The Heiress

When i started working in health care in the summer of 1999, i remember meeting a patient who had epileptic seizures. My first reaction was, i became worried. I was not used to meet someone who had epileptic seizures. But i learned through a work collegue of mine, how to help the patient if a seizure does happen. You might not think about it if you are not working in health care, but there are a lot of people worldwide who have epileptic seizures. Some have smaller ones, while some have bigger seizures. And whenever i meet a younger generation of health care workers, i can bring up the importance of knowing about epilepsy, and what it actually means. Because if a human do fall to the ground, and is not taken care of correctly, it could cause damage to the patient. So if you know how to help that person in the best possible way, you could save their life. It is also good to know what could eventually start epileptic seizures, such as disco lights, or if you drink alcohol. There are of course other reasons as well, such as a severe head injury, a brain tumour or a stroke. Speaking of epilepsy, there is actually a very good film that you should see, that brings up the subject of a patient who lives with epileptic seizures. And that film is called Electric, directed by Bryn Higgins. Electric tells the story of Lily O´Connor, who is trying to live life as normal as she can, even though she does have epileptic seizures. She finds out that her brother may be alive, who she thought have been dead for a long time. So she decides to travel to see him, even though this journey could be dangerous for her, with her epileptic seizures. Electric is a really well made British drama film, with top class acting from the whole cast, especlally lead actress Agyness Deyn as the main character Lily. To be able to play a person with epileptic seizures, and make it look realistic is not easy to do. I suggest that you pick this film up from the UK on DVD, a must see if you like really powerful drama films. Speaking of epilepsy, earlier this year i was reading reviews on a British indepemdent horror film called The Heiress, about a woman who suffer with epiletic seizures, and i became very curious to check this film out. A very interesting idea for a horror film, so the question is, did this film turn out to be quite good, or is this almost as bad as the horrible film Urban Legends: Final Cut?

The sisters Claire ( Candis Nergaard ) and Anna ( Jayne Wisener ) have just said their last goodbye, to their beloved Nan. While they grief, Claire is trying to deal with her life as good as she can, since she is having seizures, everyday. Her sister Anna is worried about her, and do the best she can to take care of her sister. Claire is not only struggling with her seizures, but she begin to see people in her home as well. Is this all connected to her seizures, and her mental state, or is there another explanation?

I have only seen one film from director Chris Bell, and that is a film he directed with Steven M. Smith, simply called Hooligans At War: North Vs South from 2015. It has been a while since i saw that film on DVD from the UK, but i still remember that film for one reason. This was one of those films you could easily forget, once you have seen it, because it was not good. But the good news is that director Chris Bell have definetely taken his directing skills to a complete different level with The Heiress. Not only does this film look more professional than Holligans At War, you can actually find some good acting performances in The Heiress. Not only does this film have some good acting performances, but i do enjoy the background story of the main character Claire ( played by wonderful actress Candis Nergaard, who some of you might recognize from the 2014 TV mini series Glue ). There are a few scenes where you get to see the main character Claire have seizures, and i think that actress Candis did a realistic portrait of a person, who is struggling with her diagnose. So how does the horror story work in the plot? Surprisingly good, and i think the idea of Candis seeing a mysterious people, walking around her home, is actually quite effective. Remember, this is a film on a very limited budget, so to be able to make a horror film that works with these ideas combined, proves that anything can be done, if you just have a good idea. We have to talk about some of the other actors as well. Actress Jayne Wisener who plays Candis sister Anne, have no problem delivering a performance that match the character well. Director Chris Bell also have a part in this film, as the character Brad, and he definetely does a better performance here than in Hooligans At War. One thing i think this film does right, is to tell the story from how the main character Claire is trying to deal with everyday life. I can imagine that there are people out there, who can recognize themselves in Claire, how hard it can be having mental problems. Even if there are supernatural influences here, this definetely makes the story feel more interesting, since we really don´t know what is going on. The Heiress is a British independent horror film that works better than i expected. Director Chris Bell could be a name to look after in the future, if he continue on this path in the horror genre. Definetely worth a watch, if you appreciate old school horror films.

Rating: DDD