Hereditary

[kajnrig]

From the studio that did(/distributed?) The Witch.

If you've seen The Witch, you'll probably agree that it's not for everyone. And like The Witch, I don't think this is for everyone. It eschews "pop horror" techniques in favor of long, mood-building takes. It's horror done subtly and matter-of-factly instead of through loud noises and quick cuts. There are absolutely zero jump scares; the closest that comes to that is a certain sound repeated throughout the film. It does tend to stick too hard to the long take sometimes - the last... four or five minutes in particular could have been edited down - but it still hit me where it counted when it counted. Phew.

Like I said, you might like it, you might not, but even so, I definitely think it's worth checking out.

[snakerbot]

I'll probably go see this with my sister sometime in the next couple weeks. Horror is one of the few movie genres that we both really enjoy, although this does look more like my style of horror than hers.

[electric indigo]

Just back from seeing it. Toni Collette gave the performance of her life, and the kids were pretty intense, too. Awesome cinematography & sound design give the movie an artsy atmosphere, but at the same time it feels very real in the way the characters are presented. So I was glued to the screen and followed the slow, huge buildup, only to be let down by the ending. It's less about how it ended, but more how it was done, way too over the top & on the nose for my taste.

[kajnrig]

1 hour ago, electric indigo said:

Just back from seeing it. Toni Collette gave the performance of her life, and the kids were pretty intense, too. Awesome cinematography & sound design give the movie an artsy atmosphere, but at the same time it feels very real in the way the characters are presented. So I was glued to the screen and followed the slow, huge buildup, only to be let down by the ending. It's less about how it ended, but more how it was done, way too over the top & on the nose for my taste.

I tend to always lose interest when the plot turns out to be

demonic possession

so that coupled with yes, "how it was done" kind of dampened my impression of the movie, but also yes, the awesome cinematography and sound design and slow, huge buildup and everyone's performances still pulled me through it.

[Valkyrie Griffon]

I read an intriguing review of this a couple weeks ago. It's not a gore-fest right? I literally don't watch modern "horror" films because they have so little creativity and just rely on gore and demons as a crutch for their lack or creativity.

[kajnrig]

5 minutes ago, Valkyrie Griffon said:

I read an intriguing review of this a couple weeks ago. It's not a gore-fest right? I literally don't watch modern "horror" films because they have so little creativity and just rely on gore and demons as a crutch for their lack or creativity.

It doesn't shy away from using grotesque imagery (major understatement there), but it also doesn't overdo it. Everything has this... remarkably grounded feel. The gore and horror aren't played up the way they might be in Saw or whatever makes up the Blumhouse franchise of the day.

[Valkyrie Griffon]

Ok thanks. This E3, while not directly related to film, has pushed it over the top for me. For a example my most anticipated game for E3 was REMAKE 2. And I hate what they've done with it with the over emphasis on gore that was never present in the series before RE7. The gameplay vids from the show floor where Leo tries to pull the cop through the shutter and instead literally pulls him apart and we get to see all the gooey entrails....fun!!! For sickos that is...and Last of Us 2...torture porn but because it stars a lesbian main character it's completely ok that it is totally depraved and absurd. Man I miss the days where a horror film was not a Blumhoouse gore/demon fest and we got intelligent and freaky stuff like The Orphanage or even the first American Ring film...

/Siderant, lol. Thanks for the feedback will check this out.

[electric indigo]

I just came up with my personal imaginary ending shot and all is well.

Spoiler

After the final shot where the camera pulls back from the crowning scene, up to the point where it looks like one of Annie's dioramas, there is a transition that reveals that this is actually one of her pieces at the exposition! This would bring the final events full circle and pick up the theme of the demons in our mind, and would additionally give some meaning to the model building, which was unexpectedly dropped over the course of the movie.

 

[electric indigo]

I probably liked it a bit more than Jeremy, but I also share his main point of critique (Spoiler Warning, also for The Witch!)