The most shocking film Hereditary (2018) ever
The difference between a scary movie and a deeply disturbing movie is all in tone, and "Hereditary" gets you from frame one. Ari Aster's slow push-ins and smooth camera moves underline the horror of "Hereditary" in much the same way Stanley Kubrick's technique made "The Shining" the iconic horror film it is.
Familial trauma is a common thread in Aster's films, and holy smokes is it front-and-center in this story about the shattering of a family already on thin ice. Toni Collette stars as the matriarch of the house, whose family is targeted by some kind of occult force after the death of her mother. The whole movie is a descent into madness for her character as she's hit by tragedy after tragedy that culminates in one of the tensest finales of any modern horror film.
There are precious few jump scares on display. Instead, Aster wants to work his way under the viewer's skin. He'd rather hold on a wide shot and let the audience spot something creepy as hell in the background than have something jump at the lens with a big musical stinger. Alex Wolff and Milly Shapiro are wonderful as brother and sister. Shapiro's Charlie is an odd duck even at the best of times, and her tic, which is a clucking of her tongue, becomes the creepiest movie sound this side of the croaking ghost in "Ju-On: The Grudge."
Wolff is the central focus of most of the disturbing moments in the movie, which isn't gory or hyper-edited. It's simply a long, slow push-in on his face as he's sitting in the driver's seat of a car, trying desperately not to look in the back seat.
"Hereditary" is top tier classy horror guaranteed to mess up your evening. (Eric Vespe
