The Wiloughbys

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This week I watched the Netflix movie, The Willoughby’s. I secretly love to watch kids’ movies, (they’re my guilty pleasure) so I was looking forward to this movie. *WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD* I don’t think there is any way I can talk about the messed-up events in this movie without spoilers, so you have been warned.

The Willoughbys (2020) - IMDb

For a kid’s movie, this movie is downright depressing. This movie is about the Willoughby family. In this family, there is Father, Mother, Tim, Jane and The Barnaby’s. Father and Mother are absolutely obsessed with each other. In fact, they have so much love for each other that they don’t have any to spare for the children. All 4 of the kids are ignored and neglected. They are barely even fed. The kids are so neglected that the Barnaby twins don’t even have their own names, they are both named Barnaby. One day, a baby in a box shows up at their door. Jane and the Barnaby’s sneak out to grab the baby and bring it in the house. Jane wants to keep it, but Tim doesn’t want to get in trouble with Mother and Father. Eventually, the rambunctious baby gets found by the parents and poor Tim gets punished. His punishment is to sleep in the coal room. On the wall of the coal room, Tim marks a dash for every time he’s been down there. The whole wall was filled with dashes. It was super sad to see him curl up in a ball on his pile of coals and sleep there for the night.

The Willoughbys | Netflix Official Site

The movie is narrated by a cat. The cat’s viewpoint was able to see everything. It would’ve made the movie completely different if the viewpoint was by the children. I enjoyed the birds eye view of everything that was going on in the Willoughby household.

Netflix's The Willoughby's Post-Credits Scene Is Super Gross

Together, the kids grow tired of being neglected and they hatch a plan. I find the plot of the movie itself to be pretty morbid, but then they throw in jokes about killing their parents and being free. It was all quite shocking! The 4 kids craft a dangerous trip for their parents to go on. One that is sure to kill them; filled with piranha’s, volcanoes and more! Their parents take off without a thought about the kids. The kids are happy and free for a little! That is until Nanny knocks on the door. Nanny is a large burst of energy and is so excited to be taking care of the children. Nothing the kids have ever been exposed to before. The movie goes on and you see their bond with Nanny grow. That is, until Tim thinks she is conspiring against them and working with Mother and Father. Tim takes drastic action and calls the place no one should ever call…. Orphan Services. Orphan Services is basically CPS in this movie. They dress in all black suits and I would compare them to men in black. Orphan Services surrounds their house and takes the kids away from Nanny. The kids are all split up into different foster homes. I found these scenes gloomy and are something I’ve never before seen in a kid’s movie. I’m not going to say it was “nice” to see these scenes, but it definitely was different and unique to see the plot progress like this. It’s not a happy-go-lucky movie where everything goes right and in the kids favor.

Fast forward many many scenes, and Nanny rescues the kids and they all go out to find Mother and Father. I thought the Orphan Services scenes were depressing, but here is where it gets WORSE!! Mother and Father are hiking a snowy mountain when they lose their trail and are basically going freeze to death. Luckily, the kids come just in time and find them to defrost them. In your head, you think YAY, the parents are going to realize how much they love their kids! BUT NO!! They unfreeze and then literally high tail it off the mountain, leaving the kids and stealing their only transportation. They have no clue how to drive the kid’s blimp, crash into a sharp point at the top of the mountain, and literally fly off and explode. The kids have no gear and are slowly freezing. They’re all losing hope, when Jane starts singing and bringing back hope to them. Her singing is magical and warms the kids and make them visible for rescue from nanny.

Jane’s Saving Song

This movie was so unconventional and unique. You never see cartoon movies where the kids are so neglected and mistreated many times throughout the movie and things don’t go perfectly and according to plan. There are so many loops and it’s a rock coaster of an experience. It had a very heartfelt ending, as expected. I’m happy that the kids got to experience happiness with someone that truly loves them. Overall, I’d give this movie 10 kids out of 10! It’s on Netflix, so I’d recommend checking it out!

