[movie] Hereditary

[hepcat]

So I've been chomping at the bit for this horror film for a while now. The trailer is...odd...but creepy. Still, it doesn't strike me as particularly terrifying.

However, the reviews have been stellar, with some putting it on the same level as the original Exorcist. It's opening today, so hopefully I'll be able to catch a showing this weekend/early next week.

Just a heads up for the other horror fans here.

[ImLawBoy]

This is one I'm going to put on the list of movies I want to see someday but probably never will. It's a very long list.

And now to focus on the irrelevant part of your post. The Exorcist was one of those movies that never hit for me. I think it was a combination of already having read the book and hearing so much hype about the movie, but it didn't scare me one bit. The Omen, on the other hand, creeped me right the fuck out.

[hepcat]

Really? Complete opposite here. The Omen was...okay. But it was The Exorcist that caused me many a childhood night of sleeplessness.

Perhaps it's because I didn't see The Omen until after I saw the SNL parody of it. Having a priest pull back John Belushi's hair while standing behind and above him at one point, seeing the 666 and then yelling in relief that it's 999 takes some of the oomph out of the event in the real movie.



But Linda Blair sounding like Tom Waits after gargling with broken glass? You can't top that, man.

edit: thankfully I didn't see Second City TV's Exorcise until after I'd seen the original.

[ImLawBoy]

That might be my favorite SNL sketch of all time. IIRC, that's the one where someone hurt their head falling through a window, and throughout the rest of the show more and more cast members wore bandages on their heads in the same place. (Or I might have imagined that in a fever dream.)

[gameoverman]

I hadn't heard about Hereditary until this week, now it's everywhere. I hope to see it this weekend, this would be a nice followup to A Quiet Place in terms of unheralded horror movies.

I was too young to see either The Exorcist or The Omen when they were in theaters. My parents saw The Exorcist in theaters and it immediately ranked as the worst "What kind of people make movies like this?" offender with my mom, since that was her goto question when she saw or heard of a movie that crossed the line. So I saw both movies on tv, good ol' regular broadcast tv. Edited to hell and back, and in that old square aspect ratio...with commercials. Even so, The Exorcist scared the crap out of me, The Omen was 'meh'.

For me the difference is this: In The Exorcist, the girl is possessed. She's an innocent and this horrible thing is happening to her, it could happen to me! In The Omen, that kid is the anti-Christ. He was born evil. There is only one of him, so that means this can't happen to me. The Omen is a good movie, well done, but the horror is a bit impersonal to really have the kind of punch The Exorcist has.

[ImLawBoy]

I watched The Omen by myself, late at night, when everyone else at my house was asleep.

I watched The Exorcist with a group of friends.

I'm guessing this had something to do with how I perceived these movies.

[Holman]

The Exorcist was ruined (I would say elevated) for me because I encountered it first in Mad magazine.

I watched The Omen by myself, late at night, when everyone else at my house was asleep.

I watched The Exorcist with a group of friends.

I'm guessing this had something to do with how I perceived these movies.

Once I decided it would be great to watch The Shining at home alone with my family out of town at midnight.

[Jeff V]

I hadn't heard about Hereditary until this week, now it's everywhere. I hope to see it this weekend, this would be a nice followup to A Quiet Place in terms of unheralded horror movies.

I was too young to see either The Exorcist or The Omen when they were in theaters. My parents saw The Exorcist in theaters and it immediately ranked as the worst "What kind of people make movies like this?"

Heh, my mom took me to see The Exorcist - this was during a brief period in her life when she actually read some novels, and this happened to be one of them. She made a similar comment -- not regarding The Exorcist, but the Gene Hackman movie "Night Moves" which was on the double-bill. Night Moves, you see, had the evil boobies.

The Omen I saw after reading the book, so the movie was nothing special. The Shining I saw with some friends and while I thought the acting was good, I was completely underwhelmed by the horror aspect.

