Enjoyable and delirious.

Rating: 8/10 (31 January 2019)

Of course you could, if you wanted to, lump much of 'Hereditary' in with the many other 'is there something supernatural afoot, or is it all in the mind' horror films that exist. But such is the slow-burning set-up, the very convincing performances and the assuredly weird direction (from Ari Aster, who also wrote this), that the resultant filmic experience is so much more.
My favourite performance, in some impressive company, is that of young Alex Wolff as Peter, son of Steve and Annie Graham (Gabriel Byrne and Toni Collette) and brother to poor Charlie (Milly Shapiro). Whilst Peter and his mother seem most susceptible to the demonic mischief going on, whilst Steve remains scared but sceptical, it is Peter who evokes most sympathy, even though he has a terrible guilty secret.
Throughout this 127 minute experience, I made several attempts to pause the DVD to fix a drink. Such was the power of the film, it remained unfixed. Whilst his doesn't perhaps measure up to all the hype and positivity heaped upon it (it has been set alongside 'The Exorcist' and 'The Omen'), it is nevertheless, an extraordinarily powerful and retrained horror story. Restrained because, for all the fevered emotion and tragically disintegrating personalities on display, there is relatively little gore or special effects. What there is, however, is exactly right.
Al of these things push the finale into dizzying heights of surreal hellishness. If you have any interest in horror, and especially if you may find yourself disillusioned by much current popular horror output, this two hours will make you horrifically happy.