Review of Hereditary (2018) by Dchipps1945 — 09 Jun 2018

Your take on this movie will probably depend on what you expect to get from a horror movie; meaning, if you want shocks and gravity-defying acts by people affected by supernatural forces, this is for you. If you want a scary-but-logical story you can follow from beginning to end, it's not.

For me, the peril in the best horror films is fairly easy to explain: The girl is possessed and the exorcist is going to try to save her. The hotel is haunted, the father is under its spell, and he is threatening his wife and son. I couldn't figure out what the main peril was in this one until literally the last minute of the film, when it was explained to me, and still didn't add up.

I don't agree that the performances were fantastic. Every scene seemed to have a silent "dun-dun-DUN!" sound effect at the end, and with everything so overwrought, I just didn't see a lot of emotional range or transformation going on:

Mom: Manic, freaked out.

Dad: Detached, uncomprehending.

Son: Dazed, terrified.

Daughter: Creepy, man! Just CREEEEEPY!

Mom's friend: Superficially caring, but obviously EVIL.

We've seen these characters before.

I was obviously disappointed. I went in hoping for a great horror film, and experienced a film that loads up on common horror elements and practically screams at the audience, instead of the other way around.