Private Project

HEIR

After connecting with a stranger of similar interests online, family man Gordon and his young son Paul embark on an ill fated road trip in which Gordon aims to indulge in a secret passion. Before the day ends a horrible truth will be uncovered and a harsh lesson will be learned...

  • Richard Powell
    Director
    Worm, Familiar
  • Richard Powell
    Writer
    Worm, Familiar
  • Zach Green
    Producer
    Worm, Familiar
  • Marc Roussel
    Producer
    Remote, The Last Halloween
  • Bill Obesrt Jr.
    Key Cast
    Resolution, Take this Lollipop
  • Robert Nolan
    Key Cast
    Worm, Familiar
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 10 seconds
  • Production Budget:
    18,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Richard Powell

FATAL PICTURES is a Canadian, Toronto based film production company consisting of Writer/Director Richard Powell & Producer Zach Green. Co-Founded together in 2007. Focusing on the creation of original & challenging independent genre film(s). To date the company has produced three critically acclaimed, award winning short films entitled, Consumption (2008), Worm (2010), Familiar (2012) & their fourth film entitled HEIR, which currently in post production & exceeded the funding target via Kickstarter. Starring the hardest working man in horror, Emmy Winner Bill Oberst Jr. & Robert Nolan.

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Director Statement

HEIR is a monster movie unlike any other, it is a bleak and fantastical examination of one of societies darkest taboos that aims to stimulate the mind and wrench the gut with equal power. HEIR suggests that victimization through sexual abuse leads to mutation of the psyche, soul and in our film, flesh itself. As our film aims to examine the cycle of victimization it only makes sense to depict the various stages of victimization through a trio of characters; Father, Son and the Monster. Just as the Son represents the potential beginning of the cycle the monster reflects the dark and twisted ending and stuck between these two extremes is the father who is faced with a choice which may either break or continue the legacy he was unwillingly included in years ago in his own youth. HEIR is ultimately about the confrontation with that monster, literally and figuratively, which dwells in Gordon's mind and compels him to continue the chain of victimization. This film operates between the worlds of Drama and Horror and takes equally from both in terms of aesthetics, structure and style. As much as I'd like the audience to think about what they are seeing I want them to react viscerally to it as well and with that in mind we set out to create striking, often grotesque and extreme imagery which serves it's own purpose in addition to reinforcing the overall thesis of HEIR. I had originally intended to tell this story as a straight Drama with none of the fantastical Horror trappings. I thought a realistic version of this story would be more disturbing, truthful and effective but as I began to think about what this story really means I realized the metaphor I would end up employing tells a deeper truth despite the monster makeup and Argento-esque lighting. I realized the truest way to tackle the horrors of child abuse and victimization was to pull away the exterior of the human monsters who walk among us and expose the malignancy within. Any time I've been asked to describe HEIR I reply with a simple elevator pitch "They say that anyone who abuses a child is a monster, well what if they really were monsters?".