We Are Still Here

With a refreshing scenario and surprisingly effective jump-scares and frights in general, We Are Still Here is a horror film that enhances the haunted-house formula with an atmosphere akin to that of John Carpenter’s The Fog. I said “surprisingly effective”, because visually it’s like an amateur attempt at filmmaking, where the cameraman can’t even focus on the faces of people sitting in the car (and the focus is on the rear seats). Not to mention shooting in interiors with overly bright windows and other such glitches. If it had more dignified visuals, I would give it four stars. (27/11/2017)

After watching Ted Geoghegan film résumé so far (he’s credited as scriptwriter for several horror films of dubious quality), I didn’t have much trust in his directorial début, but We Are Still Here is actually really good. After all the Insidious, Sinister and The Woman in Black, this is an example of how to make a haunted house movie that will be at least interesting. At the beginning, the film relies mostly on the atmosphere, delivered by the good cinematography (Hussain is an experienced horror cinematographer), and the interesting contrast between the cold snowy exteriors and the warm colours of the interiors, including the scary cellar with some sort of portal to hell. The second positive aspect are the characters, they feel alive – finally a horror movie with protagonists that aren’t top models, but normal, ordinary people that you can worry about. The third positive aspect is the almost unexpectedly intense climax that blends several horror sub-genres. We Are Still Here made me happy and, unless the next six months are extremely good, I think it will end up in this year’s TOP 10. (06/06/2015)