Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘The Speak’

Written by Scott Edwards

When you think about spirit doorways, you usually only think of them swinging one way. But when you look at any doorway in the land of the living, you see that they allow you to enter or exit. Knowing this, you should be mindful when trying to connect with something or someone on the other side, because you never know who or what you will invite through or if they are looking to take something back with them. Believing or not believing in the other side is something that is left up to the individual, but you will not find me trying to make contact with a spirit or anything that will open a doorway to the other side.
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Starting to shoot his final Webisode, Shelly and his brother Luis are waiting for everyone to show up. Seeing Paige arrive with the new members of their ghost hunting team, Shelly is shocked when he finds out the price for his players has risen a hundred dollars a head. Paying out more than he expected, the group gets their introductions done on tape and are now waiting for the man with the key to arrive to let them into the extremely haunted Park Hotel. But things are not happening fast enough for Shelly’s liking as his demeanor is starting to go downhill with his producer and girlfriend Paige who will have none of his attitude.

Seeing a black truck arriving with the caretaker of the hotel, the group is ready to head inside. But Doyle is not going to be held responsible for the group as the deal to get in was with his son and not him. Trying to explain to the group that bad things have happened inside of the hotel whenever somebody tries to go in, Shelly and team will not back away. Offering more money to the caretaker, Shelly then alters his approach and threatens the old man and gets pushed to the ground. With the events being caught on tape and the promise of not showing it, if and only if they can gain entrance into the hotel, Doyle lets them in, but still tries to convince them not to stay.

Ignoring the warnings, Shelly and his psychic Malia, producer Paige, cameraman Luis and sound couple of Elsa and Jackson head in and work on getting set up. But things are not looking good for Shelly as Malia has a walk around the hotel and does not want to perform her ceremony to unleash the spirits. Paying her more to do it anyway, the group gathers around and speaks the words to open the doorway to the other side. But when Malia tries to leave the haunted hotel and finds the door locked, the group is in for a night that will change their lives forever as there is no escaping the hotel until the light of day shines on it once again.

I must admit that I really liked the premise of this movie (which is also known as A Haunting at the Park Hotel​) as it started playing, and how they were trying to unlock the spirits in the hotel. The backstory of the hotel was great, with it being built on a burial ground and how it could turn people violent enough to the point where they would kill their loved ones. When the group is forced into a living nightmare as the hotel comes to life, it was great as they tried to band together against the unseen spirit who is looking to take away their souls and the foreboding crows cawing added creepiness to the story and while I am not a fan of the ending, it had a great buildup to everyone’s deaths. With creepy crows, bricked up windows, a fireless fire, an evil spirit, and plenty of running from the undead, this movie just goes to show you that unleashing a spirit to get clicks on your website may not be the wisest thing to do. Stay Scared.

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