Hereditary [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital]

Warning SPOILERS!!! One of the best horror films of 2018 is HEREDITARY, a nearly indescribable mash-up of supernatural horror and family drama. It also contains some of the most brutal deaths I have seen in a modern-day horror film, five-star performances from everyone in the cast, some weird photography tricks that had me rewinding the film to make sure I saw it correctly, as well as the ugliest child actress I have ever laid eyes on! The film begins with the funeral of the estranged mother of Annie Graham (an exceptional Toni Collette; THE SIXTH SENSE - 1999), where Annie's entire family, which includes husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne; END OF DAYS - 1999), teenage son Peter (a fantastic Alex Wolff; MY FRIEND DAHMER - 2017) and not-quite-right young daughter Charlie (Newcomer Millie Shapiro, who is, to put it simply, hard on the eyes. What's up with her nose???), mourn the passing of Annie's mother, each in their own unusual way. It's quite obvious that Annie doesn't love son Peter as much as she does Charlie (it's explained why in an incredibly hurtful line of dialogue spoken by Annie), but there's something much worse on the horizon. Is it possible that Annie's mother was a witch and she has plans for Peter, even though she's dead? Annie makes a living by creating realistic miniature dioramas, which she fashions down to the most minute of details (check out the opening of the film to see how realistic her dioramas are), which she then displays and sells at at art galleries, She spends more time on them than with her children and we can see it affects them greatly. Peter wants to go to a party with his friends, but Mom makes him take Charlie along. He leaves Charlie alone at the party while he goes off to smoke some pot with a girl he likes, but when Charlie has a piece of chocolate cake, she has some type of allergic reaction and cannot catch her breath. Peter puts her in the car and races to the hospital, but before he gets there, he nearly hits a dog laying in the middle of the road and is forced to swerve off the road, the same time Charlie has her head out the window trying to catch her breath. In an unbelievably brutal scene, Charlie is decapitated at the jawline when her head is smashed against a telephone pole (!). So what does Peter do? Well, he simply drives home and goes to bed (he's in a state of shock). The next morning, we hear Annie scream when she discovers her daughter's headless body in the car. The fact is that we never see her do it, as the scene is played specifically on Peter's face when his mother's screams wake him up, is one of the film's most telling scenes. This film is full of these kind of scenes, which makes it all the more remarkable. While the acting is way above average, it's the direction and photography that got my attention. Directed with a sense of urgency by Ari Aster, whose only other directorial credits are a handful of short films, this is unlike any horror film that came before it and is bound to spawn a bunch of imitators, which couldn't possibly match this film's sense of style. Let me talk about this film's style for a minute: The photography (by Pawel Pogorzelski) plays with light the like I have never seen before, so much so, that I found myself stopping the film, rewinding it and making sure I saw what I saw. Every time there is a trick of the light, something awful and violent happens. The entire film is like living an alternate life in a dream. I really didn't know what to expect, but I found myself jumping out of my seat more than a couple of times. Movies never do that to me, but this one did. That's a testament to this film's effectiveness. I've only revealed 10% of what happens in this film, so be prepared for some major shocks and chills. Let me end this review with this: HEREDITARY is my favorite new film of 2018 and that includes all genres, not just horror. It's guaranteed to put you in a hypnotic trance and plays with your emotions like no other film that came before it. I can't wait to see what Ari Aster does next! A big thumbs-up to everyone involved with this film, from cast to crew. The film runs 127 minutes, but it never seems overlong. And, oh, that ending (it's bound to PO a lot of people, but I found it apt and eerie). If you think modern horror films are spineless and ineffective, may I recommend this film to you? To say I am looking forward to Ari Aster's next film, MIDSOMMAR (2019), is a vast understatement.;

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MY CALL: Emotionally challenging and strikingly acted, this film is really different in all the ways I like. However, its ending wanders perhaps too far into the deep end for some viewers’ taste. MOVIES LIKE Hereditary: Other slow-burn films about suppressed guilt and the family dynamics they affect include The Uninvited (2009), The Babadook (2014), Goodnight Mommy (2014) and The Witch (2016). I’m also reminded of The Skeleton Key (2005) for its connections to conjurations.Loss, grief and guilt… we all have our own way of dealing with them; expressing them… and how we do so may differ from one loss to another. Hereditary examines Annie’s (Toni Collette; Krampus, Fright Night) family after the loss of her mother—grandmother to her teenage son Peter (Alex Wolff; My Friend Dahmer) and eccentric daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro). As Annie questions her own grief—or, lack thereof—her husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne; Gothic, End of Days, Ghost Ship, The Keep) responsibly assumes the role of emotional caretaker, offering support and parental/husbandly surveillance over the household’s feelings. Most curious (or eerie) is young Charlie, who fears no one will care for her now.Emotionally disconnected, Charlie is a strange girl—perhaps even troubled. While everyone else tries to fall back into something more normal, Charlie is… looking for something else. It all begins weird, and then it gets way weirder.Despite its lengthy over-two-hour running time, it wastes no time leading the audience into unease with revelations of the deceased matriarch’s secrets, their family history of serious mental illness, messages from beyond, and glimmers of hallucinations (or even spirits?). We find visions of the deceased, birds kamikazeing into windows, and grave desecration. There is disturbing imagery in the form of severed heads swarming with ants, mismatched reflections, being burned alive and a troubling séance. But that’s nothing compared to the traumatizingly surreal—or maybe way too real—suffering the family endures in response to each other’s hysterical manifestations.Writer and director Ari Aster (upcoming Midsommar) fearlessly breaks into his first feature film. In collaboration with a powerful cast, this emotionally heavy movie finds an uncomfortably tangible sense of grief, blame, rage, melancholy, all manner of contempt; just normal mania pushed to the abnormal limits of our sanity. It’s rare I feel so uncomfortable and impressed at the same time.The pacing yo-yos from quiet and emotionally dismal lulls to normalcy until the middle, when things shift into erratic gear. Despite being well-lit and quite colorful, an outdoors scene momentarily smacks of The Witch (2016). It’s that slow-burn, dread-cultivating, mysterious mysticism. Another scene creepily samples from the Exorcist franchise. And with these honorable samplings of the past, the flavor presented is really all its own.This film gets so weird (and perhaps convoluted to its own detriment) that it sort of flies off the hinges. It does so to such degree that it may turn people off. Think along the lines of the unexpected turns in The Ritual (2017) or The Shrine (2010). To some, this makes it its own unique entity in the genre. To others, it makes it “uneven.” I’m more the former, but can easily recognize sentiments of the latter as well. In either case, I thought this movie was wowingly impactful.

What a creepy movie that I had to watch twice to figure out and then I was even more creeped out.It's not a movie I would necessarily recommend because it's incredibly demonic. I still want to know why the book got burned the second time and her husband burnt up instead of her.But the whole atmosphere of the movie is creepy and it just gets heavy and creepy instantly. And I have to say every actor did an incredible job. Everyone