This year has seen a fantastic run of horror movies already, with films like Insidious: The Last Key and A Quiet Place making some serious money at the box office. The latest offering from the genre is Ari Aster's Hereditary, which has handily turned Milly Shapiro's Charlie Graham into an instant horror icon. However, some people are apparently ruining the theatergoing experience by mimicking Charlie's clucking sound during screenings of the movie, so Shapiro has filmed a video encouraging moviegoers to not ruin the film for audiences. Check out the quick video, below.
Did the hairs on the back of your neck stand up? Mine did. Alamo Drafthouse has clearly figured out that some folks out there find it funny to mimic the clucking sound effect made by Charlie Graham in screenings of Hereditary, and Milly Shapiro is not about to let that go. Donning the identity of the trouble child again, she stares straight into the camera and implores viewers not to try making fun of her. Considering how Hereditary ends (which is something that we will not spoil here), it seems like a wise decision to not anger her.
Charlie Graham's clucking sound effect has become one of the most easily-identifiable elements of Hereditary's story since the film debuted. The sound effect is a persistent motif throughout the story, and it provides some of the best scares in the entire movie. Beyond that, the folks at A24 seem to have figured out how effective the cluck truly is, because the sound effect has also become a major focal point of the Hereditary marketing campaign.
Despite the fear induced by the clucking noise, it is worth noting that Hereditary has turned into a decidedly polarizing movie. Though the film has received critical acclaim since it first screened, it has not been nearly as big of a hit with mainstream audiences. In fact, the film received a shocking D+ CinemaScore rating, making it one of the more divisive horror films in recent memory.
Of course, one other thing that this video does is serve as a reminder of the importance of a proper theater experience when we go to see a contemporary horror movie. In fact, Hereditary isn't even the first film to debut on the big screen this year to offer up this reminder. John Krasinksi's A Quiet Place similarly required a captive theater audience to deliver maximum scares. As a result, the experience of average moviegoers varied from theater to theater based on the willingness of the audience to embrace the quiet elements of the film.
Ari Aster's Hereditary is currently in theaters. Check out our review of the film to see what we think of it, and then head over to our movie premiere guide to see what other films (horror or otherwise) are set to debut this year!
