th film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival.

Before the film began, the hosts quoted audience reactions from the premiere at the Sundance Film Festival:

"The director has to be mentally examined. I've seen many horror films over the years and this one is one hundred percent the most psychopathic of them all".

"Horrible, horrible film. If the film wants to get you in a bad mood, the film is pretty successful".

"This film should not be recommended to human beings. It should not be recommended as a film".

"I really hope I will forget this bad experience very soon".

So what's the film about? It starts with a Danish couple, Bjorn and Louise, meeting a Dutch couple, Patrick and Karin, while on holiday in Italy. They get on well together, and a few months later Patrick invites Bjorn and Louise to visit them. It's a beautiful house in a remote part of Holland, without any neighbours for miles. At first the guests enjoy themselves, but then they have a feeling that something is wrong.

The film is a slow burner. For the first hour so little happens that I was puzzled by the negative quotes. It's only in the last 20 minutes that the real horror of the situation becomes apparent.

Does the film live up to the quotes from the Sundance Festival? Not really. I didn't see anyone running out of the theatre screaming. On the other hand, there were several disturbing scenes, and I don't want to watch the film again.