👩🏼‍🦰👩🏼‍🦰👩🏼‍🦰👩🏼‍🦰👩🏼‍🦰👩🏼‍🦰👩🏼‍🦰👩🏼‍🦰👩🏼‍🦰👩🏼‍🦰(10)/ 10

Bad Trip turned good trip

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This week I watched the movie Bad Trip. I have to say, I am a HUGE Eric Andre fan and am absolutely obsessed with him. He is one of my favorite comedians. His show, The Eric Andre Show, makes me piss myself from laughter every single episode. I love his stupid, crude humor; that’s my kind of humor. I also love Tiffany Haddish and Lil Rey Howery, two great comedians. Knowing the cast that was involved, I was super excited to watch the movie. Now this isn’t like any typical movie you’re used to. With 3 comedians, you know this is going to make you laugh your ass off. The movie is a prank movie. There is a plot at the center of it, and you have your 3 main characters, but the supporting “roles” are random everyday people who don’t know they’re being pranked. If you’re confused, watch the trailer and you will understand. To summarize the movie sans all the pranks and the real people, Chris and Bud take off on a journey from Florida to New York City to find the love of Chris’s life, Maria. They don’t have a car or any transportation, so they borrow Bud’s sister’s car, who is in prison. As they take the car, Bud’s sister escapes from prison. She goes to get her car and finds it missing.  She sets off a journey, ready to find them and kill them for taking her car. The whole movie is absolutely hilarious and the addition of life real people in the movie makes it even more amazing.

File:Bad Trip poster.jpg

In Eric Andre’s show, he does a similar act. He goes into public doing insane things to prank people. I love that they put his pranks into a movie. He is one of the producers of the movie, so I saw that many of that pranks that I have seen on his tv show are in the movie. For example, many pranks center around an art gallery. In his show, they have an art gallery prank and Eric Andre stumbles in, knocking every single piece of “art” down. Onlookers watch horrified to see his destruction, not aware that the whole gallery is a set up. In the movie, the gallery scene is destroyed by Tiffany Haddish’s character driving through a wall with a car and then proceeding to beat Eric Andre with the various art pieces. Everyone runs out in a panic not knowing what to do. Knowing that they all think this is real makes it ten times funnier.

Chris (Eric Andre) getting beaten with “art”
Red band trailer for Bad Trip featuring Eric Andre, Lil Rel Howery ...
Bad Trip Trailer: Eric Andre's NSFW Prank Movie With Tiffany ...

Overall, I would give this movie a full 10 laughing emojis out of 10! I haven’t Overall, I would give this movie a full 10 laughing emojis out of 10! I haven’t laughed at movie as hard as I laughed at this in a long time. Every scene in the movie is insanely funny so if you’re in need of a good laugh, check out Bad Trip! This kind of humor might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is definitely mine!

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂(10)/10

4 shows that didn’t do it for me

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I consider myself a very adventurous tv and film watcher. There aren’t many shows that I’m not willing to see to the end. After I start a show, I like to feel the accomplishment of finishing what I started. But there are shows out there that just didn’t do it for me. In this list, I’ll keep it short and sweet and only include my top 5. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so what I believe to be a “bad” show, might be a show you enjoy. That is the beauty of the entertainment industry. What shows do you not like? Comment and let me know!

  • 1. Glee: Glee started in 2009 and was a favorite for most around the country. I never watched it when it was airing and saw it on Netflix, so I decided to give it a try. Right off the bat it was a big NO for me. I tried my best to see it to the end, but every episode was as painful as the last. Maybe in 2009, some of the scenes and jokes they did seem “fine” but watching it in 2020 it comes across tone deaf. I didn’t like the show, but I do LOVE watching all the Tik Tok’s that point out everything wrong with the show. Let me give you some examples of things that are wrong with Glee. Will Scheuster, the Glee coach, constantly puts children in skimpy outfits and proactive number. He even made one of the kids his best man at his wedding, it doesn’t sit right. Sue Sylvester, the gym teacher and cheer coach, constantly bullies the kids in the glee club and makes racist remarks. The whole show is problematic.
Amazon.com: Glee - Season 1, Volume 2 - Road to Regionals [DVD ...
  • 2. The Tomorrow People: I really wanted to like The Tomorrow People. I love to watch shows/movies that center around people with powers, it has always interested me. Unfortunately, this show didn’t pan out how I wanted it to. It was very predictable, and the story was pretty basic. All the people with powers in the show share the same 3- telekinesis, teleportation and telepathy. It was boring after a while and I found something more exciting to watch.
The Tomorrow People (CW) Trailer - YouTube
  • 3. The Masked Singer: Reality tv can be very hit or miss, so I figured I’d add a miss onto the list. There was a lot of hype leading up to this show. Mystery singers wearing animal costumes each week. Exciting concept…right…? I found The Masked Singer corny and I feel like I lost a brain cell every time I watched an episode. 
The Masked Singer (TV Series 2019– ) - IMDb
  • 4. 13 Reasons Why: This show is incredibly controversial. I’m sure most people know what is about, but to summarize, Hannah Baker kills herself and leaves everyone who contributed to her suicide a tape telling them what they did to her. This show glorifies suicide!! Hannah Baker basically commits suicide as a f*ck you to all the people that pissed her off and/or bullied her. It was more of a revenge to all of them. Also, the show doesn’t show any options of getting help or does not address mental health issues. So many things wrong with this show.
13 Reasons Why Katherine Langford as Hannah Baker 12x18" Reprint ...

