Holiday themed films, be it short or feature length, always seem to find themselves on the wrong end of the cliche scale. It’s because filmmakers don’t focus on making it their own, and as a result, get lost in the shuffle. We Know You Are Home thankfully doesn’t fall into that category.
The film, playing off of when people don’t open the door to trick r treaters, tells the story of a woman who gets an unexpected visit while housesitting on Halloween night. What she does gets isn’t quite a trick or a treat.
Andrew Robinson’s direction style is an interesting one; it isn’t the ‘pop out of nowhere’ scares nor is it the ‘in your face horror’, but more so the slow-building kind. Robinson uses the music (some very good music in fact) to his advantage, building up the tension in each scene. He’s also working off a clever script (which he wrote), which contains a few effective twists.
Julie Landriault performance in the leading role is stellar, and she never gets lost on screen. This has to do with the script, as it’s easy to see that she believes in the story. She’s horrified about what’s happening. Her performance isn’t over the top as seen in some shorts, which makes for a welcome change.
Slow-building and eerie, Robinson has created a timely short film that is surely stand out from all of the rest.
**** out of *****
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