Hereditary, Pyewacket and The Babysitter

Well, it's official - yesterday was the start of the first heat wave of the summer and I am miserable. But luckily I had a really good week of watching some great movies that I want to talk about. I watched 5 movies in total and three of them I want to talk a lot about!

Here's what I watched:

Pyewacket
Hereditary
The Babysitter
Krampus
Delirium

I was debating putting Hereditary into its' own post and I might in the future, but everyone's writing about it right now and I'm sure you don't need another full article about how great it is. I also don't trust myself to write eloquently about Hereditary for longer than a few paragraphs without turning into me just crying and screaming about how much I loved it.

No notable mentions this week as I want to talk about most of them in length. Krampus was just a re-watch while I was writing my Top Ten Movies to Cool You Down This Summer article, and Delirium was a random Netflix choice which actually turned out pretty interesting!

Hereditary, the debut feature length from Ari Aster, came out last week and I went and saw it on Sunday in theaters. What more can I really say about this movie that hasn't already been said? Not much, but I want to get my opinion out there anyway because I'm an egotistical bastard. And I also want to encourage horror fans to go see this movie in theaters and give it the respect it deserves, and if you've already seen it...GO SEE IT AGAIN. I think I probably will next weekend.

Starring Toni Collette as Annie, a miniaturist artist, Gabriel Byrne as her husband Steve, Alex Wolff as her son Peter and Milly Shapiro as the 13-year-old Charlie. Annie's mother dies and leaves the family dealing with the aftermath....I honestly don't want to tell you more than that because going into this movie without knowing much is what makes it so absolutely perfect. Perhaps when the movie comes out on DVD, I'll do a much more in depth review where I can actually spoil things. What I will say though is I stopped being scared of horror movies when I was in my late teens and since then (which is about ten years) I've only had two films scare the ever loving crap out of me. Autopsy of Jane Doe being the first, and Hereditary being the second.

When Hereditary ended, my entire body was covered in sweat and my shoulder and neck muscles ached for two days after. And it's not even jump scares you guys, it's just this spectacular imagery that attacks every single one of your senses. The story is so perfect and complex and leaves you wanting to watch it over and over again to fully get what's really going on. But it's also not so complex that you feel like an idiot watching it or that it's just a director jerking off.

The imagery is spectacular - one particular scene near the end with Annie and...err...her head?...I don't want to spoil it, BUT that image has been cemented into my brain and I find myself thinking of it constantly. Hereditary is one of the best films I've ever seen, regardless of genre, and I want to take it home with me and raise it as my own fucked up child.

A solid 5/5 - I will aggressively recommend this film forever and I will not apologize to everyone in my life who has had to hear me talk about it every day for a week now.

I was browsing the movie network channel to see if anything new had been added and to my utmost surprise I saw a little film called Pyewacket. I've heard some great things about this film and I knew going in I would probably love it. Brooding, gothy teenagers, witchcraft, a house in the middle of the woods - all my sweet spots. Pyewacket was released last year and was written and directed by Adam MacDonald. He is the directer and writer of one of my favs - Backcountry, so honestly this movie could've totally sucked and I probably still would've loved it.

Leah (Nicole Munoz) is a teenager who has recently lost her father, she's found herself in a small group of metal music loving, witchcraft interested friends who she leans on for support. Her mother (Laurie Holden) is struggling - and the two of them are not getting along. When her mother decides to sell the house Leah grew up in and move them hours away into a house in the middle of the woods, Leah is obviously pissed. And she's a teenager, so she's doubly irrationally pissed. The move does great things for her mother who finally feels like she can move on. But Leah spirals in her grief. Her and her friends are a big fan of this writer who writes about demonic rituals and Leah decides to do one that will get rid of her mother. She summons the demon Pyewacket. But as soon as she's completed the ritual, she panics and realizes she's way over her head.

It's a great little flick with a lot of heart and some really good performances by all included. While Leah doesn't say much, her face is very expressive letting you really understand what she's going through. This movie also does a great job of never really showing the demon, only giving you terrifying glimpses in the shadows. It's suuuuper spooky.

Pyewacket was a really fun watch and I recommend it to those of you who like quieter, subtly spooky pieces and also those who love witchcraft in any movie ever.

5/5

Dear Samara Weaving, I have fallen completely head over heels in love with you and have decided to watch anything you're in going forwards.

Seriously, Weaving is incredible. After watching her in Mayhem and now seeing her in this, I kind of want to just become her crazy characters. The Babysitter, released in 2017 by Netflix was directed by McG and stars Samara Weaving, Judah Lewis, Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne and Hana Mae Lee. Cole is an odd kid, relentlessly bullied by his school mates, and at 12 years old, still has a babysitter. But his babysitter, Bee, is a total bad ass and the two of them have a great time hanging out together. When his parents leave the two of them alone for the weekend, Cole decides to find out what goes on after he goes to bed after his only friend Melanie tells him that Bee is most likely bringing over boys. After a great night of making pizzas, watching their favorite films, and planning their dream sci-fi teams, Cole pretends to go to bed. When he sneaks downstairs to see who Bee has invited over, he finds out that she is conducting a satanic ritual will all her friends. When Bee realizes he's seen them, Cole must fight for his life to survive the night and deal with the fact that one of his favorite people in the world, is kind of insane.

This is one of those flicks that you can't not have a great time watching. It's over the top, campy, bloody as hell, and just a delicious hilarious horror film. There's so many incredible moments between the characters. One of my favorites being when Max, in the middle of trying to murder Cole, decides to take some time to teach Cole how to stand up for himself against bullies. Or when Allison cannot get over the fact that she got shot in the boob. It's just a perfect flick with everything completely over the top. It's not scary by any means, it's a horror comedy, but it's super enjoyable with strong efforts from every single cast member.

For fans of Cooties, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, and Housebound - The Babysitter is one I will absolutely re-watch over and over and never get sick of.

5/5

So there you have it, a solid week of 5/5 films and weirdly enough...all of them having something to do with witchcraft or demonic rituals. Now I'm going to go sit in front of a fan and cry about how hot it is outside.

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