8 Shows I’ve Been Binge Watching During Quarantine

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Shows I have binged watched during the quarantine:

The year is 2020, I haven’t left my house in what feels like years. The only thing I can do is mindlessly binge watch tv shows and movies. Nothing different than a regular day for this introvert. In all seriousness, tv and movies are a great distraction from the anxiety of quarantining. I have tried my best to not watch tv 24/7, but sometimes you can’t help yourself. Other hobbies I’ve taken up while quarantining (besides binge watching) include knitting, embroidery and rereading my library. Here is a list of the top ten tv shows I have completed since quarantine started. WARNING! These shows are all over the map. I don’t typically have a preference for what tv shows I watch, so there is a variety of genres.

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Vivarium

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This week I watched the sci-fi thriller movie Vivarium. I’ve been wanting to see this film for a while now, so I was excited to finally get to watch it. It got a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes so I had high hopes for it. The definition of vivarium is an enclosure prepared for keeping animals under seminatural conditions for observation or study. Without watching any trailers or reading any synopsis, you can tell through the definition of vivarium alone that our characters will be trapped in one way or another.

Vivarium Movie Poster (#1 of 4) - IMP Awards

The movie starts off introducing the two main characters, a couple named Gemma and Tom.  Gemma and Tom decide to take their relationship a step further and look to move in with each other. They arrive at the Yonder office. The man working there, named Martin, pushes an impromptu house tour on the couple. They follow him to the Yonder neighborhood outside the city. All the houses in Yonder are identical single-family homes painted the same shade of green. It wasn’t a nice seafoam green, or a deep forest green, but a sickly washed out tone of green. This is already scary enough for me. The thought of living in a neighborhood where every single house is identical and doesn’t have any character to it is a fear in itself.

Tom and Gemma tour the house but are not completely interested. They’re ready for the tour to be over when they can’t find Martin. They see his car is gone and decide to leave. They get in their car and try to leave Yonder. They do everything they can but can’t seem to find the way out. As they frantically try to search for the exit, they see that no matter what they do they are back where they started outside of house #9. They decide to stay the night in the house and wake up with a package of food at the front door. With no way out and no one around, they’re forced to stay. The next day another box shows up at their doorstep but this time with a baby in inside with a note that tells them “raise the child and you will be released”. At this point, I’m freaking out for them. They’re trapped with no escape and they’re getting mysterious boxes with babies inside.

Vivarium GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

With no other choice, they start to raise the child. The child isn’t normal and grows very quickly. Definitely not human, I’d say that the child is an alien or monster. In just 3 months, he looks like he is already 7 years old. Tom and Gemma hated the child and greeted him with a middle finger in the morning. Instead of communicating, he constantly screamed at the top of his lungs until he got what he wanted. Like them, I hated the child. He was super creepy and watched them 24/7 and copied everything they did. I wish they would’ve killed it early on in the movie, but for some reason Gemma decided to save it when Tom tried to lock it up. This is the vivarium. The child was studying Gemma and Tom and their every move while stuck in the house. Anyways, I’ve already spoiled a significant portion of the movie so you will have to watch the rest to see how they fare stuck in Yonder with their creepy alien child!

This movie kind of reminded me of how we are today with the global pandemic happening. We are all trapped and housebound bored out our minds like they were. Each day in the movie was very real feeling. Many of the scenes didn’t include music and showed an average day to day of eating breakfast, staring at the child with disdain and then going to bed. Personally, I felt like the movie was a little anticlimactic and I wished there was more action or thrill to it.   

Overall, I’d give Vivarium 6 aliens out of 10.

👽👽👽👽👽👽(6)/10

The Hunt; satire or action/thriller?

