Movie Review - We Are Still Here

We Are Still Here

2015

The Cast

This is a strange film as I really wanted to rate it more than the 6.5 I have, however, I just cannot as the movie could have been a lot better than it was.  There is an excellent cast with Barbara Crampton as the lead role, Anne Sacchetti.  The actors give a good performance, but what the movie suffers from are the long panoramic shots, and I mean long as in a time sense.  I know that they are there to build atmosphere and give the viewer a sense of the location but the director stays on the shot for too long.  This has the effect of slowing the movie down and gives it a disjointed feeling.

Then there is the bar come restaurant scene where everybody stops eating and watches the newbies enter the restaurant.  I think the director was going for ominous, but for me, it was ludicrously silly and only helped in lessening the film's power.  The scene should have hit the cutting room floor.

Then there is the soundtrack, which to say the least, is strange, especially in respect to the movie and the story.  It is set of psychedelic pop tracks that do not match mood or style.

All this said, there is something that draws you to the film.  The special effects are superb, from the ghostly shadow figures to the continually smouldering skin of the burn victims, which is beautiful in its own way.  When the strange events occur the director, Ted Geoghegan does an admirable job of building a spooky air and tension.

And if you like your gore then if you wait until the movie's climax you will have your fill.  There are some really good deaths and one really realistic one.

Usually, when I rate so low I don't recommend the film at all.  This time I recommend the movie to all horror movie watchers but with the warning that you will need to stay with it and to ignore the bad bits.

I enjoyed the film, in all its strangeness.  In honesty, I don't know if this is the film that the director wanted.  If it is, then he was trying something new and original, which is to be commended, though with this project I don't believe it worked too well.

I give this a supernatural smokey 6.5 out of 10.

The Trailer