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Overall Rating : 6/10
Directed By : Brian Avenet-Bradley
Cheri Christian (Ghost of the Needle)
Greg Thompson (Ghost of the Needle)
Scott Hodges (Hell's End)
Jeff Evans
Supplied By : Monarch Home Video
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Dec. 19, 2006
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| PLOT After their daughter is brutally murdered in their home, a grieving young couple escapes the city to find solace in the mountains. Allen tries to stay busy with work and Julie forces herself to continue her photography, but they find their tattered relationship strained by their guilt over their daughter’s death. Soon their pain re-ignites deadly entities from the mountain’s past, causing their visiting friend Steve to have a horrific encounter in the middle of the night. As the entities take hold over Julie, a cycle of death reawakens and a horrified Allen discovers what’s really in the photographs Julie has been taking. Now with the vengeful entities converging all around him, Allen has to fight to unravel the secret of the mountain’s deadly past to save his life and Julie’s. |
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| THE REVIEW In DARK REMAINS, Julie a photographer, and Allen a writer have recently suffered the tragic loss of their daughter Emma when they find her lying dead in a pool of blood in her bed. Traumatized by the event, they move to an isolated cabin, in which they hope to find peace and a way to get away from it all. But it isn't long until that peace is disrupted as Julie begins to snap photographs, she begins seeing strange things in them, and feel presences among her. In her photos she see's what appear to be ghosts, more importantly one of them happens to be the deceased Emma. Julie becomes somewhat both paranoid and obsessed with her findings but as for Allen, he does not believe her, that is until both he and Julie begin to receive warnings from their friends as well as locals that they should leave the cabin, for it would endanger their lives. We later find out that basically everyone whom has ever lived in the cabin have ended up dead in many different ways, and apparently the former residents' spirits still roam the premises and later take over the actions of the cabin's current owners. Digging up on the cabin's history, Allen finds out that all of the tragic deaths occurred in or around May 21, and with the date quickly approaching he rushes home to get his wife and leave the dreaded cabin before it is too late, but unfortunately it seems as if something is making Julie want to stay. The plot of DARK REMAINS, is really simple and basic, in which we have a couple that has lost their child, thus forcing the two to seek solace in a secluded area - but when they get their they somehow end up with more trouble than they had before. In my opinion, DARK REMAINS begins on a brilliant note, as a double suicide is displayed by two residents of the home. The scene was not so much brutal as it sounds but as a matter of being artistic, this moment was captured rather beautifully. With the film starting on such a high note this has you eagerly anticipating what the rest of film has in store. After the mysterious death of Emma, (which is placed right after that double suicide) without missing a beat we are whisked away to the cabin in which the remained of the film would take place. Here is when Brian and Laurence Avenet-Bradley(a husband and wife team), do, from what I heard, what they do best and that's create and capture a dark and spooky atmosphere - and that they do! Much like the Asian films like JU-ON and RINGU, the brand of jump scares that those incorporated are once again americanized in DARK REMAINS. Just when you think a scene in this film is at the norm, we are suddenly greeted with a flash of a spirit like ghost just when you least expect it, to frighten you. The frights in DARK REMAINS are genuine and well done, unlike most indie films that try to scare you in the same matter but drastically fail, I loved how the filmmakers utilized every object around them(for instance, we'd see a ghost in the shower, the camera turns and then we see the said ghost in nearby adjacent mirrors....just great placement and cinematography!) But as much as I do like all of the flashing scares, I must admit, I felt as if they may have been overused a bit, as it happens so much that the last half of the film becomes rather confusing and hard to follow - and results in an ending that is much like the one found in SILENT HILL, the ending for this film still has me scratching my head in confusion. Don't get me wrong here, as much as I was confused, I was both intrigued and impressed by the film's excellent imagery. I have seen a lot of independent features, and very few match the look of DARK REMAINS at the given budget. For an independent film, the direction and cinematography are top-notch and slick. and effective, and I was happy to see that Avenet-Bradley didn't have to resort to the camera tricks, such as tricky jump cuts that everyone seems to be using these days to make his film work, as he seems to have a style all his own. The acting as for much of these films is a mixed bag. I can't say whether I liked or disliked any of the film's performances as at times the performances are great, but as the film progresses they seem to differ, but other than that, no complaints from me. In the end, DARK REMAINS is a film, that for the most part is a highly effective thriller, that like any film has a few flaws, but not to worry, because despite them, you are likely to find yourself on the edge of your seat, due to the many scares that come virtually out of nowhere. |
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| GORE
METER 3/10 Not very gory, but it doesn't really need to be. All I seem to remember is Emma's slashed up body, a slit wrist, a gun blast that results in blood splatter on the wall and a bloody face. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 5.510 The score is very light but effective. I really enjoyed the theme song that was play though out the film, as the piano was quite haunting. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM In this day and age, when ghost stories are coming out in abundance now, it was nice to see a creative one, and not just a copy of another. Although it may resemble a few of those existing films, it has enough originality found within to make DARK REMAINS a refreshing ghost adventure. This DVD will be released December 26, 2006 |
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