{"id":2657,"date":"2013-09-06T18:19:21","date_gmt":"2013-09-06T23:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/?p=2657"},"modified":"2013-09-06T18:23:45","modified_gmt":"2013-09-06T23:23:45","slug":"lost-review-we-are-what-we-are-somos-lo-que-hay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2013\/09\/06\/lost-review-we-are-what-we-are-somos-lo-que-hay\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost Review: We Are What We Are (Somos Lo Que Hay)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beginning in December 2005 with my history of apes in film essay \u201cGorilla of Your Dreams\u201d (the\u00a0substantially\u00a0update and\u00a0revised\u00a0version\u00a0appears in\u00a0The Apes of Wrath<\/em><\/a>), I regularly contributed to\u00a0Moving Pictures Magazine<\/em>. First in the print incarnation and then for primarily the website. I contributed reviews and essays for the last three years of the publications existence. Following the June 2011 demise of both the print and website editions, all of the digital work for\u00a0MPM<\/em>\u00a0disappeared into the ether. In the coming months (years?), I plan on reposting many of my reviews and articles.<\/p>\n

With the impending Fantastic Fest 2013<\/a>, complete with Jim Mickle’s\u00a0remake<\/a> of\u00a0Jorge Michel Grau’s\u00a0We Are What We Are<\/em>\u00a0(Somos Lo Que Hay<\/em>), I’m offering up my take on the original film.<\/p>\n

\"somos_lo_que_hay\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We Are What We Are<\/em> (Somos Lo Que Hay<\/em>)<\/strong>
\nReviewed by Rick Klaw
\n(February 2011)<\/p>\n

Directed and written by Jorge Michel Grau
\nStarring: Francisco Barreiro, Alan Ch\u00e1vez, Paulina Gait\u00e1n, Carmen Beato, Jorge Z\u00e1rate, and Esteban Sober\u00e1nes<\/p>\n

Reminiscent of the 1977 Wes Craven classic \u201cThe Hills Have Eyes,\u201d director\/writer Jorge Michel Grau offers his unique portrait of an unusual Mexican family with his debut feature, the disturbing and compelling \u201cWe Are What We Are (Somos Lo Que Hay)\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the sudden death of their patriarch\/caretaker, the temperamental Patricia Carmen Beato) and her three teenage children must fend for themselves. Father prepared the rituals and acquired the meat for this family of cannibals. Aided by his impetuous younger brother Juli\u00e1n (Alan Ch\u00e1vez) and his pragmatic sister Sabina (Paulina Gait\u00e1n), this momentous task now falls to the eldest son, Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro), who seems ill suited for the responsibility. Chaos and emotional turmoil follow as the family hunts for the flesh they need to survive.<\/p>\n

Grau, winner of several awards for shorter works, populates this claustrophobic, dark reality with unsavory and unsympathetic characters. A bumbling cop (Jorge Z\u00e1rate), creepy undertaker (Daniel Gim\u00e9nez Cacho), and an effeminate young man (Esteban Sober\u00e1nes) all initially appear as possible comic relief in the oppressively nihilistic film, but all quickly spiral into the inner voids of selfishness and cruelty. Even the likable Sabina descends to the depths of the familial hell. After all, it is difficult to maintain sympathy for someone after watching them gleefully nibbling on the bloody thigh of a bound victim.<\/p>\n

Astonishingly, despite the unpleasant premise, Grau manages to keep the bloodletting below pre-spectacle levels, rather relying primarily on shadows and innuendo with just the proper amount of shock-inducing gore, more in line with a Hitchcockian thriller than its more immediate antecedents such as the \u201cSaw\u201d films, \u201cThe Descent,\u201d and \u201cThe Hostel.\u201d The oft-times surprising story, replete with none-too-subtle parallels with contemporary urban Mexican life, disappointingly culminates into an all predictable conclusion.<\/p>\n

Empowered by some excellent acting especially from Gait\u00e1n (\u201cSin Nombre\u201d) and Barreiro (\u201cPerpetuum Mobile\u201d), the mesmerizing \u201cWe Are What We Are\u201d features the arrival of a promising new talent, destined to be a prominent figure within the next generation of horror movie makers.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nQ4-UOB3Y-U<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beginning in December 2005 with my history of apes in film essay \u201cGorilla of Your Dreams\u201d (the\u00a0substantially\u00a0update and\u00a0revised\u00a0version\u00a0appears in\u00a0The Apes of Wrath), I regularly contributed to\u00a0Moving Pictures Magazine. First in the print incarnation and then for primarily the website. I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies","category-reviews"],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n