I saw Ari Aster's Hereditary this weekend and I was absolutely blown away by how good it was, and it's now proving to be my favourite film so far this year. This is unusual though, because if you know me and follow my blogs you'd know the only horror film I really like is Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. You see, I hate horror. And no, it's not because I'm scared (contrary to popular belief) but it is actually down to the fact that they're just... well they're just a load of shit.

Hereditary is great. Whilst having a cliche result in the end, I couldn't really fault this film too much at all. It's suspenseful as hell, creepy as ever and the performances all round are spectacular. The writing is on point here, and that's particularly what this film does best. Your typical horror film of today is your standard cookie cutter... well horror film. Under written characters, awful and unconvincing performances, cliche stories and of course, no actual scares at all. Just jumpscares. SO MANY JUMPSCARES.

You'll be glad to know that there are no jumpscares in Hereditary. Everything is a build of tension, genuinely hard hitting moments and great uses of direction to show off genuine scares. But the real horror to it is how the family deal with grief, sorrow and how they all change as a family through their losses. It's genuinely clever and deep stuff. And even when that cliche plot device does happen, it still doesn't take away from everything else that happens. It has complete purpose and an identity of his own. Yet, the general audience hate it. Why? Are they not allowed to have opinions? Of course they are. But I think the problem is how horror fans are so incredibly brainwashed by the Hollywood horror machine.

It's no wonder that so many filmmakers have resorted to making purposely bad horror films such as Patchwork which is, on my recommendation, hilarious. It's so bad, and the best bit is it knows it is. It's not to be taken seriously at all, it's ultimately a parody of how generic horror films are today. It's kinda like how I speak about the comedy, where comedies are all the same today. And that's basically what horror is, there's noting distinct about general popcorn horrors today. The big problem with IT was that it had so much potential to be different and for the most part it was, but it was a bad horror movie. It kept all the cliches a horror would and wasn't scary. It just did the whole thing of telling you when to be scared with the *CLASH* sound, also known as the JUMPSCARE. Which is just part of the problem.

I hate jumpscares. A jumpscare is not scary. It makes you jump sure, but is that really fear? Is that something that unsettles you and sticks in your head for days on end like that horrifying dog man zoom shot in The Shining did for me? We should be able to decide when to be scared of a film, just like the laugh track in comedy, it's lazy. The filmmaker should know how to scare someone properly, with their own distinct style and filmmaking techniques.

Horror is subjective. It is ultimately what disturbs us, what makes us feel uneasy, and what grabs us to these things. We're all a little bit sadistic huh? I guess my point is, there aren't enough original and thought provoking horror movies out there that really are special. And unfortunately mass audiences are missing out on them because of how Hollywood operates the genre. A shame. But let that be a recommendation, because if you really give it a chance, Hereditary will blow you away, as no other horror can do today.