[McNutt]

The Omen I saw after reading the book, so the movie was nothing special.

It just wasn't for you.

[GreenGoo]

[Brian]

Neither The Omen nor The Exorcist gave me much in the way of shivers.

Phantasm straight up fucked me sideways though.

[McNutt]

I was a kid when I saw The Exorcist and it's the only horror movie I remember affecting me.

[hepcat]

I remember when it was released. It became this almost legendary event to us kids. All it took was a few seconds of Tubular Bells and we’d get chills...and all we’d even seen was the commercials. Some of the kids at school would swear they’d snuck into a theater to see it, and we’d sit and listen to them relate the plot at lunch. It was such forbidden fruit.

Same thing with the original Dawn of the Dead.

Phantasm straight up fucked me sideways though.

One of my absolute favorite films, but for some reason it didn’t scare me as much.

[Jaymann]

Your mother sews socks that smell.

[GreenGoo]

Phantasm straight up fucked me sideways though.

Just the TV commercials did number on me.

[YellowKing]

We went to see it last night. No spoilers:

It's not only one of the most interesting horror films I've seen in a long time, it's one of the most interesting films period. Every frame of this film is designed to heighten feelings of tension and dread, and the fear is set down in thin layers that build upon each other throughout the running time. It's much like THE WITCH in this respect; however this film felt much more accommodating to mainstream audiences.

I'm a seasoned horror veteran, and it takes a lot to truly scare me anymore. However, I was so invested in this film that at one point I actually screamed aloud - and I NEVER, NEVER do that. And it wasn't even a particularly scary scene - it's just that the film had manipulated my dread and anticipation to the point that I couldn't help myself. I literally spent much of the last half hour half-shielding my eyes, and it's been a LONG time since a horror film has caused me to do that.

Toni Collette is amazing in this film, and has cemented herself as a beloved horror icon. Her character is the linchpin of the film, and without her brilliant portrayal the film wouldn't have been half as effective.

The movie falls just shy of being a classic for me due to some choices made with the ending, but for me it absolutely lived up to the hype. It will be polarizing among casual/mainstream audiences, but I think horror fans will find it a true delight and one of the best horror films in years.

[hepcat]

I think I’m going to catch a late matinee on Tuesday. Can’t wait now. Thanks for the review!

[msteelers]

Any reason why it got a D+ Cinemascore? Do horror movies typically get lower Cinemascores?

[Hamlet3145]

Probably too artsy for the plebs.

[YellowKing]

Any reason why it got a D+ Cinemascore? Do horror movies typically get lower Cinemascores?

Yes, horror movies typically get lower Cinemascores. This is also a very slow burn of a movie that takes its time unveiling the horror. For audiences used to rapid fire jump scares and non-stop action, that sometimes translates into "boring." This movie owes a lot to horror-dramas of the '70s in terms of pacing and atmosphere, so folks not familiar with those films may not get it.

Just anecdotally, the crowd in my showing really enjoyed it.

[hepcat]

LARRY THE CABLE GUY: HEALTH INSPECTOR has a Cinemascore of B+. I think that's all you need to know.

[hepcat]

Okay, just got back. I have to admit to feeling a wee bit let down as I'd built this up in my mind thanks to all the hype. But it's still a very, very good horror film. And yeah, Toni Collete gives a master class in acting throughout the film.

Spoiler time:

Spoiler:

What I liked:

I had no idea what was happening until the last 45 minutes or so. They did a great job of feeding us information meant to misdirect us. And they did so without making it feel cheap. The trailers for the film are a good example. You think Charlie is a main character in the tale thanks to her prominence in the trailers, but she dies early and isn't really THAT integral to the grand design of things. She was merely a stopover for the journey to the big reward.

Gabriel Byrne. I'm sorry. I've been a Gabriel Byrne fan since Miller's Crossing. He can do very little wrong. I can't believe the guy is 68. I also can't believe they cast him as Toni Collete's husband. I like the guy, but 68 is a little too old for the father of two teenagers.

