Film
We Are Still Here
Other titles called We Are Still Here: the 2023 film.
A grief-stricken couple moves into a remote New England house hoping to reconnect with their dead son, only to discover the place harbors something far older and angrier. A slow-burn haunted-house film with a patient build to genuine dread, rooted in loss and the desire to deny it. For lovers of 70s horror and those who appreciate atmosphere over jump scares.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you love slow-burn haunted-house films where dread builds through atmosphere, old-school gore and a grieving household's unravelling, rather than jump scares.
Skip it if you need a brisk plot or quick scares, since the film spends long stretches on quiet unease and its mystery takes its time to take shape.
What it asks of you: Settle in for about eighty-three minutes of patient, wintry build-up, with the blood arriving in bursts and the mood doing most of the work between them.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Poltergeist1982
The spiritual ancestor of haunted-house films done right. Tobe Hooper's direction crackles with dread; it understands that family terror is the deepest kind. Visceral, intelligent, genuinely frightening.
But The effects are 80s practical—some moments read as quaint now, which can puncture the mood for those expecting modern spectacle.
The Wailing2016
A masterwork of mounting paranoia and ambiguity. Na Hong-jin constructs a mystery where every answer breeds three new questions. The horror emerges from not knowing who or what to trust.
But Two hours forty minutes, subtitled, and it does not hand you easy closure. The ending will divide viewers sharply.
Insidious2011
James Wan understands that the real horror is the family's helplessness. The production design is meticulous and the score genuinely unsettling. Accessible entry to smart supernatural horror.
But Once the film shows you what's hunting them, some of the mystery evaporates. The second half is more conventional than the first.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from We Are Still Here
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Come True2020
Both films build horror from intimate, domestic spaces turned hostile. The supernatural intrudes on the most private moments—sleep, home, safety. Both suggest that the living may be outnumbered.
A homeless teenager joins a sleep study and begins experiencing horrific, interdimensional nightmares. Hypnotic electronic score, minimal dialogue, purely visual storytelling. Genuinely innovative in how it visualizes the unconscious.
But Dialogue is sparse to the point of silence. The science-fiction angle will alienate pure horror fans. Deliberately oblique and demands interpretation.
More like this (5)
The Innocents1961
A black-and-white masterpiece about a governess convinced she's protecting children from ghosts. Jack Clayton's ambiguity—is she sane?—remains the gold standard. Psychological horror at its most refined.
But Deliberately ambiguous to the point some find it frustrating. The pacing is glacial by modern standards.
Drag Me to Hell2009
Sam Raimi's reminder that horror can be fun without being stupid. A woman cursed over a loan rejection spirals into increasingly absurd supernatural chaos. Smart, darkly funny, visually inventive.
But The tonal whiplash between comedy and genuine scares doesn't work for everyone. Some scenes veer toward slapstick.
The Sixth Sense1999
M. Night Shyamalan at his peak. The architecture is perfect: a child sees dead people, a therapist helps him cope, and every scene plants seeds for the ending. Emotionally devastating and meticulously plotted.
But The twist has been spoiled for nearly everyone by now. Knowing it reframes the whole experience.
Sinister2012
A writer investigating a family's death finds a box of snuff films in his attic. Derivative of better films in its parts, but Scott Derrickson assembles them into something that lingers. Genuinely creepy imagery.
But The found-footage sequences are disturbing in ways that feel exploitative. The plot mechanics strain credibility in the third act.
A Dark Song2016
A widow hires an occultist to conduct a séance in her remote house. Liam Garrigan and Caorunn Lynch create profound intimacy within the ritual framework. Grief becomes the true horror, and reconciliation the goal.
But There is almost no plot momentum. It's meditative and internal to the point of being inaccessible to those wanting narrative drive.
People
Cast
Barbara CramptonAnne Sacchetti
Andrew SensenigPaul Sacchetti
Lisa MarieMay Lewis
Larry FessendenJacob Lewis
Monte MarkhamDave McCabe
Susan GibneyMaddie
Michael Patrick NicholsonHarry Lewis
Kelsea DakotaDaniella- Guy GaneLassander Dagmar
Elissa DowlingEloise Dagmar- Zorah BurressFiona Dagmar
- Marvin PattersonJoe the Electrician
Directing
- Ted GeogheganDirector
- Wesley Swanson IIIScript Supervisor
Writing
- Richard GriffinIdea
- Ted GeogheganWriter
Production
- Jade Porter IIAssociate Producer
- Eben KostbarCo-Producer
- Badie AliExecutive Producer
- Greg NewmanExecutive Producer
- Hamza AliExecutive Producer
- Malik B. AliExecutive Producer
- Eben KostbarLine Producer
- Travis StevensProducer
Recommended by
Blindspotting, The Sacrament, The American Nightmare, In Jackson Heights, Starry Eyes, American Mary, Saint Maud, Gretel & Hansel, Luz, Trumpland: Kill All Normies, V/H/S/Mixtape, Nadja, The Devil's Candy, The Goblin Market, Blackbird, A Poem a Day, Creature, Pyewacket, Darkroom, Torment, The Strange Thing About the Johnsons, Deadgirl, Lake Bodom