{"id":9565,"date":"2021-03-10T09:11:45","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T09:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/?p=9565"},"modified":"2023-01-03T13:35:41","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T13:35:41","slug":"review-the-heiress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/archive\/review-the-heiress\/","title":{"rendered":"[Review] The Heiress (2021)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Heiress<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Bobby Diabolus takes a look at new supernatural horror The Heiress<\/i> from first-time director, Chris Bell...<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Heiress<\/em> (UK, Chris Bell, 2021) marks the solo directorial debut of Chris Bell, a face more recognisable for acting in an array of Brit gangster flicks over the last few years. <\/strong>Here he marshals a cast of performers familiar from television through a tale of family secrets and supernatural pacts.<\/p>

\"the\u00a0 \u00a0The plot revolves around Claire (Candis Neergard, delivering a sterling performance and doing a lot of the on-screen heavy lifting), a troubled young woman who, after the death of her beloved grandmother, Nanny Abigail, becomes a lot more troubled. The rest of the film will not be entirely unfamiliar to anyone who has paid attention to the goings-on in the horror genre recently (\u00a0Hereditary, Relic, Sator,<\/em> et al) \u2013 a sister, Anna (Jayne Wisener), who can\u2019t cope with Claire\u2019s erratic behaviour; a dad who thinks it\u2019s all in her head; a devoutly Catholic mother who calls in the local priest \u2013 but The Heiress<\/i> still manages to raise some scares. In fact, there is a fair bit more going on under-the-hood than its low budget and straight-to-VOD air suggests.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0It weaves in some solid folk-horror trappings (cursed land, cunning folk, fairy tales, creepy masks) alongside modern kitchen sink drama (basically suburban London accents and a bit of shouting). The figures that infest the sisters\u2019 house (unseen by Anna) are well designed and Bell has a good eye for building a jump scare and making pay off. Several times the creeping dread of shadows under the door and movement on the stairs are used to great effect.<\/p>

\"the\u00a0 \u00a0Kudos to whoever location scouted the movie too. The house that the sisters live in is perfect. It is a classic identikit new-build estate house, but in some of the night scenes, when lit in just the right way, it looks like a Black Forest witch\u2019s cottage, something from the pen of the Brothers Grimm. The movie is at its best when it plays to this juxtaposition \u2013 the fairytale invading the modern. In fact, I found the flashback scenes, where Claire is a child and hearing family history, and some folk-tales at the knee of Nanny Abigail, the most effective in the movie. As well as providing the obligatory exposition dump they take some wicked and delightful left-turns.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0The film maintains its pace well (too often these types of movie fall into a \u2018see a ghost \u2013 no one believes \u2013 see a ghost \u2013 no one believes’ spiral in the middle) and while it doesn\u2019t carry many surprises it does deliver some good frights. If there is one criticism of the plot it is that there are a few too many ideas (hidden books, blood curses, the Apocrypha, witchcraft) and it perhaps would have been better to have had one core reason for the supernatural events fully explored rather than a number of hints. I’m nitpicking, though, as I really enjoyed a few of the turns it takes, especially as an avowed folk-horror nerd.<\/p>

\"the\u00a0 \u00a0As mentioned, the performances are uniformly good, although some of the characters feel a touch under-written (Anna\u2019s boyfriend, Dan, suffers from a few personality reversals that I don\u2019t think are meant to signify a fully developed character arc, more that he does what\u2019s needed in a scene to push the narrative on). The only real bone I have to pick with the writing is the depiction of Claire\u2019s mental health. All we are told is that she has been ‘off work’ for a while and takes \u2018tablets\u2019. The entire mental health subplot is really only in there to give extra weight to nobody believing her story, which is a shame as the \u2018neurotic woman\u2019 trope could have been more neatly subverted. The backstory is certainly there.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0It was good to see a modern home being haunted too for once. It is not a derelict old pile or even a mouldy council house (not a dig at His House<\/em><\/a> (UK, Remi Weekes, 2020) which I thought was excellent, but there does seem to be a pattern of modern, urban ghost stories being set in grotty council houses as if to say hauntings only happen to the rich in big houses or the poor in crappy ones). It is just a normal, suburban strip house. In this way, it pays a bit of a tribute to Poltergeist<\/em> (USA, Tobe Hooper, 1982). Good to see the middle-class get a spooking for once.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0The Heiress<\/i> may not quite be a future classic but there is certainly enough here to warrant the genre fan\u2019s attention and first-time feature director Chris Bell certainly shows a talent for horror. Witches, ghosts, secrets, lies, a great final line \u2013 what\u2019s not to like?<\/p>

The Heiress is released on VOD on 15 March 2021.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBobby Diabolus\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Bobby Diabolus is a south east London based writer and musician. When not trying to see ghosts, he is writing about them. Twitter: @BobbyDiabolus.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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More To Explore<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTales From The Crypt (1972)\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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Tales From The Crypt 1972 \/ Freddie Francis Where does one start with examining arguably Amicus\u2019 greatest portmanteau film? Well, for me, wiping away the<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThe People That Time Forgot (1977)\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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The People That Time Forgot 1977 \/ Kevin Connor The success of Amicus\u2019 first two Edgar Rice Burroughs-based fantasy adventures in 1975 and 1976 led<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tAt The Earth’s Core (1976)\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
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AT THE EARTH’S CORE 1976 \/ Kevin Connor Amicus\u2019 first foray into the science fiction adventure, The Land That Time Forgot (UK, Kevin Connor, 1974)<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead More \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Bobby Diabolus takes a look at new supernatural horror The Heiress from first time director Chris Bell…\u200b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2030],"tags":[1428,1429],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cropped-heiress-poster.jpg?fit=735%2C482&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9565"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9565"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122716,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9565\/revisions\/122716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}