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In recent days, movies seem like the perfect escape from our dismal reality. I could’ve picked a sci-fi or fantasy movie that truly took me to a new world, but instead I picked an “action” movie. Although there was tons of action in the movie, I put “action” in quotes because it felt more like political satire than a true action film. I decided to watch the movie The Hunt. Before The Hunt even came out, it had a lot of controversy surrounding it and even had its theater release canceled twice. After watching the movie, I understand why. Just looking at the movie poster you can see why there is so much controversy surrounding it. I think that any political piece will stir people up, but this movie in particular hit the nail on the head.

Image result for the hunt

The plot of the film is all about rich liberals, who call themselves “elites”, that get together to hunt what they call “deplorables”. These “deplorables” consist of rednecks, conservatives and people appropriating stereotypes in general. The film later explains why each of the people were chosen to be hunted for sport. One of the “deplorables” was a game hunter, another a gun rights activist, another tweeted against the main “villain” of the film. All people who stood for everything that the “elites” were against. The Hunt could be compared to The Purge. Although, The Purge was supposed to be taken seriously, you could instantly see that this film was not.

In the first 5 minutes of the film, you can see how gory and twisted it will become. I really enjoyed the gore of this movie. For some, they might want to look away. But I felt that it adds to the humor of the movie which might sound weird to say. But once you watch the movie, you’ll understand! In the first 5 minutes, the rich bad guys are on their private jet getting ready to begin their hunt. Their characters are designed to come off as rich righteous assholes and they did a great job at that!

Cut to our first time meeting our hunted characters and you might be confused why they’re all there. The first one of the bunch we meet is Emma Roberts character, who name in the credits is only “yoga pants”.

*WARNING SPOILER AHEAD*

I have always been a fan of Emma Roberts and was super excited to see her in a movie. No, that dream and excitement was shortly crushed after she was one of the first people to go with a quick headshot. I was so shocked and even screamed at my tv for a quick second before I could watch the rest.

Anyways, back to business. After half the group was taken out in the first 20 minutes, we finally meet our main character. Our main character is a quick-witted country girl named Crystal. I loved her character! She was funny, smart and an overall badass who had no remorse killing the people who were trying to kill her. I don’t want to add too many spoilers, so you will just have to watch the movie to see her in action.

Our resident badass, Crystal

This movie caused such a stir that our own Cheeto in chief managed to tweet about it among other things. I understand why it got people’s panties in a bunch. The movie was meant to mock all political groups. The film mainly satirized two types of people: rich snooty liberals and gun-obsessed conservatives. But don’t worry, everyone gets made fun! Not just one group over the other.

Overall, I’d give this movie 7 laugh/cry emojis out of 10. It’s got the f*cked-up humor I enjoy, paired with some great gore and a badass lead. Check it out for yourselves!

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂(7)/10

Dream of Sushi with Jiro

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This week I watched a documentary film called Jiro Dreams of Sushi. I’ve always been a big foodie all my life and sushi is one of my favorite foods so this documentary stuck out to me. The film follows Jiro Ono, a sushi chef at Sukiyabashi, a Michelin three-star restaurant. The restaurant is located in a Tokyo subway station, which I found interesting. It’s not in a large grandiose location, but a small and simple 10 seat only place.

Image result for jiro dreams of sushi

Jiro is a very disciplined chef who loves what he does. It’s even said in the documentary that he hates holidays and just wants to get back to work. I really admire his passion for perfection in his work. I was super impressed that Jiro was 85 in the documentary and still working almost every single day. The documentary was in 2011, and he is 94 now. I don’t doubt that he is still at the shop every day making sure it is run to perfection. I thought it was funny that he said he would not retire unless customers see him and think that he looks too senile to work or if he looks bad on tv. Most people grow tired of what they do and look forward to retirement, but not Jiro Ono!

Image result for jiro ono 2019
Jiro Ono, 94 years old

A quote that stuck out to me was when Jiro said “I feel ecstatic all day, I love making sushi. That is the spirit of the shokunin.” I think that’s amazing that Jiro feels such a strong passion for what he does. I’m not at the point in my life where I have started my career and can relate to that feeling, but I truly hope that I can get there eventually and love coming to work every single day. He even states that he has never once hated the job. Throughout the documentary he is shown constantly smiling and laughing and full of life.

Shokunin is a Japanese word that in short, translates to a “mastery of one’s profession”; someone that is devoted to their craft.

Image result for jiro dreams of sushi tuna

Jiro Ono worked incredibly hard to get to where he is. At 9 years old, he was told to leave his house and work to stay alive. His story coming from nothing and creating a successful Michelin star level restaurant is incredible! After World War II, he was bored with the current sushi and went on to invent new techniques and types of sushi.

