Hereditary

[Umbrageofsnow]

Anyone seen Hereditary? It is definitely worth trying to get to while it's still in theaters. It's a significantly weirder, better, and scarier movie than the trailer led me to believe and beyond that it's probably best to go in blind. In tone it reminds me a lot of The Witch, to me the trailer made it look like it was going to be Poltergeist.

 

Vague ending spoiler for those unsold on it:

 

Spoiler

The ending is surprisingly Lovecraftian and it's one of those movies that seems like it is going to be one thing and then decides that's boring and does something better.

 

Also it would make a good investigative roleplaying game, I'm seriously thinking it would be a great Fear Itself scenario. Or maybe Dread.

[Rookery]

I was under impressed at first, but the more I think about it, the more it grew on me, but the trailer certainly gave a different impression to the actual film.

 

Spoiler

I thought that they were going to keep the family just crashing and spiralling down without any overt supernatural cause - the bad luck, random tragedy and overwhelming need for family therapy, counselling and getting the hell out of that house! So I was a little disappointed by the initial supernatural reveal - ouija boards seem overused, but re-engaged by the later conspiracy reveal, and the neat touches like all the Grief Support Group returning as a cult members (it was ALL a set up!)

 

I'm not sure if realising that your problems are the result of malign action is more comforting or less Lovecraftian than knowing that it's the random results of an uncaring and indifferent universe?

 

The set designer did a great job of keeping everything anxious and claustrophobic, and someone had done their occult homework with Paimon and the Keys of Solomon. The director also did some interesting stuff with impossible camera angles, recoccurence of objects in groups of six and repeating colour motifs.

 

The cast was also fantastic and worked their socks off with the portrayals of grief.

 

Someone on another forum joked that they wanted the after credits scene to be a Delta Green team showing up with a truck bomb to deal with Paimon and the cult, then hunt down the rest of  the cult (and the book!) while arranging a hasty cover-up framing and slandering the poor mother further.

 

[Tony Williams]

Didn't see the trailer but heard it had good reviews. It's a slow burn ( like the VVitch ) but the whole film is claustrophobic and generates a continuous low level of upset as the family "copes" with what is happening.

 

I kept having uneasy thoughts about the 15 minutes of denouement for several days after, which, for me, is a good sign of a horror film.

 

It's got VERY split reviews on IMDB - really high or really low, which is the same for the original Blair Witch Project ( also the last film I kept having uneasy thoughts about for a few days afterwards ).

 

If you like splatter, gore and jump scares then this isn't the film for you. However if you want to feel creeped out and put in an uncomfortable place ( and can buy into that feeling via a film ) then I would recommend it.