Here we go! These are the last 3 of the entire list. We have selected a plethora of amazing classics and modern hits, but for this entry we're going with a pick that remains one of the most acclaimed horror hits of the last couple of years and simultaneously one of the most polarizing. If The Babadook is one of the foundational "elevated horror" entries then this choice might represent the culmination of the movement.
Day 29 - Hereditary
Another debut that completely shocked audiences, like The Babadook, and dazzled critics with its combination of sobering family drama and truly horrific images. Ari Aster's Hereditary tells the story of a family dealing with death (again kind of an awesome, if rough, double feature between this and The Babadook) and what happens to a family's history after years of trauma and hidden secrets. There is no denying that Aster uses the engine of a horror film to discuss what he is clearly interested in; an intense family drama that explores how trauma is passed down from generations to generations. Another installment that owe a lot of its sense of dread to Polanski, Hereditary flirts with the supernatural from the very beginning as Annie (Toni Collette, in what should've been nominated for a Best Actress Oscar) experiences visions of her dead mother and it only gets worse from there. What starts out as an intense exploration of family dynamics, it only gets more complicated once Aster's first big twist happens and it completely alters the family's structure and relations. Without giving anything away, it is this plot point that turns Hereditary into a fascinating horror picture into one of the scariest films ever made, particularly for Toni Collette's Annie and Alex Wolff's Peter. Shot with stark images of darkness by Pawel Pogorzelski and featuring a dissonant score by Colin Stetson, Hereditary does not shy away from fully crafting disturbing sequences that will scar the audience. Thanks to Pogorzelski's eye for detail, Aster always has something eerie and disturbing in every single frame of the film that you have to look out for - it can be something like a shape seen in the background or a figure inhabiting the same space as another character. As Peter discovers more and more about his family, the darker it gets and the more disturbing Aster is allowed to get with each passing moment until it reaches the transgressive arresting final 30 minutes. For it's last, Aster pays off everything with one of the craziest endings of any film ever made full of revelations, visuals from the darkest corners of your nightmares, and a spellbinding final frame that deserves to be seen to be believed. With its mix of family dynamics that are so disturbing, some audiences found them funny, Hereditary will make you sleep with the lights on for a long time after the credits roll. From interviews it is clear that Aster wanted to make an Ingmar Bergman drama but needed the trappings of a horror film to get it made. What is incredible about Hereditary is that Aster masterfully pulls of both genres with ease - it is able to be both a Eugene O'Neill drama and a disturbing Polanski horror film with incredible visuals and nightmarish scares. There is nothing like Hereditary and it truly signaled the arrival of a major voice in contemporary cinema that is willing to challenge as much as he is willing to scare its audience (see also Midsommar and Beau is Afraid).
*All of the recommendations that we make can be found at the El Paso Public Library Catalog!
Comments
Post a Comment