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The Horror House in Speak No Evil Was a Real, Abandoned Farmhouse + 4 More Terrifying Details
There's a lot to discover about the making of one of 2024's best horror films, Speak No Evil.
It's no question that 2024 was a great year for horror series and films. Perhaps surprisingly, one of the best-reviewed 2024 horror releases was James Watkin's reimagining of Speak No Evil (now streaming on Peacock), which was adapted from director Christian Tafdrup's 2022 Danish-Dutch film of the same name.
We say "surprisingly" because a lot of English-language reimaginings are either uninspired, shot-for-shot copies, or their visceral scares/themes are watered down. But that's certainly not the case for Watkins' Speak No Evil, particularly due to his third act changes and the stellar ensemble work of his potent cast featuring James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, Scoot McNairy, and young actors Alix West Lefler and Dan Hough.
McAvoy plays a man named Paddy, who invites the Dalton couple (Davis and McNairy) that he and his wife, Ciara (Franciosi), met on vacation to come stay with them at their country house. However, Paddy’s mask of hospitality belies a terrifying cruel streak.
While Speak No Evil is available on streaming services, it's also available on physical media from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment in both DVD and Blu-ray formats. Either format includes three featurettes about the making of the film and a director's commentary by Watkins. So SYFY WIRE dove into the special features to collect some interesting tidbits about the production from the mouths of Watkins, the cast, and the production team.
Fun Facts from the Speak No Evil Special Features
5. "80% social missteps and 20% horror" in Speak No Evil
In the featurette "A Horrifying Crescendo," Davis, who plays Louise Dalton, says one of the most compelling aspects to how the story unfolds between the Daltons and Paddy and Ciara's family is that it feels like a tight wire of how "excruciating" social spaces can feel. With the overly submissive and empathetic Daltons being pushed into danger by the other couple. Davis said she loved that Watkins avoided traditional horror tropes for 80% of the film, and then unleashed them all in the last 20% of the story.
4. Ant was actor Dan Hough's first role
One of the biggest reveals in the featurette "Nuclear Families" is the revelation that mute Ant is Hough's first film role. It's an exceptional performance because he doesn't get any dialogue to articulate his experience living with Paddy and Ciara, yet he ends up commanding the screen every time he gets a scene alone, or with Agnes Dalton (Lefler). Hough said that he just channeled his emotions thinking about how sad he imagined a young boy would be going through something like Ant goes through in the film, and then he was able to find his performance.
3. Ciara is Paddy's secret weapon
Also in "Nuclear Families," McAvoy and Watkin frame Franciosi's character, Ciara, in an interesting way. McAvoy calls her Paddy's "secret weapon," who helps groom victims. When Paddy gets big or intimidating, it's Ciara who slips in and helps temper the mood, or gaslight their guests into second guessing whether something strange is happening with this couple and their silent son. Franciosi said from the moment she finished the script, she was desperate for Watkin to cast her.
2. There are details inside the Speak No Evil farmhouse that reveal what's coming
In the featurette "The Farmhouse of Horrors," it's revealed by the production crew that they layered in all kinds of clues about what Paddy and Ciara are up to inside of their home, in the figurines and collectibles they've left around their home, and in some of the decor, like the tiles on the wall. While audiences may not get to see the details in the frame without pausing the film, the production design and set decoration teams created harrowing scenes of murder in the individual tiles. And the collectibles pieces tend to reflect agony and pain in distorted faces, which creates a disturbing vibe that permeates the home.
1. The farmhouse in Speak No Evil is real
"The Farmhouse of Horrors" featurette reveals that the farmhouse where the Daltons end up with their vacation friends was actually the location for the majority of their interior and exterior filming. That is a rarity in production because there's rarely the space or opportunity to takeover a property that looks right on camera from the inside and the outside, or that can accommodate the crew and the equipment needed for weeks of shooting. However in this case, they found an English farmhouse property that hadn't been lived in for almost 40 years. They were able to rent it and use the claustrophobic low ceilings and distressed look of the walls to help create their production design story around the characters.
For even more stories about the making of Speak No Evil, grab a digital or physical copy of the film here, or at major retailers. Or forget the special features and just watch Speak No Evil right now on Peacock.
