In our effort to explore lesser known films that didn’t get big budget film releases, we will be doing 2 of these a month. No theme whatsoever. They are simply lesser known but quality horror films. I have Teddy, Cece, Dom, Chris, and Kristi all here to help me out.
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- In the Invitation, what was the significance of Will hitting and then killing the dog, if there was one?
Teddy: just a crazy happenstance
Cece: I mean, it could have been a bad omen for the entire rest of what happens in the movie.
Dom:Wrong place, wrong time…..Death can happen anywhere, anytime
Chris: It sets the unsettling tone at the beginning. Juxtaposes randomness with brutality as well. Sets up the whole putting those in pain out of their misery later on as well
Kent: This is a film about doing things that you don’t really want to have to do, not in the way of the Saw franchise, but in a slightly more realistic approach. The dog, the video, the staying at the party, being someplace that’s essentially on lockdown, Claire not wanting to play the game (insert HHH’s music), and even Will just coming back to that house.
- Who was your favorite character in The Invitation and why?
Cece: Will. He was the only one keen on all the fucked up shit.
Dom: Will/Eden. Will was the “sane” one in the situation. Eden was all kinds of fucked up. I felt most of the other characters, aside from David, were kinda throw away or filler.
Chris: Kira. Imagine being invited to your boyfriend’s ex’s house for a party, where you aren’t part of any of the memories or nostalgia being displayed. You don’t really know anyone, aren’t in on the inside jokes, your boyfriends is being all sorts of weird and moody and non-committal, and then his ex and her psychos try to kill you. What a shitty date night
Kent: Ben and Pruitt are my favorites because Ben is a joking dude who likes to drink, very relatable. Pruitt holds some power and yet is calm and quiet for such a large chunk of the film, and then he unleashes his story about Margaret. Major props to Eden and Sadie as well.
- How deep did you get into the film before you were 100% convinced that Will was right?
Teddy: the cult video. Shit always go down with cults in horror movies
Cece: I knew he was right from the beginning.
Dom: When they got to the party. It all had that creepy no good vibe.
Chris: Pretty much Choi’s voice message, although they then do a good job of making it seem like a red herring
Kent: Well, here’s the thing. I also had seen They Look Like People on NetFlix which has a similar vibe of reality versus what’s just in someone’s head. With that being said, how highly rated this was, I figured as soon as he killed the dog that something bad was going to happen. Therein lies the big differences between the 2 films, violence started one out, the other didn’t. Sometimes it is as simple as that.
- What is your interpretation of what was happening at the end of the film in regards to the rest of the neighborhood/city?
Teddy: mass suicide like what happened in real life
Cece: Assuming the whole community was a mass suicide.
Dom: Mass cult suicide/take over
Chris: A lot of fucked up cult people murdered the shit out of their family and friends because they couldn’t deal with their grief
Kent: I hate to say this, but I don’t know. I refuse to believe that so many households were all into this cult. I know that is the implication, but for such a reasonably told story, this last bit is too much of a leap of faith, in my opinion. So my theory is it was day 7 of a lot of people having watched the Ring video.
- Who was your favorite character in We Are Still Here and why?
Dom: The house or the demons? The house or the demons? Can’t say. But on a side note I do love when a filmmaker is able to take a place and make it it’s own character. (i.e: The Overlook in the Shining, the Bates house in Psycho) Those paces become the silent talkers. They say nothing but speak volumes.
Kristi: The fiery demons because they are fiery freaking demons!
Chris: The Dagmars. You start out thinking this fucked up family is going to be evil-haunting and murdering people who move into their house, and then find out that they are enslaved to some kind of “entity” living under where they built their house and are forced to do its bidding.
Kent: This isn’t fair to the rest of the cast, but Larry Fessenden is one of my favorite actors, so Jacob is the answer. Still, I love Paul and Dave as well. Jacob being possessed was too great to not rank #1 though for me.
- Did We Are Still Here remind you of any other films that you have seen? If so, which one(s)?
Dom: I think of House, the Shining, The Evil Dead, Children of the Corn. This movie makes me think of Evil dwellings or a collective or killers/murderers. Of course both these films we’ve watched and are now doing a questionnaire on, have the same idea. They each have a group of people (Cultists/Towns folk) who are trying to sacrifice others for their own gains/purpose.
