Review: Hereditary (2018) (The Most Terrifying Film In Years?)

SPOILER FREE

“Mom, what’s happening?”

Don’t you hate it when a new release is heralded as the next “The Exorcist” (or whatever genre classic is appropriate for the new release?)? I do. It either sets up high expectations for the new release, or makes me cynical about watching the film. Hereditary has called the most terrifying horror film in years. Come to think about it, I can’t remember the last time I was terrified at the cinema. Is it possible to be terrified at the cinema, among a bunch of people eating popcorn and slurping drinks? These are the kind of questions I was asking myself during Hereditary. It was the most terrifying horror film in years. But, at least for the first two acts, it showed a lot of promise. Such a shame the third act descended into ludicrousness.

Review: Lights Out (2016) (Afraid Of The Dark?)

“Be careful on your way out”

Original horror is something that we rarely come across nowadays. Three out of the five trailers I watched before ‘Lights Out’ at the cinema were for remakes/reimaginings/sequels of horror films. There’s ‘Rings,’ of the ‘Ring’ franchise (already a remake of a Japanese film!). There’s ‘Blair Witch,’ a wholly unnecessary remake of ‘The Blair Witch Project.’ There was a prequel/sequel to ‘Ouija.’ Nine times out of ten, horror remakes are terrible. In fact, I don’t think I have seen a great horror remake. That’s why I was excited for ‘Lights Out’: an intriguing concept for a horror. However, the execution left a lot to be desired. When the credits hit, I was struggling to remember what just happened throughout the film. Mediocre is perhaps the politest way to describe ‘Lights Out.’

‘Halloween Speical’ Review: ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (1974) (A True Horror Classic?)

“It’s all the more tragic in that they were very young”

I’ve reviewed the remake of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ on my blog (click here for my review), so to balance the scales of quality I thought I’d review the original. The remake was so terrible, and reviewing it. I felt sorry for myself for watching it. The original gave me all I wanted in a horror film: it’s rough, nasty, and leaves a lot to the imagination! The remake was interchangeable with any other silly horror remake that pollutes the cinema screen. Obviously, at the time, the original Chainsaw Massacre didn’t have any competition; yet today, it still stand out as a horrific experience.