Good thread. This is what I think:
Howard was not a psychopath. Psychopaths are clever and manipulative people without consciences. Since they are unemotional they do not have sudden emotional outbreaks like Howard had.
I rather think Howard was deeply traumatized due to his time in the military, his family abandoning him and probably a dew other things as well. He was a broken man unable to move on. This is why he was mentally unstable and had the mad idea to get himself a new daughter so that he could go back to how life used to be. So he's more of a tragic figure than a monster, but clearly having lost his mind of course.
As far as we know, he did not harm his family, but they left him. So I think the loss of the family was a cause for his condition rather than him having murdered them because he was crazy. As far as we know he is only implied to have murdered one person previously, which would be the kidnapped girl. There is also no indication that he had intended to murder that girl, or rape her as some claim. It is rather more likely that a similiar scenario to the one in the movie played out. Obviously she did not respond kindly to being kidnapped and tried to escape. Howard then killed her in panic as he naturally wouldn't want to go to jail for kidnapping. This is naturally not a healthy thing to do, but if he had already gone as far as kidnapping, then murder is really not far away. Kidnapping is not a mentaly healthy thing to do of course, but Howard was probably so desperate that he operated by a warped logic and did not think it through. Point being that it wasn't due to sadism or malice.
That takes us to the events of the film. I think it is likely that Howard was trying to make amends for his crime by genuinely trying to rescue the others. That would at least explain why he allowed Emmett into his bunker. Because if he truly had sinister plans it would not make sense to allow a third person into the bunker. He really had no use for Emmett. As for Michelle, it would seem that he thought, with an apocalypse going on and all, that he this time would be able to get himself a new daughter without anyone getting hurt.
So basically he was a murderer previously, but it seems like he actually did have good intentions for the other survivors in the movie. He was however still unstable and that's why it did not work out as planned. I guess it could be a lesson that you can never escape your past even during the end of the world...
Him shooting Emmett is brought up as an example of him being a monster, but this one I don't really see the problem with. Emmett said he was making a weapon that he would use against him. In that case it was a kill or be killed situation. Sure he could perhaps have kept him chained up in a cell, but for what? As far he knew the world had ended and he would have to keep Emmett locked up for the rest of his life. That would hardly have been much a of a life for either of them. Locking up Emmett would also carry the risk that Michelle might try to release him at any time. If he had any brain cells at all, he would be very wary of trusting her at that point.
The part that is hardest to explain is the change that happens to Howard after he executes Emmett. After that he really does turn into some textbook creep/childmolester. Previously he was paranoid and unstable, but also exhibited benign and fatherly attributes. My theory is that shooting Emmett became the point of no return for him. Before that he had tried to make amends for murdering that girl and tried to hold back his inner darkness, but shooting Emmett launched him headlong into that darkness. I think that he at that point gave up on ever becoming normal again. He found it easier to to just let go and embrace his insanity. I guess you can say that, in a twisted way, he found peace as he at last became the monster.
Well that is what I thought was going on anyway, in summary this would be Howards character development:
Traumatized > Made a bad decision that ended horribly > Tried to make amends by saving people > Messed everything up again > Gives up and goes full creep
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Proximety
9 years ago
Interesting stuff.
Will add my 2 cents I havnt seen in the discussion so you can dissect it if its plausible or not.
Emmett had plans, what plans are unknown but say something along the lines of getting rid of Howard and getting yummi with Michelle.
Emmett fakes his "broken arm" to appear harmless
He enters the air control room trough the door not the vent. He brings Howards daughters earing (Ofc Howard has stuff from his daughter in the bunker)
He scratches the HELP on the inside. He pins himself with the earing so its bloody, shuts down the air in the bunker he built himself and goes back.
He stacks the door so its only possible to get there trough the vents. That's why Howard cant enter the room.
I will also add that Howard started the air filtration when he went into "lock-down" He could enter that room and for sure there wasn't any HELP msg or miscellaneous bloody earrings laying around. This I imply by common sense.
After Michelle discover the obvious clues by Emmett, he easily misleads her to believe that the girl in the picture is not Howards daughter but a girl who went missing 2 years ago.
All with the purpose to paint Howard as a creep and get the girl himself.
Notice that the boardgame where Howard don't know the answer is also directed by Emmett and directly plays on the picture he painted to Michelle. Look Howard is a creep.
As for the true answer to the card? Perhaps it was little princess, Howard most likely played the game before. Did it or did it not strike you as strange that a game that had an answer like Santa Claus had an answer "Little woman" in it?
You guys think Emmett handled the situation badly when he stood in front on the acid? Its because Emmett knows Howard aint a Serial Killer. He underestimate Howards response though.
Just to be clear, there was no murdered girl. Photo was taken by the mother ofc.
Edit: Ah, just saw that there is an entire thread about this made by Troyal1.
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alexkeithwatson
9 years ago
Why does Howard the paranoid conspiracy theorist go outside then? and run Michelle off the road. Why was he on the road why not just stay in the bunker. I like your theory about Emmet scratching the help himself adding his blood to it. But if he was a malicious murderer he would have given a better excuse for the scissors and tape..
You don't really explain Howard's willingness and practiced hand at kidnapping, or his acid bath confrontation. I don't think Howard was a creep type.. He had many opportunities to molest Michelle when she was tied up. He never peeped on her or touched her in a funny way during the film. Because he saw her as a daughter figure. Hence why hed shoot the guy so readily and why he ran to her gushing with your safe now ect.. like you would to your daughter if she saw something like that.
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Proximety
9 years ago
Why does Howard the paranoid conspiracy theorist go outside then?
He´s a prepper not a recluse. He knew his neighbour right? (Even if he didn't like her all that much ;p)
You don't really explain Howard's willingness and practiced hand at kidnapping.
In this theory we take what Howard said at face-value. He really had an accident hurrying back. His reason for bringing Michelle along (Guilty conscience/Hero Complex/Didn't want to be alone in the bunker) is unknown.
His acid bath confrontation...
As for the acid in the bunker. Howard knows a lot of uses for it, mainly as a fuel substitute, I think you could make diesel from it? You do remember that the air filtration unit ran on a generator right? As in good to have extra fuel in the bunker.
Howard uses the acid as a scare tactic to get the truth and in his book it works. Michelle is almost petrified in that scene due to having been lied to, but not Emmett...
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