I was bullied relentlessly when I was younger…
…For most kids, ages 7-18 are some of the best times of their lives. But for me, that period was my own personal hell. You know that scene in CARRIE where Sissy Spacek envisions everyone laughing at her, to the tune of her mother screeching “They’re all gonna laugh at you”? I lived that. Daily.
As a young horror fan, it’s why I found myself gravitating towards the “Revenge of the Bullied” sub-genre. CHRISTINE, TERROR TRAIN, the queen of the bullied kids herself, CARRIE… I saw myself in all of these movies and the tortured characters at the heart of them. Those kids who just wanted to fit in, but couldn’t, no matter how hard they tried. They were the ones that raged and screamed for all of us. But for as therapeutic as these films were in giving me someone that shared my horror, I’ve always had a thorny relationship with the portrayal of those characters and the way in which they are made to become the monster.
Few are as alternatively cathartic and painful as Eric Weston’s EVILSPEAK (1982).
Originally titled “The Foundling” — Good call on the title change — the script was written by Weston and Joseph Garofalo and takes place at an all-boys military academy, a breeding ground of toxic masculinity and the perfect setting for a story like this. We meet Stanley Coopersmith, played by Clint Howard in his first adult film and what may be his best performance. An orphan, Coopersmith is an outcast, referred to by his classmates as “Cooper-dick.” No one ever said bullies were clever. Leading an endless tirade of torture against him is Bubba (That 70s Show’s Don Stark), followed by his trio of moronic minions.
Even the adults get in on the daily dehumanizing of Coopersmith. Coach (Claude Earl Jones) despises him for costing his team games. Colonel Kincaid (Charles Tyner) gets his rocks off punishing Coopersmith for fights he didn’t start. And Reverend Jameson (Joe Cortese) is less than saintly with the poor kid. The only person willing to show an ounce of compassion towards Coopersmith is fellow student Kowalski (What’s Happening’s Haywood Nelson, in a role he took to pay for his Porsche).
After being sentenced to clean out the dungeon-esque church basement with the assistance of angry drunk Sarge (R.G. Armstrong), Coopersmith discovers a not so secret, cobweb infested room housing an ancient text that speaks of devil worship and the eventual return of Father Esteban (Richard Moll), the leader of a satanic cult banished from the church centuries ago. It might as well be the dark cellar of Coopersmith’s subconscious, where he is forced to take up a sword against the anger inside himself… and loses. Using the awesome power of computers — which Weston admits he knew nothing about at the time and is terribly obvious in the script — Coopersmith deciphers the text and learns of a ritual he can perform to raise hell and enact vengeance on his enemies.
I can’t envision anyone better than Clint Howard to embody the role of Coopersmith. Carrying a unique appearance, an intimate vulnerability, and goofy hair — Clint was already balding at the time and had to wear a hairpiece — he’s a fleshy mirror reflecting the despair myself and others have felt. I had an awful case of rosacea as a kid, was awkward as hell, and have always been on the skinnier, weaker side. Prime bully fodder. Coopersmith and I, we never had a chance amongst kids looking to pick on someone, anyone, who was different.
As a kid, EVILSPEAK assured me I wasn’t alone. Bullying wasn’t just happening to me. There were others out there. It was real. Sounds silly to have to acknowledge that, but adults would often have you think otherwise. My teachers preferred to keep their heads in the sand when it came to my bullies. Colonel Kincaid says it all when he tells Coopersmith, “What concerns me is your inability to get along with others.” First off, get fucked, Kincaid. But that’s the awful reality for so many bullied kids out there, and why the adults are some of the most despicable characters in the film. Society loves to turn a blind eye, especially when the bullies are privileged white men. They’d rather pretend it’s all in your head than ever be forced to acknowledge it.
Admitting that his debut feature is basically CARRIE set at military school, Weston sought to bring attention to the vicious creature that is bullying. He does so with an unflinching approach that is gut-wrenching in its brutality. Banned in Europe upon release and dubbed a “Video Nasty” — a badge of honor, really — Weston’s film exposes the scaly underbelly of bullying through an uncomfortable sense of dread and horror. Coopersmith faces abuse after abuse. Gallons of gore stain the screen red. Pigs devour a nude secretary (Lynn Hancock) alive in a bathtub. Horrendous cruelty lurks around every corner in this hellish labyrinth.
Films like EVILSPEAK, they unleash the ghosts of the ghastliest acts we’ve ever experienced.
Like most horror movies, Weston’s film is an exaggeration of our greatest fears, but reality can be just as nightmarish. There’s nothing in here that doesn’t happen to kids on a daily basis. EVILSPEAK traverses all of the most traumatic regions of the high-school experience. I’ve been the magnet for anger from other kids for not being better at sports. I’ve been pushed around in the locker room shower. I’ve had class projects destroyed by other kids as a “joke.” When Coopersmith gets de-pantsed while talking to a girl he likes? Yep, been there too, only I was in the middle of the gym field for everyone to see.