I loved the fish market scene. I didn’t know how in-depth the process for selecting a tuna was and I enjoyed seeing the ins and outs of how they select the best ones. It also showed how respected their restaurant is. All the high-quality fish were saved for them. There was a shortage of shrimp in the market and only about 6 kilograms were delivered, and Jiro’s restaurant was able to secure all of it.

It was a definitely big mistake watching this film on an empty stomach! And knowing that there isn’t any good sushi restaurant like Jiro’s near me made it feel like absolute torture. It was said that Sukiyabashi doesn’t do anything crazy. You don’t see them putting on a full performance at their meals. Instead, they use regular techniques that are perfected and use the highest quality ingredients that complement each other. Every technique is refined to produce the best aromas, tastes, textures and more. For example, the octopus used to be massaged for 30 minutes, but then Jiro found that massaging to 40-50 minutes produces a better texture. It’s the little things that I would never think about. Maybe if I study these techniques and can appreciate the process I will be worthy to have a meal at Sukiyabashi.

Lastly, I’ll talk about the meal; the really torturous scenes on my taste buds and my stomach. The meal was described as a concerto. In the first movement, classic items like tuna are served. In the next movement, fresh catches of the day, seasonal items, and a mix of raw and cook items were served. In the last movement, eel, kanpyo and egg were served as the traditional finale.

Overall, I give this film 10 sushi’s out of 10! I hope to one day save up to go to Japan and eat at Sukiyabashi. Until then I can only dream of the amazing food I hope to eat.

🍣🍣🍣🍣🍣🍣🍣🍣🍣🍣(10)/10

Transport to a Another World

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This week I watched one of my favorite genres of movies: animation! My love for animations films started with Hayao Miyazaki. Hayao Miyazaki directed classics that many people have heard of. Most people have seen Spirited Away but have not ventured into other anime films after that. I decided to watch A Letter To Momo because it was different than the other types of anime films I have seen. 

The film started off very slow and didn’t get to anything too exciting until around 30 minutes in. I found myself bored, trying to anticipate the next scene and hoping it was going to full of excitement one. For the first 30 minutes, the main character Momo doesn’t say too much. After the recent death of her father, Momo and her mother decide to move out the countryside. Before Momo’s dad passed, he and Momo got into a fight. She has that looming over her head. All she has left to remember her father by is an incomplete letter that only says “Dear Momo”. She soon meets 3 yokai named Iwa, Kawa and Mame. These 3 prove to be a handful for Momo. 

I really enjoyed the animation and character styles. The yokai monsters had a creepy yet cute vibe to them and their humorous personalities just added so much to the overall characters. I think the humor is more geared towards children, as this is a PG movie. One of the yokai’s defense systems is a fart cannon; this is the kind of goofy and grotesque humor that little kids would love!

The scenery in the movie was beautiful full of vibrant and colorful views. I have always appreciated an anime panorama. I’ve always been a sucker for picturesque animation scenes. They’re visually appealing and although they’re cartoons, they help to transport me to another world.

The overarching theme of love, appreciation and family was heartwarming to watch. There is a scene where Momo’s mother is very sick and needs. a doctor but there is a storm raging outside so no one can get to the doctor. Momo risks everything and leaves alone in the middle of the storm to find one. It seems like all the odds are against her when she gets stuck in the storm. But in comes all the yokai banding together to help Momo reach her destination. She ends up getting the doctor and saving her mom! We love a happy ending 🙂

This movie is very heartfelt movie and made me feel a multitude of emotions while watching. It was humorous, heartfelt, and sad all while painting a beautiful scene. That being said, I give A Letter To Momo 7 cherry blossoms out of 10.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸(7)/10

A Movie That WON’T Have You Singing Along!

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This week I checked out the musical movie genre and watched Cats. Going into this I knew that the movie had terrible reviews and only had a 20% on Rotten Tomatoes. This might have led me to have a personal bias before I set out to watch the movie, but I tried to push those thoughts out of my head. My mom saw Cats on Christmas, but I decided to skip out. She thought it was good movie, but then again, she doesn’t have the best taste in movies.

