Analysis Of Richard Powell's Film 'HEIR'

526 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Compare and contrast horror movies

Last week I had the privilege to interview writer director Richard Powell of FATAL PICTURES about his film HEIR. That film was a horror drama about child molesting and its cyclical nature. The short horror film FAMILIAR however is a story about blame, and regret. Both films use practical fx to embody the demons in our protagonist to create an entertaining and poignant tale about human nature. In a way both films are two sides of the same coin. They both use the same wrapper but they are both about very different subject matters. FAMILIAR tells the tale of a family man who absolutely loathes his family. He sees them as symbiotic parasites leeching the life right out of him. Our main character (John Dodd) goes through the motions of everyday life with his family while a inner voice compels him to commit unspeakable acts. The tension is quite palpable. Its strange to say but the protagonist was much more likeable in HEIR than the protagonist in FAMILIAR. That’s not to say that the performance was not excellent. The performances all around were very good. It’s just that John Dodd is kind of an ass. Once the big reveal happens you understand why he does what he does, but his inner thoughts are just plain evil. …show more content…

Ditching the inner monologue in FAMILIAR and focusing on the moment was a great choice for HEIR. It allowed director Richard Powell to focus on the characters emotions and not be so locked into a more straight forward narrative as is the case in FAMILIAR. It’s not like I was able to predict the ending, but I could tell the protagonists intentions were malicious from the start in FAMILIAR. Where as in HEIR I did not know what was going to happen with the main character from moment to moment both internally and

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of John Jakes's 'The Bastard'

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his novel The Bastard, John Jakes tells the story of a young Frenchman named Phillipe Charboneau- the illegitimate son of the Duke of Kentland. Upon the death of the Duke, Phillipe is entitled to receive half of his estate, sharing it with the Duke’s legitimate son, Roger. When the Duke passes, Phillipe is denied his birthright by his father’s wife, Lady Jane Amberly. He is chased out of England and forced to go to London. While in London, it becomes apparent that he and his mother cannot stay for too long as it is not safe. He flees London for the New World- America. Phillipe Charbonneau sheds his old identity and changes his name to Philip Kent. Many themes arise in this novel, but the one that I find most prevalent is Phillipe Charboneau searching for a sense of belonging.

    Read More

  • Conflict In 'The Inheritor' By Frank Roberts

    321 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the short story, “The Inheritor” by Frank Roberts, the major source of conflict is external; it is between the protagonist and the flood, man versus nature. From the opening lines, the flood is seen as an opposing force. ”The man saw it [the Lone Pine] … as the marker to a final refuge from the flood.” Through out the entire story, the flood remains a constant fear factor. No matter the stressing ordeal the man endured, whether it was facing a “vicious, indomitable” dingo that was “capable of savagery” or brawling with his own mind over a vulnerable ewe, the “flood consum[ing] the ground” strikes the man with the greatest fear. The flood is the story’s instigator, causing every action and thought. All other

    Read More

  • Most Dangerous Game Vs Interlopers Essay

    454 Words  | 1 Pages

    Both stories move with small biting twists . Both stories lead up to an extremely ironic, and arguably comical, conclusion. The two stories are gut wrenchingly suspenseful at times, from escaping a serial killer deep in a foreboding jungle, to planning to fight to the death as a result of a family feud. Both stories fill the reader with anxious, gut wrenching, edge of the seat, excitement. The other similarities are the foreshadowing contents within both stories that keep the reader guessing. Other times in both stories, the suspense is thickening within the paragraphs. ex; “ Rainsford had fought his way through the bush for two hours. ‘I must keep my nerve. I must keep my nerve,’ he said through tight teeth.” (Most Dangerous Game)

    Read More

  • The Director's Notes on Richard III

    882 Words  | 2 Pages

    Anne is quite like a modern woman in the way that if a man tells her

    Read More

  • Gordon Allport Pride And Prejudice Analysis

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    We’ve all done it: walking down a hallway, judging someone or thinking someone is less than what we perceive ourselves to be based on the color of their skin or how they are dressed, or even their physical features. The author of The Language of Prejudice, Gordon Allport, shares how we live in a society where we are ridiculed for being less than a culture who labels themselves as dominant. This essay reveals the classifications made to the American morale. Allport analyzes in many ways how language can stimulate prejudice and the connection between language and prejudice.