Kristi: Evil Dead is the only one that comes to mind. The part where the chick is driving off, thinking she escaped then Bam! Fiery demon.
Chris: To go along with what Dom said, add in Black Death ,The Wickerman, and Cabin in the Woods. Trying to sacrifice others so that you may live, prosper, etc
Kent: Wicker Man, the original with Christopher Lee and not that Nic Cage pile of shit, is the first to come to mind. The House of the Devil, which is a phenomenal film that came out in the past decade or so. Children of the Corn is an obvious one. The Pact 1 & 2, The Others, The Shining, and so many more. Let’s keep going. The Sacrament, Last Shift, The Legend of Hell House, House on Haunted Hill (both), and I’ll stop.
- What was your favorite aspect of the film? Was it the creepiness, the history of the house, the townsfolk, or something else?
Dom: All of it. I enjoyed the slow reveal of the whole thing. And the demons were kinda cool looking too.
Kristi: The history of the house.
Chris: The way the movie accelerated. Slow, slow, slow, slow, nightmare, youth murders, possession, all hell breaks loose
Kent: The history of the house and especially how they showed so many cool things at the end was like 92 cherries on top. The slow burn was the selling point and just how well they did it where you didn’t mind the slow burn. Some slow moving films bore you.
- If you could change one thing in We Are Still Here, what would it be?
Dom: The location of the tree in the front yard. Bothers me sooooo much!!!! (Hahaha, that was an unexpected response.)
Kristi: It started off entirely too slow for me. I actually ended up fast forwarding through some of it.
Chris: I like ambiguous endings, but I also like knowing. When she says her son’s name at the end, I want to know what she sees that would make her think her son was anywhere near that place
Kent: If I could have summed up the first 10 minutes in 2 minutes, I would have been okay with that.
- Which movie did you prefer between the two?
Dom: Can’t say. Both were good and bad in their own ways. Pace, characters, story…Special effects, gore…
Kristi: We are Still Here. I didn’t care for The Invitation at all. Made it halfway through until I decided to turn it off.
Chris: 2 Different examples of two very different types of horror both came out in 2015 and show that horror isn’t dead. We are Still Here might edge the Invitation for me, only because I can’t fight ghosts, and I am pretty sure I could out shoot most cultists
Kent: We Are Still Here gets the edge for me, but very narrowly. I felt the pacing of We Are Still Here is more appealing, and the payoff may be as well. I still am freaked out by cult stories, and both served that in certain ways.
Bonus Deuce
- John Carroll Lynch is a pretty awesome actor. He’s known for playing Drew Carey’s brother on the Drew Carey show, Eastman who is the guy who trained Morgan on the Walking Dead, Twisty the Clown in American Horror Story, and John Wayne Gacy in American Horror Story. He’s also been in Shutter Island, Zodiac, Gran Torino, and a bunch of other stuff. What is your favorite role of his? Also, he will be starring in season 2 of Channel Zero, which is a pretty awesome show.
Teddy: I would say it’s a tie between John Wayne Gacy and Drew Carey’s brother
Dom: Drew Carey’s brother
Kristi: I love Twisty but I really enjoyed the Morgan episode so I have to go with Eastman.
Chris: Zodiac. He was in one of the really good scenes. Underrated movie IMO
Kent: Eastman was probably my favorite character of his. He did such a wonderful job for an episode that was long and yet one of the most memorable, due to his and Lennie James’ performance.
- Would you like to see Larry Fessenden play the role of Jack in a remake of The Shining? I’m not asking if you want to see a remake, but if they were going to do it, would he fit the role?
Dom: No.
Kristi: Nope.
Chris: There is one facial still where he looks like Jack in The Shining,but no
Kent: I don’t know who you people are. Of course! Boooooooo the rest of you. BOOOOO!!
All the pictures used in this blog are for review purposes. They are the property of:
For the Invitation
- Gamechanger Films (presents)
- Invitation, The
- Lege Artis (in association with)
- XYZ Films
For We Are Still Here
- Snowfort Pictures
- Dark Sky Films (in association with)
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