Is it Spooky? Hereditary Movie Review

Let’s start this out by saying, horror movies aren’t what they used to be. Less based around story, and more-so based around jump scares with plenty of gore scenes. Very rarely will you come into contact with a movie that’s under 20 years old, that holds a story in any kind of sentiment. Don’t get me wrong a horror movie is a horror movie no matter how thick the B rating may be. Just some of them are ‘HARD’ to watch.

Then we have Hereditary.

Hereditary was…. Interesting. The story was one not told a hundred times over, and was actually one of the more interesting points of the film. Witches and Warlocks, it’s always witches and warlocks when children are involved, isnt it? A quiet beginning to the film, introduces us to a passing grandmother. All her family and friends surrounding her casket as her daughter started the eulogy. Very soft undertones filled these scenes, matching necklaces amongst all the women and cuffs for the men. Hereditary progresses on, past the funeral and into the rememberance of the grandmother.

Grandma with her boob out?

The immediate family of the Grandmother who passed away, start experiencing strange things in their home. At first it’s something simple, like noticing etched writing into a wall that has been there for sometime, or a pattern that was cut into the floor hidden by the carpeting. Strange things keep appearing, when your finishing up work in the office and go to leave. Do you ever get that feeling, that if you looked over after you’ve turned the light out, that you’d see a ghost? Imagine looking over, and seeing your dead mother standing next to a box of mementos you had just gone through. Would you jump? Would you run? This woman started to break down. Hiding all truth and pain away from her family. Hiding the truth.

The Golden Curse

More and more, the symbol that all the women wore as necklaces and men wore as cuffs started appearing in the scenes more prominently. Sometimes it would just be off to the side on a tree, other times it would be in your face waiting for you to finally realize that it’s here. As the movie progresses, we start to enjoy the basics of the film. We’ve got a teenage boy who fancies a pretty girl, a child who just wants to stay at home and play with her toys. As per the film, we have the brother sister team stuck together as the teenager wants to go to a party, as all moms do she made sure he was going to be miserable by making him take his little sister. During this party, Charlie our little sister, eats a cake full of nuts. As it was briefly mentioned in the beginning of the film, she is allergic to nuts.

The race against time

Panic. Panic erupts into the scene as the older brother is stricken with fear of losing his little sister to the allergic reaction she was having. Quickly they raced off to the hospital like any good brother would do. But alas, this isn’t a Disney film. THOMP. The hollow empty sound of Charlies head hitting a Hydro pole. Silence. Silence as the teenage boy lays in bed, drenched in his fear and sadness. Until, you hear the mother scream as she discovers her childs headless body in the back seat of her car. Pain. Pain drips from the next set of scenes bouncing between the mother and the guilt stricken son. Now… Now comes the Golden Curse, as the days move on the pain gets unbearable between the family. The mother reaches out in a series of seances to contact her daughter at least one last time.

King Paimon

Remember we mentioned those women and men who were wearing all the same symbols? Well… Here we are, the mother is attempting to deal with her sadness by going to counseling for the deaths of her mother and her child. These women making their mark against the mother, trying to seduce her into falling for their curse of riches. More and more the family is stressed out, and one by one they’ve all started to lose their minds. The witches confer with the mother and trick her into letting ”the darkness” into her home. They use to teach her how to start the ritual for the Curse of Paimon, little does the mother know she was setting not only herself, but what remained of her family, for death. These sweet old women, who lent out a hand to the mother during her time of need are also her demise. As the spirits tormented the family inside the house, the group of witches and warlocks prepared their ritual in the place that was closest to Charlie. Her tree-house.

Death of a Family

Step by step as the mother falls into madness, dragging her family into this downward spiral. After the seance with the old ladies, she starts conducting her own at home, which not only brings Charlie into the house but the full circle of Paimon also enters. As the mother begs out for Charlie, bringing in everything that is attached with her secret ridden family. Faster and faster this family plummets into madness, experiencing the truth of their family first hand. The boxes of grandmothers things become even more so important to the family as it would explain everything going on in their lives. The Curse of Paimon, a curse coveting the male body for the riches that could be bestowed upon it. As the family panics and fights for what is left of their lives, the curse digs deeper. More and more people showing up to the house, assembling the strangest of sights. Waiting for each of them to kill themselves, so that the Curse of Paimon can take over.

In the end, the Curse of Paimon wins. Thus starting a generation of greed and riches for the Witches and Warlocks that were left to adopt the new form of Paimon.

My personal score for this film? B. It has a decent enough story, that hasn’t been repeated a thousand times over. Yet the speed and consistency of the film lacked in certain areas. As much as they had suspense living up to their name, closer to the end of the film it turned into jump scares. When they could have continued as a suspensful film, they changed it up. Unfortunately story is the only thing truly interesting about this film, more parts of the film had been funny or in fact hilarious compared to its ‘horror’ counterparts. If you’re bored and need a movie to watch, this one should go on your list.