    Read More

  • Movie Analysis of Romeo Must Die

    560 Words  | 2 Pages

    The movie, “Romeo Must Die”, is an action packed drama that adapts William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” into a more modern perspective with a twist that deviates from the original plot. Han Sing, played by the actor Jet Li, resembles Romeo, where as Trish O’Day, played by the actress Aaliyah, resembles Juliet. Fate causes them to meet when Trish jumps into the taxi Han hi-jacks. As Han is in search of the person that killed his brother, he learns that Trish may have a connection and begins to pursue her.

    Read More

  • The Princess Bride Analysis

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    Satire criticises and makes fun of the norms of human society. It adds an intellectual humour along with the archetypes that is present in the story. In The Princess Bride, by William Goldman, satire is in a wide variety of parts in the story from the communication between others to the character themselves including the Spaniard, Inigo Montoya. The author portrays Inigo as a Spaniard who becomes a fencer to seek revenge on the six-fingered man for the murder of his father, Domingo Montoya and he becomes a henchman to the criminal Vizzini. He is a very caring man to people he cares about, but he can only act on vengeance since he truly loves his father. With his attention only on reprisal, it can blind him from achieving the results he wants and that can significantly affect his personality as he is driven by it. When he finds the six-fingered man, he prepares after many years of training with famous fencers and even has a saying that he plants in his brain so that it is the driven force of vengeance. He is the ‘evil figure with an ultimately good heart’ archetype as he is a part of Vizzini’s group with Fezzik, but he has a change in heart that he needs Westley’s help to storm the castle. Although Inigo is a prestigious fencer who only cares about revenge, the author plays with satirical devices that portray the faults and weaknesses of his characteristics while maintaining his status as the best swordsman in his generation.

    Read More

  • The Once And Future King Literary Analysis

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    A story is not complete nor acceptable without a visible theme. Themes give novels an opportunity to teach the reader a moral. In T.H. White’s fantasy literature novel The Once And Future King, the reader will discover multiple morals within its four-part plot. The novel takes place in twelfth-century England where the viewer meet a young King Arthur and his life and trials living through the Middle Ages. Much of this book consists of Arthurian Legends and does a wonderful job conveying its themes. White’s TOFK teaches its audience about the concept of power, pacifism, and the reality of knowledge vs. strength. This essay will explain the morals and views within this Arthurian novel.

    Read More

  • Elizabeth Bennett Pride And Prejudice Analysis

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pride and Prejudice Essay Throughout Jane Austen’s, Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennett faces many challenges to realize that she was in the wrong and her prejudice against Mr. Darcy was misguided. Austen emphasizes the importance of wisdom through Elizabeth, who faces the challenge of overcoming her prejudiced judgement to reach maturity and recognize the man she loves. At the beginning of the novel, Elizabeth Bennett’s first meeting with Mr. Darcy was marred by Mr. Darcy’s pride to which, “Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings towards him.” At the end of the novel, after Elizabeth learns the truth and unravels her prejudice against Darcy, she begins to realize that she does have feelings for him.

