The
joy of short films is that they can often tell a story every bit
as involving and complex as a feature, but without the padding
and the excess that a full length movie all too often requires
to stretch the high concept into a commercial running time. Case
in point is director Richard Powell and producer Zach Green’s
Familiar, as tight and nightmarish a horror film
as you could hope to see. At 23 minutes long, it’s neither
rushed nor dragged out, but instead allows the story to develop
at its own pace before delivering a spectacularly bloody coup
de grace.
Robert Nolan plays John Dodd, a tightly-wound, seemingly emotionless
45 year old who is tormented by a voice in his head – as
he sits quietly at the dinner table, the voice spews vitriol against
his wife and daughter and dreams of the day he can be free. But
when his wife announces that she’s pregnant, the voice demands
he takes action. Mail order abortion pills seem the answer, but
it soon becomes obvious that this is only a temporary solution,
and the voice demands more extreme action. As Dodd struggles to
fight the demands, the voice begins to take on a physical manifestation
within his body, and soon Dodd has to confront the monster within
before it destroys him.
Nolan is remarkable – while the voice in his head spouts
vitriol and hatred, he maintains an outward calm, yet still looks
like a man barely hanging on – it’s a powerfully subtle
performance, and it’s matched by the slick feel of the film
– certainly as polished as any feature you care to name.
The physical manifestation of his hatred is impressively unsettling
too – like something from a Cronenberg film, the weird growths
are guaranteed to make most viewers feel instinctively appalled,
and Dodd’s radical, desperate way of dealing with the problem
is painfully gory.
A wonderful slice of intelligent body horror, Familiar
might not be easy to see – I’ve no idea where the
film is being screened – but if you get the chance, don’t
miss it. It's the best horror film I've seen in a while.
The
joy of short films is that they can often tell a story every bit
as involving and complex as a feature, but without the padding
and the excess that a full length movie all too often requires
to stretch the high concept into a commercial running time. Case
in point is director Richard Powell and producer Zach Green’s
Familiar, as tight and nightmarish a horror film
as you could hope to see. At 23 minutes long, it’s neither
rushed nor dragged out, but instead allows the story to develop
at its own pace before delivering a spectacularly bloody coup
de grace.