Types Of Horror III: Grief in Hereditary

 

One of the best horror movies to have come out in the 2010’s, 2018s’ Hereditary was an extraordinary movie for the way it showed the talent of actress Toni Colette, as well as the way it subverted the way a horror movie could disturb its audience.

And many years later after
re-watching it for the third time, the most powerful impression it gives me is for the way it treats grief and the way a family goes through it. I have to warn about spoilers in this analysis, but they are necessary to explain my point.

In a movie that opens with a funeral of the main characters’ mother and develops from there, the sense of loss is always present and the atmosphere of the movie is stifling, ominous and tense. The family goes through great pains, and the horror that surrounds the events takes a second place to the grief that they all have to process throughout. To me the scene where Gabriel Byrnes’ character quietly sobs in is character after almost having a car accident due to the stress he is suffering is probably one of the best to show the pain that grief inflicts on someone who has to carry the weight of his family tragedies alone.

And so does grief take centre stage in this horror movie, and when the horror of the supernatural takes over, the spectator is already too affected by the tension and depressive nature of it to have an emotional armour left to fight it. For it is grief that leads the main character (played masterfully, by Toni Colette) to embrace the supernatural and thus bring the ultimate destruction upon on her own family.

Singled Out V: Kalandra “Bardaginn”

 

I heard about this song on the Metal Injection website
, which I follow for metal music related news, and it instantly grabbed me from its’ amazing video featuring the band members going through different conflict situations to the power of the music itself.

The song itself is sung in an old Nordic tongue, I believe, and because of this I can’t understand the lyrics. However, the singers’ deliver is impressive, with a very catchy riff on the guitar that repeats itself constantly dues keeping one’s attention always on their toes. Another thing that grabs your attention is the use of keyboards that give different accents to the sections of the song.

It is a great song in the vein of folk metal by bands like Heilung or Wardruna, and although it is a stand alone single, it shows the potential of Kalandra and what they might have in store for future releases. The video, like I mentioned above is very interesting and adds to the power of the song, which is something that one always hopes to find in a music video.

 

Below, as is usual in my music-related posts, I have the link for both the band website and for supporting these amazing artists! I also add the link to the Youtube video, for good measure.

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The band: https://www.kalandra.no/

Support: https://kalandra.bandcamp.com/track/bardaginn

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcpe23dG-jk

Sound of Freedom

 

After many months of curiosity building up due to the publicity surrounding “Sound of Freedom”, starring Jim Caviezel, I decided to watch this movie focusing on the troubling issue of child trafficking. The truth is that the rumours of the alleged suppression the by so called establishment made it impossible to ignore the existence of this movie, even when one wasn’t inclined to watch it, it was impossible to ignore the internet buzz surrounding it.

And so I did watch “Sound of Freedom”, and the general impression of this movie is that it is a very compelling drama with very graphic insinuations regarding the disgusting trafficking of children that make one feel uncomfortable from the first minutes. The actors are great, although the spotlight I believe is taken by the character of “Vampiro” (Bill Camp) and the two actors portraying the kidnapped brother and sister. The main character is convincing as a hardened veteran as a an officer that will do what is necessary to hunt down pedophiles; however, sometimes this character seems to fall too much one the typical action movie hero type.

It is a good drama that makes one feel the pains suffered that the two kidnapped siblings go through (as well as the other children portrayed), as well as the heavy psichological damage that the main character suffers in dealing with a very dark and disturbing world that his job demands.

Does it live up to the aspirations of its’ creators and main actor to become a tool to end child trafficking? It is a very tall order, but at least the message is carried across very well and affects the spectators. It is impossible to feel neutral while watching it.