    Read More

  • The Tragedy of King Lear Analysis

    2095 Words  | 5 Pages

    In The Tragedy of King Lear, particularly in the first half of the play, Lear continually swears to the gods. He invokes them for mercies and begs them for destruction; he binds both his oaths and his curses with their names. The older characters—Lear and Gloucester—tend view their world as strictly within the moral framework of the pagan religion. As Lear expresses it, the central core of his religion lies in the idea of earthly justice. In II.4.14-15, Lear expresses his disbelief that Regan and Albany would have put the disguised Kent, his messenger, in stocks. He at first attempts to deny the rather obvious fact in front of him, objecting “No” twice before swearing it. By the time Lear invokes the king of the pagan gods, his refusal to believe has become willful and almost absurd. Kent replies, not without sarcasm, by affixing the name of the queen of the gods to a contradictory statement. The formula is turned into nonsense by its repetition. In contradicting Lear’s oath as well as the assertion with which it is coupled, Kent is subtly challenging Lear’s conception of the universe as controlled by just gods. He is also and perhaps more importantly, challenging Lear’s relationship with the gods. It is Kent who most lucidly and repeatedly opposes the ideas put forth by Lear; his actions as well as his statements undermine Lear’s hypotheses about divine order. Lear does not find his foil in youth but in middle age; not in the opposite excess of his own—Edmund’s calculation, say—but in Kent’s comparative moderation. Likewise the viable alternative to his relationship to divine justice is not shown by Edmund with his ...

    Read More

  • Scene Analysis in Pride and Prejudice

    926 Words  | 2 Pages

    This passage occurs shortly after Elizabeth has received a letter from mr.darcy. The reason for the writing of the letter comes from the fact that Elizabeth had accused Darcy of two main issues. The first accusation against darcy was that he was a dishonorable man because he cheated Mr.Wickham out of land. Following this accusation, Elizabeth also believed that bingley's dismissal of jane was his doing.

    Read More

  • Elements Of Horror Movies

    527 Words  | 2 Pages

    Horror movies are one of the most fascinating genres of film that exists. They are unrealistic but at the same time, they are also realistic. This realism that they contain is what draws people’s interest towards them because viewers are able to associate aspects of their own lives with the film. Every horror movie, no matter how farfetched the theme or plot may be, contains an element that people can relate to. This element may not be observable to a conscious mind, but to an unconscious mind, it brings back memories of something that has been repressed earlier in our lives (Wood, 197). This recollection of suppressed memories is how horror films create a sense of fear and it is literally what Robin Wood means when he talks about “the return

    Read More

  • The Princess Diaries 2 Analysis

    1264 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The princess Diaries 2, Princess Mia graduates from college, and moves to Genovia to live in a palace with her grandmother in order to take her place as queen. On Mia’s twenty-first birthday, she is obligated to dance with all the eligible bachelors, and at her birthday “ball”, she meets Nicholas. Mia and Nicholas have an encounter where they seem the “fall in love at first sight”. After her birthday, Mia learns about a law that is enforced in Genovia that requires her to get married before she can take her place as queen, and at the same time she finds out that Nicholas is trying to steal the crown from her. Mia finds a man named Andrew that she wants to marry, but when it comes time to get married Mia backs out and makes a motion to veto the law that forces her to get married. In the end, Mia becomes queen without having to marry, and her grandmother ends up marrying the love she always wanted.

    Read More

  • Pride And Prejudice Dialogue Analysis

    1698 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy both go through dramatic changes in their attitude towards each other. Darcy is devoted to Elizabeth, but denies it because of her family and her lower status. Elizabeth believes Darcy to be arrogant and interfering. Through conversations these characters have, their true regard for each other is discovered. Austen effectively uses dialogue to develop the change in the principal characters’ moral temperament, and also to advance significant concerns in the novel such as marriage and wealth-based status.

    Read More

  • Pride And Prejudice Movie Analysis

    1256 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pride and Prejudice started as a book written by Jane Austen, and is now a beloved movie. It debuted in 1995 and was directed by Simon Langton. Because of the beautifully made dresses, magnificent balls, and star-crossed lovers, this movie is admired by many. Pride and Prejudice has captivated the hearts of several due to the elegant lifestyle, exquisitely written words, and romantic story depicted in the movie.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Richard Powell's Film 'HEIR'

Open Document