We are Still Here (2015 film)

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We are Still Here (2015 film)

Summary

"This house needs a family." In the cold, wintery fields of New England, a lonely old house wakes up every thirty years - and demands a sacrifice.

Details

• Release Date: 2015
• Country/Language: USA, English
• Genres/Technical: Horror
• Setting: 1970s Aylesbury, New York
• Runtime: 1 hr 24 min
• Starring: Barbara Crampton, Andrew Sensenig, Lisa Marie
• Director: Ted Geoghegan
• Writer: Ted Geoghegan
• Producer/Production Co: Snowfort Pictures, Dark Sky Films
• View Trailer: (link)
• TVTropes: (link)
• IMDB Page: (link)

Ratings

MPAA Ratings

• Rated: not rated (equivalent to 'PG-13' or 'R' for Violence, some Profanity, and mild Adult Content)

Tentacle Ratings

A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:

• SS___ (Two Tentacles: Barely Lovecraftian; vaguely similar in tone, could be a very loose adaptation)

Set in Lovecraft Country and somehow involves off-screen "dark gods" in the basement served by smoky and reasonably creepy Deadites; it also stars Barbara Crampton, who appeared in a number of other low-budget Lovecraftian movies.

Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.

Reviews

Review Links:

• Y.Whateley - "Not at all a good movie, but it is set in Lovecraft Country and somehow involves off-screen "dark gods" in the basement served by smoky and reasonably creepy deadites; it also stars poor Barbara Crampton, who appeared in a number of other, often marginally better, low-budget Lovecraftian movies."
• Richard Cross at (20/20 Movie Reviews) - (1/4 Stars) "...A perfect example of a good idea that's woefully under-developed, and it's a little difficult to understand why, given that Geoghegan, who also wrote the screenplay, could have extended the running time by thirty minutes in order to craft a more coherent back story and crank up the tension...."
• Brett Gallman at (Oh The Horror!) - "...A worthy successor to the likes of Fulci and his ilk. Its morbid mythology, outlandish gore, and vintage 70s digs leave little doubts about its influences and make for a familiar blend...."
• Nicole Gallo at (Archon Cinema Reviews) - "...Uses the 1970’s ambiance to conjure up recollections of possession films of that time period. While the tone is right and the scares are gruesome, the back-story and build-up to terror has gaping holes related to consistency...."
• Richard Scheib at (The Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Film Review) - (3/5 Stars) "...Ted Geoghegan builds atmosphere well and gets a number of strong jumps off with the appearance of the strange shadowy figures throughout the house and the hinting of sinister events that happened in the past... [before] the film reaches an admirably gore-drenched climax...."

Synopsis (SPOILERS)

 Spoiler Section (Highlight to Read)
After their teenage son is killed in a car crash, Paul and Anne move to the quiet New York countryside to try to start a new life for themselves. But the grieving couple unknowingly becomes the prey of a family of vengeful spirits that reside in their new home, and before long they discover that the seemingly peaceful town they've moved into is hiding a terrifyingly dark secret. Now they must find a way to overcome their sorrow and fight back against both the living and dead as the malicious ghosts threaten to pull their souls - and the soul of their lost son - into hell with them

Notes

Comments, Trivia, Dedication

• Numerous characters in this film are named after characters or people associated with the Lucio Fulci film The House by the Cemetery (1981), which this film was inspired by. The scene where the townie woman/bartender is stabbed in the neck by Barbara Crampton and blood sprays all over the white tarp is a nod to Dario Argento's Tenebrae (1982 film), where a woman has her arm severed and blood sprays all over the white wall. Throughout the film the characters frequently drink "B&J" Whiskey, an homage to "J&B Scotch", a real life brand of alcohol that was often seen in Italian horror and exploitation films during the 1970s and early 1980s - even the labels look very similar.

Associated Mythos Elements

• film: compare to The House by the Cemetery (1981), an inspiration for this film
• location: Aylesbury
• race: Deadites
• deity: "The Darkness", a shadowy entity living under the earth that emerges every 30 years to demand human sacrifice by fire

Keeper Notes

• The investigators become entangled in a deadly small-town secret when they trace a series of missing families back to a house built over a door to the Other Side and a town full of cultists who are forced to sacrifice families to a Kandarian Demon that returns to the house every 30 years for human sacrifices....