We Are Still Here is an American horror movie about a couple in mourning who move to a new town and house only to discover that their arrival coincides with a lot of unexplainable, strange occurrences that may be related to the house’s history. Will they settle in to their new environment?
After I watched the movie, I discovered that it was favorably compared to It Follows, which I loved and saw in the theaters, and thought, “For real?!?” I respect Barbara Crampton’s horror resume, but I don’t think that a movie can rest its laurels on her credentials: From Beyond and Re-Animator. We Are Still Here is too derivative of more notable, earlier horror stories and suffers from the Looper problem. It wants to be too many things simultaneously: The Wicker Man, Stephen King’s It, Amityville Horror, Guillermo del Toro’s mournful sensibilities, H. P. Lovecraft, a ghost story, possession. I like my movies like Gordon Ramsay likes his food: simple without a lot of confusion. I think that if you are into Giallo or Italian horror, for example Dario Argento’s films, you may disagree with me because it is a difference in tastes. I can appreciate gore, but I need a strong narrative framework to hang it on.
It took me a minute to realize that We Are Still Here was a period piece set in 1979. I know that the clothes, the car, the furniture and the husband’s dismissive attitude towards women were hints, but sometimes people have vintage sensibilities. Also the real horror for me was that they bought a house knowing that it needed a new foundation. Why didn’t you fix up the house before moving in? Didn’t you hire an inspector after making an offer? The boiler and electricity are two different things. Someone needs to go in that crawl space. You bought the house knowing the history!?! I was not invested in the fate of the couple because they were too old to be that stupid. I take real estate very seriously. What are you waiting for, house!?! Eat them!
I loved that their houseguests were astonished at the couple’s stupidity too and openly questioned the wisdom of staying there. It is rare for the hippie characters to have more common sense than their sober counterparts, but they were basically saying, “We’re into weird stuff. This is dangerous.” Still if I suspected that I was walking into a death trap, my foot would not have crossed the threshold, forget checking out the cellar, so shame on them for not following their own advice. They were the best part of the movie, specifically May. If May does not like you, you will know it.
A close second is Annie, the wife played by Crompton, during the denouement. People acknowledge that once the crap hits the fan, a normal person should not automatically be able to go from mild mannered civilian to lethal killer with no military training, and if you can, maybe there was something off with you in the first place. Let’s just say that Annie will be ready once shots are fired.
Paul was the most annoying character. While I can’t condone it, I can rationalize his chauvinism and racism considering the time period, but he is the kind of guy that gets bitten by a zombie and does not tell anybody. I hate that guy. He never gets smarter as the movie progresses. How many clues do you need, Paul? Because The Amityville Horror was released on July 27, 1979, and it appears that they moved in during the deep winter of 1979, January or February, not the fall to early winter of 1979, i.e. November to December, I’ll give him a pass on not immediately picking up all the clues. I know that we wouldn’t have a movie if people did not do stupid things, but at one point, he goes deeper into the house instead of leaving and does not realize that someone is possessed. Dude, you missed the Exorcist, which was released in 1973? I was not even alive then, and I emerged from the womb knowing about that movie. It was a hit! What are you good for? I think the dialogue even confirms that he bought the house, not Annie.
I do not mean it sarcastically, but I really liked the closing credits with the newspaper clippings and the final post credits scene, which explained a question that I had after the first murders. It almost retroactively made me like the film, but We Are Still Here is no Jug Face, which took similar themes, felt fresher, focused and was more consistent. In comparison, We Are Still Here felt wooden, two-dimensional and scattered. Unless you must see every film that Crompton is in or like Giallo films, skip this mediocre film.