Familiar was a great, short film in a lot of ways. It was most notable for its practical effects and 1st person narrative style. I wrote a little review on it, which you can read HERE! Fatal Pictures, the production company behind both Familiar and Worm, is truly doing the right thing in the world of horror. They are bringing quality on low budgets and making films that are memorable.
I had a chance to interview Zach Green a few weeks ago about the company and where it was headed (read). A few days afterwards, in private, I mentioned that I never saw Worm, which came before Familiar, and Zach was kind enough to get me a screener of it. I sat down, watched the entire 20 minutes and had the same feeling of satisfaction that I got when I finished Familiar. Worm reinforced my trust in Fatal Pictures and I can say that they are on the right path.
Geoffrey Dodd (John Dodd’s twin from Familiar) is a high school teacher, who, like his brother, is experiencing violent and expressive inner thoughts. He spends his days dealing with kids who he think is unappreciative, but really, they are just being kids. The insane violence that is roaming around Geoffrey’s head is unusual and may be caused by something else.
Once again, it’s pretty hard to write a review on something that is only twenty minutes long and if I were to talk about it in length I would ruin it for you. So, I’ll try to sell you on the film without going into too much detail.
Robert Nolan, who plays the part of Geoffrey Dodd and who also played John Dodd in Familiar, steals the show. His character is on a path of self-destruction and he portrays that clearly. Geoffrey’s anger is shown vividly by Nolan and there is nothing less than conviction in his performance. Both Familiar and Worm are propelled by Nolan’s inner dialogue and his darting eyes. He, once again, proves that an actor doesn’t always have to give big speeches to steal the show.
What I enjoyed about Worm is to see the teacher’s thoughts in a classroom and how much disdain that one could have for the kids they are in charge of watching. Most times the story is from the kids point of view, but this time we are treated to a foul mouthed and hate-filled man who wants nothing more than to murder every child in the room. That’s pretty metal.
Worm feels like a lesser part of Familiar. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but Worm feels like half the film that Familiar is. Familiar takes it to another level and provides a better understanding to the intentions of the character. Worm is almost a proof-of-concept for Familiar; in that it teases what could be accomplished in something a little more extreme.
I really enjoyed Worm and I love seeing Nolan play that psychotic role. I think the man has a future in horror as does Fatal Pictures. Watch Worm first before seeing Familiar because Familiar is the better film, but Worm is still quite good.
