Feeling a bit hungry last night, I decided to watch a movie about cannibals.

“We Are What We Are” (2013) has been sitting in my Netflix queue for a while, and I’ve heard generally positive things about it, although I wasn’t aware until now that it’s a remake of a Mexican film.  The good reviews are not unfounded and I enjoyed this story of a strange, religious family who have a yearly tradition of killing and eating people.  Much of the cannibalism is implied until the very end, with any image of meat made to look absolutely disgusting.  So if you’re hungry and don’t want to be, here’s a way to kill your appetite!

What I really liked about this was how it was more about the family dynamics and how their cannibalism affects their relationships with outsiders.  The two sisters are sympathetic characters, while their father is domineering and their little brother is creepy, as all children in horror movies are…

The eeriness of the opening scene reminded me a bit of another movie I watched recently, so I’m going to offer up a few suggestions if you’ve also enjoyed this one.

• Benny’s Video (1992) – The opening scene of this Austrian-Swiss film involves videotaped footage of a pig being slaughtered.  This movie was more disturbing than scary and uncomfortable to watch.
• Grimm Love (2006) – Based on the true story of a cannibal killer, whose dream was to eat a willing victim and found one such victim online.  Probably the most emo cannibal movie I’ve ever seen.
• Mum and Dad (2008) – The British family at the center of this movie aren’t cannibals, but they sure are fucked up.
• Offspring (2009) – This cannibal family is just a little more feral, and they have fashioned themselves metal teeth for dinnertime.  If you were wanting more gore than “We Are What We Are,” you’ll find more than enough here.
• Snowpiercer (2012) – In addition to eating cockroaches, cannibalism is what happens when people are trapped on a train for a few decades.  More implied than anything, but this is such a weirdly awesome post-apocalyptic movie it doesn’t matter.