FAMILIAR
Director: Richard Powell
Writers: Richard Powell
Stars: Robert Nolan, Astrida Auza and Cathyrn Hostick
Reviewed by Char Hardin
Short - Horror
3 Out of 5
“Don’t think…Give me control...Now!”
Last year Fatal Pictures’ Richard Powell along with Producer Zach Green gave festival goers something to talk about…Geoffrey Dodd, a disenchanted school teacher with dark fantasies, in which he entertained thoughts of mirth tinged in wickedness, lust for a female student old enough to be his daughter and annihilating his class with a killer inner monologue. Its 2012 what bone have the fellows at FATAL PICTURES thrown us reviewers? The answer is a whole new character from the family DODD.
John Dodd relative to Geoffrey (WORM) Dodd is having a mid-life crisis and there is something familiar with this character, he like Geoffrey is not alone in his dialogue. Where Geoffrey was consumed with his inner rage at his life…John has something whispering to his psyche and this inner voice wants to control John and take over the host in which it is living. John immersed in his own self-making hell, is oblivious to the evil’s true intent, it no longer wants to advise him, it wants total control. John’s family life is the perfect situation for the inner entity.
John has for years looked forward to the time, his daughter will have flown the coop and his life could go back to the way it was before without any commitments. For all intents purposes, it’s as if he just wants to chuck his family and be left alone in his life. An unexpected announcement sends John into a tizzy, when he learns his middle-age wife is expecting a child…his child and all his plans of freedom from fatherhood fly right out the window. Resentment and anger consume his soul and push him into a most grievous and cruel act. It is after some Internet research, he finds his answer and purchases it. The product is a success, only instead of ridding John of his problem; it creates another that drives him to distraction and multiple pills for his deeply depressed wife. With each new development, John slips further inside himself, and the inner voice gets stronger and begins to push against his fleshy confines, to break free from the body that is imprisoning him. John is ultimately pushed to his limits, when the voice becomes stronger and more demanding and rears its ugliness up in a manner that terrifies a John. The climatic ending is horrifying and very disturbing.
I was a fan of the first Dodd story revolving around Geoffrey Dodd in WORM. Its tension building was phenomenal and disturbing and yet whimsical in a manner that, when the final moment came…it left me mad that time was up. With WORM, I wanted it to continue and see where the night would take Geoffrey Dodd, after spending the day with him at his job as a school teacher. In the story of John Dodd…I didn’t feel that same excitement or edge of my seat thrill that I did with the first one.
I am not saying the film was terrible, because it was not. It was good and Robert Nolan was amazing. As with Geoffrey Dodd, his portrayal of John was convincing and lacked nothing. He channeled the inner voice and his facial expressions were tight and everything he was thinking was clearly showcased on his face. From the time the film starts with him talking from his bed to the morning rituals of getting dressed and relaying to the viewer just how he felt about his wife, daughter and his world, I fell in love with Roberts’ performance all over again. His voice is quiet and builds in sternness and eventually to madness and ultimately terrified. His transitioning was timed perfectly. He made it look easy and gave madness a look of normalcy laced with a sardonic humor. Robert keeps the viewer glued to the screen. I am not taking away from the performance of his wife, Charlotte played by Astrida Auza and his daughter Jordan played by Cathryn Hostick. Both these women were good with their parts.
The women in his life wife and daughter from the beginning are painted as a thorn of disappointment and John goes so far, as to compare Jordan to a parasite living off her host/parents. They are immediately made to look bad in the eyes of the viewer, because the sympathy is all focused on John and his “woe is me” life, but this in no way takes away from their abilities, as far as acting is concerned. They did very well. John is just the main character and I really enjoy watching Robert Nolan in film.
Prior to watching FAMILIAR, recently I was awarded the opportunity to see him in a comedy opposite Paul Nichols in RESTAURANT ETTIQUETTE and he was hysterical. His timing combined with a dry sense of humor is a scream! In FAMILIAR he carries that same sense of humor up a notch with wickedness and I look forward to many more films with Robert Nolan.
As for FAMILIAR, I liked it and I would recommend it to festival goers, when it hits the circuit, to see it. Writing is good, the dialogue witty and maniacal. There is a point in the movie where gore comes into place and it was bloody quite bloody and the visuals surrounding the scene were disturbing but the not what I expected and in at that moment I was a little disappointed. To say why would be a spoiler and I do not want to spoil that particular part, because it is a pinnacle scene. For me I was disappointed in the tension and anticipation I felt in WORM was lacking in FAMILIAR, but overall the acting was exceptional and realistically delivered. I am giving FAMILIAR 3.5 out of 5.
Robert Nolan…more…I want to see more of you in 2012.
Char Hardin
Char Hardin Loves Van Halen!
