Evilspeak (1981)

Director Eric Weston's grindhouse horror film's title referred to a computerized Black Mass ritual that unleashed terror upon a group of tormentors. The gorefest was released in both R-rated and uncut versions, for its extreme violence and nudity. It was notorious for being labeled a "video nasty" by the UK in the 1980s - and therefore faced censorship, was prosecuted, and refused certification and release. Eventually, it was released with 3 minutes and 34 seconds cut in 1987, and in a fully uncut version in 2004.

Its tagline was: "EVILSPEAK...A Computer Programmed For Unspeakable Terror." The basic plot was encapsulated in another tagline: "Data incomplete... Human blood required. Thus spake the computer."

• the film opened with a title card prologue: And Satan said to the Man of God..."What would you do tomorrow if you allowed me to die today? What vocation would you pursue if my name disappeared?" Kahlil Gibran
• under the opening credits at an unidentified Spanish shoreline, evil and Satanic black-hooded priest Father Lorenzo Esteban (Richard Moll) was excommunicated and banished (along with his followers) from Spain by priests in the Holy Roman Church during the Inquisition in the 16th Century; he was condemned for practicing Satanism and blasphemy; he was told: "Nothing can protect you from the wrath of God or the Avenging Angel."
• after being sent away, the contemptuous Father spit in the priest's face before walking down to the beach to a group of his own devil worshippers for a ritualistic sacrificial ceremony at a funeral pyre; he drew a 5-pointed pentagram symbol with his sword in the sand; then he stripped the top from a brown-haired, peasant-girl (Nadine Reimers), raised his sword, and with one swing, decapitated her

Peasant-Girl (Nadine Reimers) Decapitated by Esteban's Sword

• the film - with an arcing swing, transitioned to the present day of the early 1980s, and the kicking of a soccer ball on a field in California; after the game in the locker room, one of the West Andover Military Academy cadet players - chubby and orphaned Stanley Coopersmith (Clint Howard, brother of director/actor Ron Howard) - was bullied and tormented by teammates for his poor playing, causing the game's loss; furthermore, he was outcast and treated badly by teachers and staff, the Coach, the Colonel and even the local Reverend
• Stanley found an ancient Latin tome (Esteban's diary or magic book?) in a secret walled-off chamber of the academy's chapel basement when he was ordered to clean it as punishment; through a brick wall and in a dark room, he found the book of Black Mass rituals marked with a jewel-encrusted pentagram emblem on the cover; he also noticed a moving fetus in a jar; as he was being grabbed in the neck by an arm bursting through the wall and confronted by Esteban himself, Stanley suddenly awoke from a frightening nightmare
• Stanley was able to decipher (through his computer's translation program) what Esteban had written in three different diary entries in the 16th century, and was able to translate the entries into English; the three entries described Esteban's plan of seeking revenge.

January 13, 1520
"I, Esteban, Have Come to Know That the Entire World Is a Domain of Evil. Ruled Over By an Evil Spirit. And Since the Power that Dominates the World is Evil, Then it Follows that Satan Must be God."
February 20, 1535
"I, Esteban, Have Signed the Book of Death and Touched the Hand of My Master Satan, Through the Rite of the Black Mass."
May 11, 1541
"They Think to Kill Me. But Satan is My Salvation. His Magic is Mine Forever. I Will Return. No Matter What They Do, I Will Return."

• Stanley also used his computer to research the occult, in order to find out how to seek his own vengeance against bullies and other school officials; he typed in his prayer: "Satan, hear my plea and through the rite of the Black Mass help me stand erect before my enemy and defy his curse"; conveyed through his computer, Stanley learned that the invocation and items required to lead a Black Mass occult celebration and conjure up Satan included: mandrake root, juice of aconite, poplar leaves, arsenic, sulphur, black candles, unholy water, and human blood from a consecrated host; Stanley's first attempt to seek revenge by performing the Black Mass failed, because he hadn't acquired blood
• in one of the film's earliest death scenes after successfully performing the ritual - causing the computer screen to flash a pentagram, an unseen demonic power twisted the head of the drunken school custodian/caretaker Sarge (R.G. Armstrong) 180 degrees; after the murder, Stanley hid Sarge's body in catacombs, where other skeletal remains (decapitated) and Esteban's crypt were located

School Secretary Miss Friedemeyer (Lynn Hancock) Attacked and Mauled by Wild Pigs in Her Bathtub After Taking a Shower

• in a scary scene, the school's secretary Miss Friedemeyer (Lynn Hancock) was Stanley's next victim; she was to be punished for stealing Esteban's diary after Stanley accidentally left it on her desk; when she finished taking a shower in a very gratuitous scene - she opened her bathroom door and a herd of evil, vicious, demon-spawned carnivorous black pigs attacked, mauled and devoured her (and pulled off bits of her entrails and flesh) after she fell backwards into her bathtub; the stolen Esteban diary slowly vanished from her desk
• Stanley became distraught when he discovered that the persistent bullies on his soccer team, led by Douglas "Bubba" Caldwell (Don Stark), had killed his puppy dog Fred; with superhuman strength, Stanley hurled teacher Hauptman (Hamilton Camp) into an overhead, hanging wooden, circular-shaped chandelier, where his head was impaled on one of its spikes - the blood conveniently drained into a goblet below; the blood would now enable Stanley to conduct his Black Mass ritual, to exact his own revenge on his tormenters; he drank the blood from the goblet and was empowered
• in the final 20-minute slaughter sequence (censored and edited in some versions) in the basement and barricaded chapel that trapped the students inside, there were numerous deaths when Stanley devoted himself to Satan and his body was possessed by the vengeful Esteban [Note: The scene was reminiscent of revenge by the bullied protagonist of Carrie (1976)].
• a nail from a large crucifix statue (in Jesus' right hand) was pried out by an invisible force, leaving a blood trail; it sailed through the air into the forehead of Reverend Jameson (Joseph Cortese) as he delivered a sermon to the soccer team in the chapel above
• Stanley had morphed into Esteban and became possessed by him - he was soon transformed into a demonic figure - a beast with a pig snout, tusks, and ear-horns; he rose up from the fiery floor below into the chapel, wielding Esteban's sword as he flew through the air and decapitated many of his soccer team players who had teased him
• the head of the school headmaster Colonel Kincaid (Charles Tyner) was split down the middle by Stanley's sword
• there were more body-chompings by a horde of ravenous pigs that finished off the remaining students, and decapitations by Stanley with the sword, including the head of his soccer Coach (Claude Earl Jones)
• in the chapel cellar, the lead bully "Bubba" was grabbed by the throat by the 'reanimated' corpse of Sarge, and his still-beating heart was ripped out
• the film concluded with an epilogue: "Suffering from shock and catatonic withdrawal, attributed to his having witnessed the fiery death of his dear friends and teachers, Stanley Coopersmith, sole survivor of the tragic accident at West Andover Academy Chapel, was admitted to Sunnydale Asylum. He remains there still."

Epilogue: Stanley's Revenge: "I WILL RETURN"

• on a demonic computer screen, a spinning pentagram was replaced by red text - and Esteban's name was replaced with Stanley's: "By the four beasts before the throne, By the fire which is about the throne, By the host holy and glorious name, Satan. I Stanley Coopersmith, will return. I WILL RETURN."
• then, Stanley's face filled the screen before the closing credits