We Are Still Here (2015)

Haunted house movies don't typically thrill me all that much as they tend to be overtly formulaic and lacking anything real surprising or 'edgy', I've found. That's not to say certain ones don't come along and prove contrary to my general views on these types of horror films, such as "We Are Still Here", which is one of the strongest supernatural/haunted house movies I've seen in quite a while. Probably not since "Insidious".

After losing their son in a car accident, a husband and wife move out to a rural house to get away from the city. Upon their arrive there seems to be something amiss with the cellar, which is emitting smokey odors which may be linked to the previous owners who, according to a few locals, were run out of town for running a sort of black market corpse selling operation out of their funeral home business, i.e. the house. Turns out, the house's history is even a bit more tempestuous when charred up entities start springing up out of the dank cellar and offing visitors...

Now, "We Are Still Here" doesn't go about adding much NEW, fundamentally, to the haunted house "recipe", but there IS a salient air of 'freshness' to it, as well as a visible admiration for the horror genre that is clear in the film's general "attitude" and style. The movie focuses abundantly on atmosphere - through quiet, moody shots of the house exterior, interior, the cellar, trees and the snowy Northeast countryside. Mood is established exceptionally well - seemingly without much artificial lighting much of the time. The characters are believable and the performances are decent, however, there's no doubt in my mind that Larry Fessenden was going for a Jack Torrance kind of vibe with his character, even in his appearance. Ha. The movie also doesn't shy away from gore when necessary. While not an all-out bloodbath, there's some fairly splattery moments.

In all, is "We Are Still Here" a GREAT film? No, but it's a very good, traditional (but not 'campy'...) take on supernatural horror with a heavy nod to Lucio Fulci's "House By the Cemetery" and, most importantly, a respect for the genre and it's fans.