It has been eight years since Ari Aster's Hereditary blew horror fans away, but the director has revealed that he has plans for more movies set in that universe and has even written a prequel.
"I wrote a prequel to this," said Aster during a Herediary Q&A at The American Cinematheque’s annual Bleak Week (Gold Derby). "It never feels like the right time. It’s a prequel, not a sequel, so I don’t know where this goes."
The 2018 movie centers on a family cursed by their late grandmother, who promised the family's firstborn male to an ancient demon. But the film concluded in tragedy, so a prequel would make a little more sense. Especially if Aster wanted to invite back star Toni Collette. Who knows, the prequel might focus on the witchy grandmother's (Kathleen Chalfant) dark past, just as Zach Cregger's Weapons prequel is set to follow Gladys' origins.
One thing is for sure, though, the original will be hard to top. Hereditary is often considered one of the greatest modern horror movies, ushering in a new era for the genre. Many think of it as 'elevated horror', which is not a term Aster uses himself. "I hate the term elevated horror, especially because it’s sort of a box that I was put in, and horror fans took umbrage. 'Who do you think you are?' I didn’t say it, I didn’t say it," added Aster. "I was just trying to make a really good horror movie."
Nevertheless, the movie was a breath of fresh air and a celebration of original horror. However, it seems as though we are going through a bit of a horror renaissance right now, with Curry Barker's $750,000 indie horror Obsession and fellow YouTuber turned movie director Kane Parson's Backrooms currently taking over the box office. Aster has noticed the change in the genre.
"This is a really interesting month with Curry and Kane. I hadn’t seen Kane’s shorts until Backrooms came out. He’s really interesting. He’s 20 years old... I think, he’s clearly following a vision. I’m thrilled to see that," said Aster. "That’s so exciting." You can read more on the trend in our feature about how Hollywood is benefiting content creators swapping social media for filmmaking.
For more, see where Herediatry places in our guide to the best horror movies of all time, and keep up with upcoming horror movies heading our way.
