LogFAQs > #910765123

61. Hereditary (film) (18 points)
Nominated by: GANON1025 (4/5 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6wWKNij_1M" data-time="

Importance: 5
Fear: 6
Snake: 7

Hereditary was a weird film experience for me. As the most hyped horror film of the year, its attention grabbing trailer made the most of strange imagery, stressed-looking characters, an awesome score, and one particular mouth-popping little girl. I honestly have not seen a trailer for a horror film that good in a long time, and I really mean that. It was the type of trailer that really did not spoil or reveal anything but instead captured the mood and vision of what you would eventually see. More trailers like this would make the world a better place.

I did not see this on initial release in theaters, it was a couple of months after actually, and I think that really helped me form a better, honest opinion about it. I was happy everyone loved it and was excited to see it, but I didn't want to be influenced by the hype. I have many conflicting feelings about the film. The performances are rock-solid and capture a family in pure depression and disdain for one another, and I can still remember how Toni Collette yelled her heart out at the family dinner table or Alex Wolff's look of pure emptiness after his sister gets accidentally decapitated on the road back from a party. This type of horror is one that's tangible and you can feel it crawl throughout your skin.

Plot-wise however, it loses me a little. Its deep underlying cult aspect feels ripped from and done better in Rosemary's Baby, with a really cliche "older lady" friend plot line that to me just detracts from the strengths of the family drama. Even some of the more straightforward horror moments late in the film almost feel like they come straight out of an Insidious or Conjuring movie. Maybe I just expected something more psychological here, although the ending is creepy and uniquely ambiguous which slightly makes up for the more tried & true tropes found in the film. I wouldn't say these are done bad, and some even magnify the family tribulations, but I've seen many horror films this decade that feel more special in their execution.

I can definitely see the importance of this film rising in future years, remembered as a classic of its era. I would recommended it to anyone even remotely interested in horror, and one plus I would give its common horror elements is that they can definitely ease viewers in before hitting them with the hard stuff. I can even see it growing more and more on me too with multiple viewings in the future.
---

If the suspense doesn't kill you, something else will!
http://tinyurl.com/zqwzc9a - https://imgur.com/a/OcdhKKR