ONE TO WATCH: WE ARE STILL HERE

From the producers of Starry Eyes and The House of the Devil, two of the best horror movies of recent years, comes a haunted house thriller which promises much, delivers a fair amount of intrigue but doesn't quite hit the home run we were all hoping for. Co-written and directed by Ted Geoghegan, an associate producer on The ABCs of Death 2, the trailer for We Are Still Here really whets the appetite with a blend of striking visual effects, 80s nostalgia and disturbing undertones.

After their teenage son is killed in a car crash, Paul and Anne move to the New England countryside to start a new life. But the grieving couple are about to become the prey of a family of vengeful spirits that reside in their home. It soon becomes clear that the suspiciously peaceful town is hiding a terrifyingly dark secret. Now they must find a way to fight back against both the living and the dead as their new home threatens to send their souls – and the soul of their lost son – into hell.

The visual effects are great and the vengeful ghosts - burnt out with nowhere to go - are brilliantly realised on screen. There's plenty of gore and a sprinkling of tension along the way, and at just over 80 minutes We Are Still Here doesn't outstay its welcome - unlike the inhabitants of the film. However, the storyline fails to break the mould, it's a little slow out of the blocks and some of the lead performances are underwhelming. 

Monte Markham (TV regular from Baywatch to Fringe) seems to be having a great time, hamming it up as the creepy neighbour, but Barbara Crampton (pretty much a horror movie icon) fails to set the screen on fire as long-suffering heroine, Anne. Andrew Sesenig, who plays Anne's husband, fares a little better but with the exception of Markham, none of the characters leave a lasting impression. The supporting cast members fare little better and brooding menace is squandered by a lack of empathy for the paper-thin characters.

Still, Ted Geoghegan shows great promise as a director of horror. If he can find a cast and storyline as creative as his cellar-dwelling bogeymen, sense of fun and gore-geous visual trickery, we might be on to something. A sequel anyone? Definitely worth a look.