Number #7 – Hereditary
Written and Directed by Ari Aster
‘Hereditary’ structures itself after Greek tragedy. It’s about a family manipulated by a cult and doomed to a very unsavory fate. Maybe they could have escaped it, maybe they could have fought back, but they always made the wrong decision at the wrong time and in the end the mistakes doomed them.
When something is inevitable you wonder how you would generate tension. Well quite honestly, the performances across the board are stellar, but Toni Collette was simply astounding. There’s a running debate over the ending and if it works, but it is impossible to think objectively after you’ve witnessed what Collette did up to that point.
Number #8 – The Invisible Man
Written and Directed by Leigh Whannell
When I said I was doing this list the question I got asked the most was, ‘Is the Invisible Man on the list?’
Yes.
Another example why we shouldn’t overreact to remakes, “The Invisible Man” is Leigh Whannell lourishing under restrictions when much more expensive films on the subject have become utterly irrelevant.
This is the essence of how to present Universal horror in the modern day, instead of a story about an increasingly murderous bandaged chemist, we have a story about an abuser using technology to terrorize a woman in a way that’s sadly very familiar, and it couldn’t be more relevant or moving.
Throw in the muddying of the water on the killer’s identity and the protagonist’s slightly sinister turn at the end, and you have a modern classic.
Tom & Tom : Black Like You 