Lately, I’ve been in the mood for good horror movies. This doesn’t necessarily mean a horror movie that will scare the living shit out of me (even though those are nice) but just a solid movie that happens to follow horror genre conventions, which isn’t the easiest thing to find. Yes, there are films like Stanley Kurbrick’s The Shining, an all time classic horror film, and one of my all time favorites, Ridley Scott’s Alien, that have set the standard for horror movies in terms of creating a new aesthetic identity and finding new ways to shock and scare. Lately, however, I see more remakes and sequels for horror movies than original concepts, which isn’t terribly shocking considering the fact that most films released today by major studios aren’t original. Hence why the majority of original horror films are being financed and produced by smaller production companies with lower budgets. If the film does well in the festival circuit then it will have a chance to get picked up by a major distributor and, if they’re lucky, land a decent distribution deal. The best examples of this can be seen from two of the most famous found footage films, The Blair Witch Project and the first Paranormal Activity, which were both tremendously successful at the box office. So, needless to say, I was excited when I found such a film floating about on Netflix instant, and this film is called We Are What We Are.

Released in 2013, this American horror film directed by Jim Mickle premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. With an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, I’ll be honest I was a bit skeptical at first. After all, I’ve gotten quite used to skimming through the cheesy, unfamiliar, horror movie titles that can be found on Netflix these days. But there’s something about this movie that caught my eye, so I decided to give it a chance and I was not disappointed. First of all, the film is beautiful. Taking place in a small, midwestern, town, the film begins on a dark and rainy afternoon. The director, Mickle, takes his time introducing the viewer to this place with several long takes of the landscape; water droplets running down the leaves of the trees and streams flowing steadily with fresh water. At first, it doesn’t feel like a horror movie; more like something you’d see out of a Jeff Nichols or Terrence Malick film. But soon, a tense and steady pace begins to build, and that’s when you realize it’s building up to something horrifying. I obviously don’t want to give too much of the plot away, but I’ll set things up for you so you have an idea of what I’m getting at.

We Are What We Are begins with the death of a mother who leaves behind three children and a husband. It is soon made known that the oldest daughter, Iris, is to take over the mothers religious duties as a very important day is fast approaching. Meanwhile, the sheriff, finds some interesting things concerning the autopsy of the mother, which further elevates the tension between him and this family, with their mysterious rituals. I would like to say more, but I think this gives you a little bit of an idea of what to expect going in. Truthfully, it didn’t take me long to figure out what was taking place in this family, but they never reveal too much too early. There was still that lingering doubt in the back of my mind that kept my eyes glued to the screen. That, and how dark and compelling the performances of the family are. The father, in particular, draws you in as one of those guys that you love to hate. Every twitch and every turn makes you wonder what his next movie is going to be, and whether that move will make you hate him more or less. So as the tension builds and builds, with a few genuinely scary moments dispersed throughout, we finally get to the climax. Here, I was genuinely surprised by what happened which often doesn’t happen for me. In my mind, I was going through a few different potential outcomes but I was not expecting what eventually transpired in front of my eyes. This was the best part of the film, in my opinion. I simply love having my expectations proven wrong, and being truly surprised. It is part of the fun of a good horror movie.

Overall, if you’re in the mood for a tense, edgy, thrilling, horror movie, give this movie a chance. It’s eerily beautiful and sick and twisted in all the best ways and if you like that kind of thing, you will surely like this. If you don’t, I hope someone forces you to watch this movie because, whether or not you enjoy it, it’ll take you on a pretty fun ride through the darkness that takes place in religious rituals. And again, be sure to keep checkin in and let me know what you think. These are simply my opinions so, if you end up not liking the film, let me know why. Otherwise, simply keep it rolling.