I grabbed the snacks and sat down to prepare to watch Cats. Within the first couple minutes, I was already confused. There was about zero dialogue in the first ten minutes. I believe that the first couple scenes of a movie are crucial to set the plot and introduce any main characters. I was not getting any of that from Cats. The whole movie they barely talked without singing. I like to think that I enjoy musicals, but this movie might’ve changed my mind. Every single scene, back to back, was filled with songs. Songs that you really had to sit there and pay attention to and listen to every single lyric to understand what was going on in the scene. Although the music attempts to have a fun energetic vibe, it is overall nonsensical and not enjoyable. When the music ceased, nonstop cat puns and hissing were weaved into each scene; “cats got her tongue”, “cat’s out of the bag”, it never ended.

How I felt watching Cats

The first scene, the main character is quite literally dumped into the scene. The world the movie is set in, is not introduced. I found myself struggling to understand the dimension the cats were living in. Were they the only ones living in the town? Were there any humans around? How did they all get there? I had many questions!

Another question I had was about the look of the cats themselves. Some of the cats were wearing accessories like necklaces, earrings or hats, while others had full outfits complete with shoes and another portion weren’t even wearing anything at all. Does that mean that the cats who aren’t wearing anything are naked the whole film? The CGI look of the cats was unsettling as well. The cats had cat ears, whiskers and tails, yet they had human faces. It was very unsettling; just check out the gif below!

Although, there were many many negatives, I did have a few positives. I enjoyed Taylor Swift’s scene where her Cats character, Bombalurina, is hanging out above the cats laying on a moon and sprinkling cat nip onto the crowds below. The cats got high on the cat nip while she had a nice musical number with lots of backup dancers. I also liked the main character’s, Victoria the White Cats, dances. Francesca Hayward is a trained ballet dancer so her dance scenes were fluid, graceful, and overall beautiful.

Overall, I’d give this movie a solid 3 cats out of 10. It didn’t WOW me, I found myself hating that they sang almost every single line and the CGI/animation made me uncomfortable.

🐱🐱🐱(3)/10

Oh the Horror!

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I have decided to start out my movie journey with my least favorite category; horror. I have never liked horror movies since I was little. If I do watch something scary, it will typically lean more towards thriller than horror. I’ve never been a fan of paranormal movies or movies with jump scares, those are the worst! Fortunately, my best friend/roommate is a horror aficionado. My room is light, bright and pink themed. But you take a quick trip down the hall into her room and it’s black themed, full of skulls, dead bats and overall darkness. I got lots of horror movies recommendations from friends and took those into account, but ultimately decided to go straight to the Queen of Horror herself for the final picks. She gave me lots of suggestions in every category out there. For anyone who isn’t aware, there is more than one category of horror. Below is a quick outlay of the various sub-genres.

Image result for horror movies subcategories"

After my consult with the Queen of Horror, I decided to watch Hereditary, a recent horror movie directed by Ari Aster.  Midsommar is one of my favorite movies and it was also directed by Ari Aster, so I figured I would possibly like Hereditary. Turns out I was wrong!

As I sat down to watch Hereditary, I made sure of a couple things. First, that I had a big blanket to hide behind when any scenes scared me enough that I couldn’t bear to watch any longer. And second, that I was with friends so a horror movie would not be as intimidating. A big difference between Hereditary and Midsommar is the lighting. Midsommar takes place during a summer solstice so it is shot in constant sunlight with hardly any dark scenes. Hereditary was a mix of daytime and nighttime, but the majority of the movie took place at night which upped the scare factor for me. Not being able to see exactly what is going on, like ghosts and demons lurking in the shadows, makes movies a thousand times worse for me. But for the most part, I powered through the movie and tried my best to not look away. It was on the incredibly gory scenes that I found myself wincing and closing my eyes at.

(SPOILER ALERT!) The one particular scene that made me cringe and look away for was the scene where Charlie gets her head taken clean off by a pole. Not only was the accident itself very graphic, but they made sure to show every second, which is an Ari Aster specialty, he loves the gore! Right after Peter, the older brother causes the accident, he is so in shock that he drives home with her body still in the back seat and just goes to bed without saying anything or doing anything else.

The actors in this movie were phenomenal at showing raw emotion. Alex Wolff, who played Peter, played a teen severely depressed living with the guilt of killing his own sister extraordinarily. The mom, played by Toni Collette, really brought to life her neurotic character who did insane things to help her cope with loss.

This movie is full of cults, spirits, omens and death and all in all, I liked this horror movie enough to watch it again. I didn’t find myself having the keep every single light on in the house feeling that I normally get with other scary movies. I would give it eight ghosts out of ten ghosts for sure!

👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻(8)/10