Nothing hits harder though than the scene where Bubba and gang murder a helpless puppy given to Coopersmith by the school cook (Lenny Montana). When you’re treated differently, there’s a part of you that starts to wonder if you deserve it. Your mind plays a sick trick and you think, maybe you are the monster. Why else would everyone treat you as such? Through that runt of a puppy, Coopersmith sees himself, muttering “Maybe this pup is better off not making it… it’s a tough world out there.” It’s not the right answer, but it’s the struggle that bullied kids face when they’re made to feel as if they don’t belong. The death of that puppy — mercifully committed off-screen — is the last shred of humanity ripped out of Coopersmith by his bullies. Its death is his death.
You’d better believe I cheer every time those no-dog death rule breakers receive the wrath of an all-powerful Coopersmith. With Esteban’s power, he goes on a sword-wielding, head-chopping slaughter in an epic, fiery finale. It’s pure, delicious catharsis. We all watch horror movies as a safe way to face our worst nightmares and leave feeling stronger. Films like EVILSPEAK, CARRIE, SLAUGHTER HIGH…they show us that bullies are just as weak and scared as the rest of us. Their “toughness” is all an act. And it’s just so goddamn satisfying to see them get what’s coming to them.
Except that catharsis ultimately rings hollow. It’s like a high from a drug that only lasts so long, once you realize what’s wrong here.
Coopersmith becomes the monster.
Horror has a long history of mistreating the bullied kids of the genre. If they’re not the virginal dork getting killed off in the middle of the second act, they’re the nightmare doing the killing. These movies get the rage right, but the expulsion of that rage wrong. It isn’t just the bullies that get caught in the fire. Coopersmith brings hell upon an entire church full of classmates. Carrie torches the whole damn prom. Arnie Cunningham tries to run down the only people that care about him in CHRISTINE. It’s an expression of the pain that arises from a lifetime of bullying and the way it consumes us, but it sends the wrong message, both to that kid potentially seeing themselves on screen for the first time, and the world at large.
That message says there are no heroes in these movies. Coopersmith gets his vengeance, but at what cost? By the end, that protagonist which we hold so close to our hearts, they’re either insane and locked away — as is the fate of Coopersmith — or dead. Imagine being one of these kids and seeing that for the first time? The devastation of realizing that this was how the world would forever see you? You won’t be okay. You won’t survive. You’ll only ever be remembered as what they thought you were. At least in EVILSPEAK’S case, Coopersmith is the main character, whereas others, like TERROR TRAIN, make one of our bullies the hero “who never meant for it to go that far.” Bleh. I often find myself thinking about all of the kids out there who were pointed at and called “Carrie” after CARRIE came out. As unintentional as it was, these movies gave others a new reason to avoid kids like me and treat us as “other.” Maybe we too were just one step away from burning it all down, they might think.
That shit hurts. Especially when all you want is for someone to treat you like a human being. To be an outcast isn’t to be a monster. Coopersmith isn’t “evil.” Not even close. Yet to a general public that hasn’t walked in the shoes of the bullied, these movies only bring so much empathy when the final result is a monster to be feared.
None of this is to say that these movies are “bad,” of course. Just because a film like EVILSPEAK is problematic doesn’t mean it can’t be special to us. Coopersmith, Carrie…they’re like valuable members of the family to me. I cherish them. Sharing that connection with them when I couldn’t with others in my life who didn’t understand… that’s the importance of movies like this.
But horror can do better.
In recent years, the genre has started to approach these types of films with more care. Cole from THE BABYSITTER is an excellent example of a bullied kid that gets his vengeance, but in a twist…he’s killing metaphorical versions of his bullies in self-defense… and he’s the hero. Poorer representations still far outweigh the good, but we’re getting there.
The internet has only exasperated the problem of bullying, with much of it now horribly public and internet mobs often forgetting there’s a person on the other side of that icon. Bullied kids need these movies more than ever, and they deserve to see themselves as the heroes more often in horror. The genre has enough of the “cool kids” saving the day. The picked-on outcasts need to know that they can come out of the other side of that torment a better, stronger individual. It took me years to realize my worth as a person. If I’d had more movies that didn’t demonize others like me, like Coopersmith, perhaps I could’ve gotten there sooner.
The rumor is that Weston still has hopes for an EVILSPEAK 2. With the film’s involvement with computers and so much bullying taking place online, now could be the perfect time for a return.
Maybe Coopersmith can find his redemption.
Maybe this time, he can even be the hero.
Preferred pronouns: He/him
Tags: Blu-ray, Charles Tetoni, Charles Tyner, Claude Earl Jones, Don Stark, Eric Weston, Hamilton Camp, Haywood Nelson, High School, Horror, Irv Goodnoff, Jim Greenleaf, Joseph Cortese, Joseph Garofalo, Lenny Montana, Loren Lester, R.G. Armstrong, Richard Moll, Roger Kellaway, Satan, scream factory, The 1980s
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