We Are Still Here (2015)

November 12, 2018

Directed by: Ted Geoghegan

Written by: Ted Geoghegan

Starring: Barbara Crampton, Andrew Sensenig, Lisa Marie

Quote: "...Oh, nobody knew what was under this house until it was too late!"

Trivia: 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.


This is a movie that I have been flipping past on Shudder for a while now. Haunted house and possession movies are usually not my jam (I'm more of a slasher movie junkie) but I thought I would give this one a shot. Damn am I glad I did! This was actually a really scary movie! Like honestly scary. I had to pause the movie twice to change over my laundry down the apartment hallway and found myself constantly looking around for ghosts and demons. Now that is a testament to a good horror movie! And gory! I had not expected so much gore in a haunted house film. They are usually more "jump scary," a scare tactic that rarely works on me and seems cheap. But no, this film is drenched in blood and gore both figuratively and literally. The movie also has some excellent acting performances by everyone involved and even a couple of twists and turns to keep the viewer on their toes. Finally, I was shocked to see the name Brian W. Collins in the movie's credits for End Title. Brian W. Collins is the writer for the Horror Movie A Day blog where he watched and wrote about a horror movie every day for six years. It was his interview on the Harmontown podcast that gave me the idea to start this blog. Apparently he also does end credits for horror movies. Good on ya Brian!

The Conjuring (2013)

September 3, 2018

Directed by: James Wan

Written by: Chad Hayes, Carey W. Hayes

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston

Budget: $20,000,000

Quote: "The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges upon which one we elect to follow."

Trivia: When the movie was shown in the Philippines, some cinemas had to hire Catholic priests to bless the viewers before showing it. This was due to some viewers having reported a "Negative Presence" after watching the film. The priests also provided spiritual and psychological help to the viewers.


Man, I really missed out on horror movies over the past decade prior to a few months ago. As a kid and teenager I used to search through the aisles of Blockbuster Video watching nearly ever movie I could get my hands on. Then in my twenties I was part of a horror movie club that my friend started where a bunch of us friends would get together to drink beer and watch horror movies. But then I moved away for a bit and didn't keep up with the new movies. So I had never seen any of the Conjuring movies, but figured I should  probably give it a shot since the spinoff The Nun is coming out this Friday. Enough of my backstory...

The Conjuring is a film that explores the existence of paranormal activity. It is based on the true story from the case files Ed and Lorraine Warren which are more or less a true life ghostbuster married couple. The movie has a handful of cheap jump scares but what really makes the film effective is what we do not get to see in the film. The parts where the demons or ghosts are not visible and the moments when something is amiss but what is wrong is not yet apparent. When we finally first see the demon, it is rather disappointing because the viewer's imagination is what makes the demon and story so scary. But this is not to say that everything is left up to the viewer's imagination. Hitchcock and Polanski were masters using atmosphere to create suspense, but those were different times. Today's horror audience demands at least some visual satisfaction in the form of monsters and gore and this movie offers that as well.

House (1985)

June 26, 2018

House was a movie that was written as a haunted house horror with a PTSD theme and then turned into a comedy. Unfortunately what all this resulted in was a film that was all-over-the-place. The $3 million dollar budget and incredible practical special effects are overshadowed by the rambling plot and goofy acting.

So a guy's aunt kills herself in a house, guy inherits house, and finds out the house is haunted. Guy is famous writer and movies into house to write a Vietnam memoir. Guy battles Vietnam flashbacks in the midst of the house trying to kill him. Oh, and he has a missing son that he keeps flashing back to. Eventually he finds his son and burns down the house. But don't worry, the house will come back for several more sequels with pun titles.