Ok, we’ll be the first to admit that we’ve posted up a lot of articles about horror movies claiming that they’re going to be the scariest horror movie in years on the site in the past, but this latest film ‘Hereditary’ might actually be the real deal.
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The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last week – and you know that means it’s a cut above the rest out there because Sundance is such a well respected festival – and the early reviews are making it out to be one the most terrifying movies of all time.
Here’s the plot synopsis first:
When Ellen, the matriach of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter’s family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry.
The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited.
Making his feature debut, writer-director Ari Aster unleashes a nightmare vision of a domestic breakdown that exhibits the craft and precision of a nascent auteur, transforming a familial tragedy into something ominous and deeply disquieting, and pushing the horror movie into chilling new terrain with its shattering portrait of heritage gone to hell.
OK that sounds all well and good but nothing that groundbreaking eh? Well, you would probably be wrong judging by how so many people are completely and utterly raving about it. Check out this review from the AV Club as well as a couple of tweets:
This isn’t a scary movie. It’s pure emotional terrorism, gripping you with real horror, the unspeakable kind, and then imbuing the supernatural stuff with those feelings.
It didn’t play me like a fiddle. It slammed on my insides like a grand piano…
The warped genius of the film’s tactic is how it steeps us in the pain of these characters, investing in the drama of their situation, and then uses the raw emotions—theirs and ours—to enhance the potency of its set pieces.
Which are masterful, by the way: Propelled by a dread-infused, disorienting score by avant-garde saxophonist Colin Stetson, the film does a number on the nerves, perfecting the James Wan approach of prolonged suggestion and peekaboo funhouse horror.
But even the jump scares feel psychologically loaded.
https://twitter.com/Oscar/status/955365337167364096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.unilad.co.uk%2Ffilm%2Fscariest-horror-film-in-years-is-so-terrifying-people-are-crying-at-cinema%2F
Is there such a thing as “too scary?” #Hereditary #sundance
— Matt Dentler (@MattDentler) January 22, 2018
HEREDITARY is pants-wetting unnerving. The more I think about it, the more questions I have, and it could be much tighter, but it's still a hell of a cardio workout. Also, Toni Collette is a cinematic champ. #Sundance
— Tasha Robinson (@TashaRobinson) January 23, 2018
HEREDITARY is so disquieting, you’ll be gasping for air in the theater. Utterly believable supernatural horror. There will be no scarier movie this year. If there is, it means we’re in a new golden age. #Sundance
— Joshua Rothkopf (@joshrothkopf) January 23, 2018
Damn – those comments pretty much change everything and rocket this movie straight to the top of my must see list. Apparently some people have been reduced to tears during the screenings as well because there’s been so much dread present on screen that it’s literally made them well up because they can’t take it. Sounds like my kinda movie.
Unfortunately, there’s no official UK release date yet but given the amount of hype that it’s receiving, you would expect some studio to sort it out and get it out ASAP. Please do.
For more scary movies, check out this list of the scariest horror movies of all time. All classics.
