A Dose of Terror: WE ARE WHAT WE ARE
A DOSE OF TERROR
We Are What We Are
By Steve Wood
The Parkers are cannibals, a tradition followed since early in the family history. Following the accidental death of his wife, Frank Paker (Bill Sage), is completely broken up, and now has to raise his three children alone.
I wasn’t sure what to think while coming into this movie, I didn’t watch the trailer, but I’ve seen the poster and plot floating around the net for a few months now. I don’t really have any movie to compare this to, since cannibalism isn’t exactly a hot topic, especially an ultra-realistic take on the taboo. This is a retelling of the Spanish movie “Somos Lo Que Hay”, as the plots aren’t exact; the subject matter is the same.
I was surprised with this, I wasn’t expecting the slow burn type of horror movie, and honestly I’m not too much of a fan of those. I thought I was coming into a movie where we see people killed and eaten, but that couldn’t be further from what I watched. Frank has an old journal that dates a couple of centuries into his family history, where a man and woman, along with their two daughters, were stranded in the woods. When the wife dies, the husband decides to secretly use the corpse of his wife to feed him and his children. As the story progresses, we see that this man teaches the oldest daughter to cut off pieces of meat herself.
What started as a necessity turned into a way of living according to Frank and we aren’t even sure why he made the decision to bring his kids up the same way as his ancestors. What we do know is that his daughters realize that they are different, and don’t want to be this way.
When the time comes to Frank’s daughters to prepare their dinner for the first time, we’re spared any and all gory details, we’re merely shown the above image, followed almost immediately by a pot of chili. From this point on, the daughters no longer want any part of their father’s beliefs, but they soon learn that it isn’t as simple as they think to run away.
I’d say that I was impressed by this, I can’t really think of any other movie relating to cannibalism that wasn’t a straight up horror movie, or a retelling of true events. One of the more disturbing things about this movie would be the fact that kids are eating other people, which seems to be even more so disgusting. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but there was an eventual climax, and a telling revelation regarding the two girls. The acting was fantastic all around, with small roles from Michael Parks and the always aging Kelly McGillis.
If you enjoy something slow and deliberate, go ahead and check this out.
GRADE
Violence – C
Realism – A
Suspense – B
Nudity – F