With a brilliant central performance, The Heiress slowly builds its tension, taking its story in unexpected directions.
Director Chris Bell is just as confident flipping genre tropes as he is utilising traditional scare tactics to keep the viewer firmly behind a pillow.
The "person behind a closing door" scares are there, but they don't feel worn in the same way they do in other films as they are earnt through the ever thicker atmosphere the film churns up.
The Heiress also faces up to the traditional Church vs Science fight shared by many other suburban horror films, but tackles it with a fresh approach that feels more grounded in reality.
This juxtaposition is echoed throughout the film, a fight between the mundane and supernatural, be it parental bickering or vivid dreams.
But the bottom line with a horror film is "does it scare?"
Here The Heiress really delivers. It is one thing to make a decrepit mansion or a dark forest scary, but here the terror is in brightly lit fields and a detached new build.
Review of The Heiress
