We Are What We Are (2013)

Director: Jim Mickle (2013)
Starring: Kassie Wesley DePaiva, Bill Sage, Michael Parks
Find it: IMDB

Largely exempt from film fans' anti-remake rants, due to the fact that (a) it exudes a bit of classiness and (b) no-one saw the original Mexican version anyway. I did see it, but I don't remember a thing about it, hence my lack of whining here. Besides, I like remakes. So there.

Following the death of the family matriarch, a dad and his kids come together in their grief to continue their cannibalism habit without getting caught out by suspicious local doctor Barrow (Michael Parks). You know a film is creepy when Michael Parks isn't even playing the scary one. Making that role his own is Bill Sage as beardy dad. An impressive screen presence, Sage brings a scary glare, awesome beard and quiet sense of menace to the role, owning the screen for all his time on it.

The kids are alright too, with Ambyr Childers and Julia Garner doing well as his conflicted, mourning daughters. There's a nice appearance from Evil Dead II's Kassie Wesley DePaiva (that's Bobbi Jo to you) at the beginning too, in the film's most saddening scene.

Those expecting Wrong Turn or Texas Chain Saw Massacre style action from We Are What We Are will be disappointed by this film's focus on family drama over lurid man-munching. There is still plenty of that, but the drama is what makes We Are What We Are stand out from the rest. Apart from maybe the original film, but I can't remember that, so we'll never know.