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Director Ari Aster Explains How the ‘Hereditary’ House is Also a Character

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Usually, the houses we remember in horror films are the haunted ones, or ones on alliterative hills. Even the Elm Street house is haunted by Freddy’s spirit, and the Myers home in Haddonfield by Michael’s legacy. You’ll remember the house in Hereditary (review) too, although the house itself is not the primary source of the horror. In fact, it’s so memorable that Annie Graham (Toni Collette) is building a diorama of the house inside the house.

“I definitely wanted to achieve a dollhouse aesthetic with this film,” writer/director Ari Aster said.

“One way that we did that was by building the entire house on stage so everything interior, the first floor, second floor, attic and everything to do with the treehouse was built from scratch. One reason we did that was so that we could remove walls which means that we can pull out and get wider shots than you otherwise would be able to without having to put on a 15mm lens or a 10mm lens.”

Most of Hereditary is set in the house. The Graham family is grieving a loss, dealing with their dysfunctional issues and experiencing haunting incidents. Since he’d be spending the bulk of the movie there, Aster wanted to design it in a way that allowed flexible camera moves.

“Another reason that we built everything from scratch was so that we would have hallways and doorways wide enough to get dollies through,” Aster said. “We really wanted to have a more athletic camera. I certainly wanted to stretch shots out as long as we possibly could. I avoided traditional coverage wherever I could and most of the shots in the film are sequenced.”

In the beginning of the movie, a tracking shot blends from the diorama into a room of the actual house.

“The opening shot does involve a push-in on a miniature where we’re moving towards a replica of Peter’s bedroom but we separately shot a wide plate of Peter’s actual bedroom with the wall removed so that we could get a true wide shot,” Aster said. “We then laid in that plate over the replica. The wonderful visual effects artists at Brainstorm did a beautiful job incorporating the plate of Peter’s actual room into the miniature.”

Check out the house in Hereditary in theaters this weekend.

Interviews

‘Immaculate’ Director Michael Mohan on Religious Horror and Why You Can’t Pull Punches [Halloweenies Podcast]

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Immaculate SXSW Horror

This weekend, Neon is releasing its highly anticipated new slice of horror Immaculate. Directed by Michael Mohan, Sydney Sweeney stars as an American nun named Cecilia who joins a remote convent in the Italian countryside. What begins as a warm welcome quickly devolves into a living nightmare as Cecilia discovers her new home harbors a sinister secret and unspeakable horrors. You can see it with a crowd this Friday.

In anticipation, Halloweenies co-host/executive producer Michael Roffman sits down with director Michael Mohan to discuss how he approached making his first horror film. Together, the two chat about the effects of religious horror in 2024, Sweeney’s Scream Queen magic, the ending everyone’s going to be talking about, and why Horror needs zero rules. He also offers some choice Horror recommendations.

Stream the episode below or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. New to the Halloweenies? Catch up with the gang by revisiting their essential episodes on past franchises such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, The Evil Dead, and this past year’s Chucky! This year? The Alien franchise.

You can also become a member of their Patreon, The Rewind, for hilariously irreverent commentaries (e.g. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Gremlins, Jaws), one-off deep dives on your favorite rentals (e.g. Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Invasion of the Body Snatchers ), and even spinoffs like their recent run Fortune & Glory: An Indiana Jones Podcast.

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