This post will seem like a direct comparison between Hereditary and Truth or Dare, but I swear it isn't meant to be. The comparison here is between horror that starts out very slow, with a lot of buildup and horror that is almost nonstop action, which works better (for me) and why. I also want to talk a bit about Truth or Dare without giving it its own post, because it doesn't deserve one. I would love to talk about Hereditary as well, but there is no possible way for me to talk about that film without giving away major spoilers and for that movie, you really need to experience it for yourself.
Let's start with Hereditary. This movie...There's so much I want to say, but I can't. The only things I can really say, that are still sort of SPOILER-ISH are that I was amazed when I went back and rewatched the movie, that there were so many hints that tell you exactly what is going on. If you go back and watch even the first 30 minutes again, you'll wonder how you ever missed that ending. The other slight spoiler I want to mention is that the ending really reminded me of the original Suspiria, but I wasn't mad about it. Suspiria is a movie that I love, up until the point where you find out what's really going on. I didn't feel like it worked in that film. In Hereditary, however, it was so perfect.
The only reason I watched Truth or Dare is because an episode of Running Man was inspired by it. It's very Final Destination-esque. A group of friends repeatedly have to escape death (by choosing truth or dare and completing their mission), in the order in which they played the game the first round. So here come the SPOILERS because this isn't really a movie I mind ruining for anyone. The ending isn't particularly clever or innovative (I could swear I've read stories with similar endings on r/nosleep), but I didn't hate it. Throughout the entire movie, Olivia and Markie talk about how they'll always choose each other above everyone and everything else, with the exception of Olivia's first truth (before the game went off the rails), which was would she choose to save her group of friends or the entire population of Mexico during an alien attack? She chose the population of Mexico, because her character is supposed to be "too nice" and that's the correct choice to make, right? Saving many over a few. However, at the end of the movie, Olivia once again tells Markie she chooses her, takes out her phone and records a video detailing the ordeal they've just been through, uploads it to Youtube and asks her viewers, "Truth or dare?" Because at this point, the girls have exhausted all their options and the only way to save each other is to get more people into the rotation so it takes longer for their turns to come around again. I guess Olivia is no longer saving the population of Mexico.
Now that we've talked a bit about both films, here's how I felt about each of them. I thought Hereditary was very slow, but had a satisfying conclusion. I kept checking my phone throughout the movie because not much happened, until the last 20 minutes or so. I was very creeped out and disturbed by the movie's conclusion and it's something that stayed with me for days after watching it. Truth or Dare had a lot of action and it did hold my attention, but it was a pretty ridiculous movie overall, it never actually scared me and it's something I'll never think about again once I'm done writing this post.
So which is better? There honestly isn't a definitive answer because it depends entirely on if it's done right. It Comes at Night and The Blair Witch Project are both examples of films that, in my opinion, had a lot of buildup with very unsatisfying endings. Hereditary worked so well because you can clearly see, once everything is revealed, that the film was always headed towards that conclusion. And once it reached it, it was horrifying. It was worth every second I sat there thinking, "I hope this is going somewhere amazing and I didn't waste my time watching it." Because that's usually what ends up happening for me with these types of movies. They're slow and the ending never makes up for it.
The same goes for more action oriented horror films. If you want to get into a really specific sub-genre, action oriented horror films about a group of college friends going on vacation together, who end up playing truth or dare and screwing over the entire world. Let's talk about Cabin in the Woods, a beautiful loveletter to the horror genre. It is extremely heavy on the action for a good portion of the film and it never lets up. It completely goes off the deep end later on in the movie, in the best possible way. It's a thoroughly enjoyable horror film and it worked very well. These types of movies can be extremely clever when done correctly.
As usual, I don't have an answer to the question posed. Everything is on a case by case basis, you can't judge one movie based on another. They're all unique, some work and more often than not, some don't, but it's extremely satisfying when you find one that hits all the right marks and manages to surprise you.
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