We Are Still Here (2015) Reviews

• Great horror film, made with a passion and respect for the genre

  rocknrelics2015-06-17

  I was lucky enough to see this at a friends house last night, went into it blind, and oh boy what a nice surprise.Whilst yes, it's another haunted house movie, this brings something new to the table with a great climax to the film that really ramps it up.The performances from the whole cast are excellent,and the main four characters are likable and believable.The cinematography is excellent, and the whole film just has this authentic feel to it.I won't reveal anything of the storyline,as I think it's one of those films that's best enjoyed if you don't know too much about it,but as a seasoned horror fan,I found this one of the most refreshing films I've seen in years with some good tension and scares.I've seen some comments about 'B movie this, B movie that', but I didn't get that feeling at all, this had the feel of a 70's-80's classic horror.A little more character development of the villains would have made this even better, it could have stood another 10 minutes or more being added to the running time which would have allowed this.I'll be pre-ordering the Blu Ray as soon as possible,when there are so many horror films out there that shouldn't have even been released, this deserves my money and to be in my collection.

• Nicely done ghost mystery with a Lovecraftian undertone.

  sam214622015-07-08

  I freely admit to being a sucker for a good ghost story but feel no issue with prejudices when I say the movie delivers. While there were a few problematic aspects, such as the night when the proclamation was made that there was a darkness all around inside the house which cut to a scene of everyone being sound asleep. I suppose it was the consistent use of scotch that helped with this! That aside there is plenty of atmospheric creepiness with an easy mystery of ghosts that overlie some sort of ill defined ancient evil that had been uncovered. Nice layered evil that had no problem showing us the first layer of quite well done (yes there is a pun there) ghosts. It was, however, the deeper layer of undefined evil that I found, in the end, to be the most fun. It was this later part that I view as quite Lovecraftian. The unseen unnamed "darkness" that is the real driving force of a quite haunted house. It is hinted at but never shown and in the end remains apart from the rest of the story that is told. Hats off for this added layer. The easily solved mystery with the impossible mystery added in was delightfully refreshing. I would also add that a careful eye will catch a reference to the "Miskatonic River" in one of the newspapers shown during the initial end credits. Sweet!

• Boring horror flick

  KineticSeoul2015-07-31

  I thought this was going to be a creepy horror movie with a good tone and vibe going for it. I did like the atmosphere, especially the beginning few minutes. I thought it would be one of those B movies with a really creepy feel to it with some clever elements thrown in. I was wrong, I was just bored with this one. And it doesn't even have any artistic or original approach to it as well. I could see that it was trying to go in that classic horror movie direction, but it falters. Mainly because even the slow build up isn't even enticing or new. The build up just seemed like pointless drivel to lengthen the runtime. Now I am an audience member that likes some classic movies, but the pacing for this one was just bad. Overall this is a very forgettable horror flick that isn't even worth the time. I give this movie a 3, because I did like the semi-retro cinematography and look going for it. It did have potential to be really good. Maybe if they delve more in the mystery elements revolving the towns people. 3/10

• Good movie, entertaining enough, but could have built the lore up.

  scottmannen12015-06-15

  The plot is solid enough. The movie is entertaining enough also meaning that if you want something new to watch in the horror genre- this movie is just entertaining enough, The lore could have been improved upon, and with some more back story, perhaps even some flashbacks with some creative storytelling and this film could have been a gem. The movie at just 84 minutes doesn't provide enough time to the viewer to understand what this evil is that has descended on this family. We are told a few bits a pieces about he first owner who ran a funeral parlour out of this home. Something about the owner Dagmar hiding or selling the bodies and that the house was built on some ancient evil. Other than all that we are left to guess at what the heck the rest of the back story is and what it has to do with the old boiler downstairs. If only they took another 15 minutes of screen time to flesh out the sordid past and we could have left this movie more satisfied with a true understanding of the houses evil past, where and why and how. What we are left with is a gore fest with jump scares that are really nothing new. It's just a good old fashioned horror with a 2 star rating.

• Mysteriously good metascore

  begob2015-06-25

  Middle aged couple grieving the recent loss of their son move into a remote house, and find themselves caught between the evil in the basement and the nutters from the local town. Swimming against the tide, I know, but I found this really poor. It opens with nice shots of the snowy landscape, then a couple driving to a destination - standard horror opening, but the dialogue has nothing. If you want to see how it's done with skill and imagination watch From the Dark (2014). We get to the destination, and it's '70s anti-colour co-ordination as the couple meets another middle aged couple, and the dialogue still has nothing. It's about couples really - I think there are 5, if you include the basement dwellers. But the script does nothing with it. Satire of '70s swingers? No. Surely then it has a coherent, satisfying story? No. Ah, but it references '70s horror and has some cheesy gore. OK, but pfff. Lots of sound-based attempts at jump scares. Feeble CGI. The ghosts look like they wandered off the set of The Fog. Overall, bunch of middle aged actors get caught in juvenile misdemeanor. Community service all round. ps. from the Ebert review: "Full disclosure: Mr. G. has a day job as a New-York-based movie publicist, and I've had friendly and rewarding exchanges with him in that context."