We Are What We Are (Jim Mickie)

[Ezee E]

IMDB

[Ezee E]

Filmed with restraint, but nary a bit of quality to grasp on to, the actresses in this movie are completely wasted. This is a promising idea here, but with what's presented, it comes across as quite silly. One of the worst movies of the year, and a lame way to start off October horror.

[Stay Puft]

Jim Mickle*

He won the Midnight Madness award at TIFF a few years ago for Stake Land. I never saw that, but I remember a couple Match Cutters saying the same thing about it, that it was one of the worst movies of the year, so...

It doesn't sound like this guy has anything going for him.

[Gamblor]

I hated Stake Land, but found this a terrific slice of slow-burning American Gothic. One of the best horror remakes I've seen.

[Rowland]

I'm with Gamblor. Because I thought Stake Land sucked in spite of its warm reception amidst genre circles, I went into this with an axe to grind, only to find myself pretty quickly succumbing to its spell. This is a very good remake, in part because it barely qualifies as such, given how divergent it is from what I recall of the inferior original.

[Rowland]

Also, for what it's worth, E used a poster for the original film in his opening post. This poster is more indicative of this film's tone:

[Irish]

Agree with Gamblor. Really terrific tone throughout, although by the end I was confused about what the film was trying to say about the girls and their relationship to their father.

Is it a stretch to see the family history in this film as a metaphor for sexual or physical abuse? I dunno. But that's what crossed my mind in those final few scenes. I need to see this again.

Loved the setting, all the actors, and the even, even pace. I thought this was one of the more interesting horrors for last year. Like Contracted, Stoker, American Mary, and You're Next, it tried to say something about its characters and it was clever with how it went about saying it. I prefer that over a horror movie that merely tries to shock & awe with outrageous gore and effects.

[Rowland]

One of last year's best horror movies, this is now streaming on Netflix. Boner didn't vote here, but going by Letterboxd, he liked it too.

[Stay Puft]

So Jim Mickie has something going for him after all? Good to hear, I'll add this to my queue.

[Dead & Messed Up]

The ferocity of the ending threw me - I'm not sure I support it, although it makes some sense thematically. But this was otherwise another satisfying slow-burn offering from Mickle and co., full of the traditional Glass Eye Pix emphasis on quiet dread, careful composed cinematographs, and violence that hurts and matters.