The synopsis for "The Remains" is what lured me in, well, and also because I have always enjoyed horror movies. But I wasn't familiar with this movie prior to stumbling upon it by sheer random luck.
And now having seen it, I can check it off the list, and say that I have seen it. It wasn't a particularly impressive movie, to be bluntly honest. The movie had a huge potential, but director Thomas Della Bella didn't utilize the potential. And the few scare moments there were to be found throughout the movie ended up as being nothing impressive, mere moments that you shrugged off with a casual shake of the head.
I will say that the atmosphere in the movie was good, and Thomas Della Bella was good at building up the suspense, but he just lacked the conviction to bring it to a fulfilling climax. As such, then the movie suffered terribly, and ended up being less than mediocre.
For a horror movie, then the only really frightening thing about the movie was the lack of scary moments and things that actually made you want to turn on the light. It was a dull, slow experience if you are looking for a good scare.
The acting in "The Remains" was adequate, and it was Todd Lowe who was carrying the movie with his performance.
Usually a good horror movie also has fairly good special effects. "The Remains" hardly used any special effects. So don't expect this to be a glorious Hollywood special effects galore.
The best thing about the movie was actually the ending. That took me by surprise, and I hadn't seen that coming. So that was an upside to an otherwise flaccid and monotone movie.
"The Remains" is the type of horror movie that you watch once, then you bag and tag it, put it on the shelf, most likely never to see the light of day again.
