HALLOWEENTOWN, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Every day this month, resident horror movie enthusiast and 828newsNOW staff reporter Pruett Norris is recommending a Halloween film for your macabre amusement.
Whether they be monster movies or fearsome family films, demonic possessions or slasher sensations, this exercise hopes to encourage spooky seasonal “scream”ings at home or in cinemas.
As the old saying goes, “trick or treat, trick or treat, give me something good to…watch.”
Day 28: HEREDITARY (2018, 128 min., directed by Ari Aster)
By my money, “Hereditary” is the scariest film ever made.
Ari Aster has cut his teeth on making tremendously disturbing horror films. His 2019 Swedish cult sensation “Midsommar” put Florence Pugh on the map, while his three-hour 2023 nightmare comedy “Beau is Afraid” featured an unhinged Joaquin Phoenix performance. However, it’s “Hereditary,” his 2018 debut feature, that remains Aster’s masterpiece.
His Asterpiece.
The film centers around a family falling apart after the death of their matriarch. Toni Collette plays Annie, the aggrieved mother of two children, Peter and Charlie, played by Alex Wolff and Milly Shapiro. Annie is aggressive and cold toward her children, both of whom are disturbed in one way or another. Charlie enjoys activities like crafting odd puppets from the carcasses of dead pigeons, while Peter is socially awkward and resentful toward his mother.
There is a pivotal twist at the end of the first act of the movie that is perhaps the most upsetting thing you will ever see in a horror movie, and after that, the real terror sets in.
After seeing “Hereditary” in theaters, it was hard to call it a horror movie. It felt much more primal and far less relenting than fun flicks like “Scream” or “Halloween,” and was better made than genuinely gross stuff like “Zombie Flesh Eaters.” The film is better described as a “terror movie” or a “dread feature” or some other, stronger wording for the horror it evokes.
The movie is a hard mode challenge to those hunting for something truly scary this Halloween. Best of luck.
“Hereditary” is available to rent from various streamers.
Looking for more October movie recommendations? Read the rest of the 828boosNOW archive:
DAY 1: BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
DAY 3: A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS
DAY 5: SCOOBY-DOO! AND THE WITCH’S GHOST
DAY 7: THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
DAY 8: THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
DAY 14: KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE
DAY 15: CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON
DAY 22: I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE
DAY 23: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)