1. Before watching a horror film, we can infer that there will be genre tropes and archetypes such as jumpscares, or suspense and fear. We can also decipher that there will be cultural influences such as universal experiences; love, loss, friendship, and conflict. Lastly, we know the film will include disturbing images with blood and gore and evoke an emotional response, such as anxiety, or fear. The film may also include dramatic plot twists. These ideas can come from recent films such as Sinister, which is a horror film with many jumpscares.
2. There are many important visual techniques used in horror films to help deliver a storyline, for example the movie “Hereditary” uses certain lighting such as low and naturalistic colors to conjure up fear and tension, as well as the family home itself being a dark, dim lit space that provided some foreshadowing into the fact that some ominous and disturbing events may take place in the home. There is also certain framing used in films such as close ups, to intensify an emotional scene. Another key visual many horror films use is jarring cuts and edits to amplify shocking moments and allows for the pace to move quicker. In terms of what a character is about to do next, foreshadowing, and character reactions can be used to provide hints to the audience as to what they can expect next. In “Hereditary,” there was a magnitude of examples of foreshadowing throughout the beginning, such as the necklace Annie’s mother was wearing, which symbolized demonology. Knowing this as a viewer, you can already expect that the film is going to have some sort of demonic entity.
3. After reviewing the film, the main pivotal points to focus on would be examples such as the scene from the beginning of the movie that showcases Annie and her family, one of the main characters in the film, attending her mothers funeral. Witnessing the scene, I was already able to allude to the fact that the movie was going to have tones of family dysfunction, grief, and traumas. After the funeral scene, another scene that pivots the direction of the movie is the grief support group Annie attends, which is where she shares the dysfunctions her family has endured, which many people can make a connection as to why the movie is titled “Hereditary”. Afterwards, the next pivotal point in the movie would be Annie’s 13 year old daughter Charlie’s death, which was accidentally caused by her older brother. Charlie’s death was very violent and disturbing as her head was decapitated. This scene is pivotal as it changes the family’s dynamic and highlights the themes of grief and trauma for each of the family members. After Charlie’s death, her brother Peter then spirals into mental anguish and begins to have strange visions and endures a terrifying encounter with his mother who tends to sleep walk. This is important to the movie as it emphasizes the mental and psychological toll of inherited trauma. Afterwards there are discovered findings of Annie’s mother which unveils her true influences and the dark past of their family line, thus altering their fates, and leads to the final confrontation with demonic entity.
Ryan
The analysis done by Zoe does a very good job of describing the aspects of the film that make it feel like a horror. The details about the lighting paint a vivid picture of the setting for the movie. I do wish that she described more about the framing and close ups for the emotional scenes in order to get a better idea of how they felt. I like the addition of discussing foreshadowing and how it was used throughout the movie. It feels like foreshadowing is a very big part of horror movies in order to build suspense and put you on edge (I wouldn’t know, I don’t watch horror movies). The important scenes are described well and allowed me to feel the magnitude of them just by reading about them. The terminology used helps build on these feelings as certain words carry a weight to them, such as the use of “anguish” to describe how the character Peter feels and reacts. I wish the theme of grief was described a bit more as it is a theme that can be done in many different ways that are very interesting and complex. Overall I think this review is done well and makes me, as a reader, interested in the movie and how it could play out.