The dread that is built through the music, the expressions on people's faces, the camera angles. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: The original The Haunting is one of the top two or three greatest horror films ever made...and it doesn't show a single drop of blood. It achieves everything through the camera and sound. While Hereditary does have a lot of blood, it still reminded me of The Haunting in many ways.

That final shot in the film that makes you wonder if Peter really is possessed, of if he's just shell-shocked by everything. And if he is possessed, how much of Peter is still there. Because to be honest, he still looked a bit scared at the end. Certainly not like one of the eight kings of hell.

What I didn't like:

It was essentially Rosemary's Baby (appropriate since it's the films 50 anniversary this year) with a dash of Exorcist towards the end. As such, it wasn't quite as original as I was hoping. I'm still waiting for that film that changes horror for me through sheer originality (Blair Witch Project was the last one that really turned things around for me as the found footage genre was still very much in its infancy...then Audition because it completely played with the audience's perception of what a movie about a maniac could be, and by jumping from genre to genre effortlessly in the beginning).

The ending went on a little too long and felt a little self indulgent in the reveal. Up until that point I was internally praising the film for not stopping to give us the usual mid-movie, 10 minute speech covering what's really going on as explained by one of the supporting cast members. But then they gave us a 10 minute speech covering what's really going on as explained by one of the supporting cast members at the tail end of the film.

We learn that Paimon, one of the eight kings of Hell, apparently has a nut allergy.

But to summarize: I think it's a movie that any true fan of horror will enjoy.

[YellowKing]

Spoiler:

My biggest criticism of the film is that it goes to great lengths to establish two distinct possibilities: either Paimon and all this demonic rigamarole is real, or Toni Collette is batshit crazy and we're all witnessing the fevered delusions of a madwoman. I'd have loved to have the film leave the truth ambiguous. Instead, I think it showed its hand and gave me an answer I really didn't ask for.

[hepcat]

Spoiler:

I was fine with it going all out horror at the end. I think the ambiguous ending in films that try to make you believe everything may be due to a breakdown are overdone, personally. I just thought it was too much exposition at the end.

And old man penis. Too much old man penis.

[gameoverman]

Any reason why it got a D+ Cinemascore? Do horror movies typically get lower Cinemascores?

I saw it, I'd say the answer to your question is that this is not a horror movie. So people going to see it because "it's the scariest movie of the year" will be disappointed, massively disappointed. Ryan Gosling had a movie a while back, Drive, that disappointed a lot of people. That's because it was promoted as this car chase action movie when that's not what it was at all. Hereditary is to scary movies what Drive was to car chase movies.

I liked this movie a lot, as I liked Drive. But that's because I liked it for what it was, I was able to let go of the expectation of being scared by it. It's about as scary as a David Lynch movie. It is very weird, it is tense, it is discomforting. It pushes people's buttons, even the ones they really don't want pushed. It is exceptionally well made. This movie has it all, visuals, dialogue, acting, music...it's extremely well crafted.

I think if certain themes this movie explores resonate with you more, then yeah it might be scary. For me it was fascinating instead of scary. I think that because it contains the content typical of horror films, people want to call it a horror film. In this movie I think that content is more a means to an end rather than the point of the movie.

Spoiler:

My biggest criticism of the film is that it goes to great lengths to establish two distinct possibilities: either Paimon and all this demonic rigamarole is real, or Toni Collette is batshit crazy and we're all witnessing the fevered delusions of a madwoman. I'd have loved to have the film leave the truth ambiguous. Instead, I think it showed its hand and gave me an answer I really didn't ask for.

I felt like the biggest mistake was when they threw subtlety out the window,

Spoiler:

specifically the mom crawling on the walls bit. Until then the movie was relatively low key and all the more effective because of it. I think it devalues all the small creepy bits they were building on when suddenly the bad guy can defy gravity. Seeing your reflection smiling back at you is small potatoes compared to that.