Saturday, October 08, 2016

Brief Thoughts - WE ARE STILL HERE (2015)


Last night I finally watched this film on NetFlix. I'd heard several people compliment it so I pushed play and settled in. To say that I was pleased with WE ARE STILL HERE would be an understatement. This film turns out to be the best haunted house/malevolent ghost horror films I've seen in years. I won't spoil anything about the story other than to say it takes place during a snowy 1979 winter at an isolated country home. Said home has a dark history stretching back decades that has kept the place deserted most of the time. A grieving couple have chosen to move into the house to get away from memories of their recently passed son but the wife still feels the presence of that child. Things escalate when another couple come to visit them for a weekend.

This is a very well written and strongly acted movie. The script is well paced, clever and features a few smart twists on this type of story. The cast is fantastic with genre stalwarts Barbara Crampton and Larry Fessenden doing a fair amount of the heavy lifting. It was also great to see Monty Markham in a supporting role as the neighbor that lets the new homeowners in on the house's past. Ghost story lovers should be aware that the level of graphic violence in the latter half of the film is pretty high. I highly recommend seeking this one out.   





7 comments:

Unknown said...

The violence in the latter half got me in trouble with my wife. My 1 year old came into the living room and shortly after, when the violence started to escalate, my wife arrived ... She turned it off and gave me a lecture. So I kinda have to blame you for being late to scene with this info.

Rod Barnett said...

Sorry! I should have watched this sooner! ;-)

Unknown said...

There's a movie that I think is still on Netflix called Satan's Little Helper. It's Jeff Lieberman's latest movie (2004). I would like to know your thoughts on it. Genre fans are split down the middle on this one.

Rod Barnett said...

Sadly, it appears that Satan's Little Helper is not on NetFlix!

Unknown said...

Swift response! Do you have Amazon Instant Video? I'm torn on the movie. I like the story. If you go into as a dark comedy you'll enjoy. A lot of people can't get past how stupid the little kid is. That point would go back to the dark comedy point. However, it's shot on digital video or something. I wasn't really into it until about half way. There's more to discuss, but I guess I'll have to move on.

Rod Barnett said...

Cool! It's on Amazon so I'll try to check it out.

Rod Barnett said...

I caught SATAN'S LITTLE HELPER a few weeks ago and found it very sub-par. I joins other Lieberman films that I feel are mediocre at best but have a cult following anyway. The only one of his movies I really like is Squirm.