Evil Remains

Rating:
Summary: No T&A and humor makes this slasher just a cut above average
Review: Evil Remains references, pays homage to, or just blatantly rips off every classic as well as recently released horror movie. In the first two scenes, there are snippets of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Blair Witch Project, Jeepers Creepers, The Hills Have Eyes, The Evil Dead, Halloween, and fill in the blank, because when the credits roll you will be hard pressed to name at least one slasher film that hasn't been scavenged.

Nonetheless, this is a solid if not very memorable movie. Director James Merendino forgot it takes a lot of humor to glue together so many disparate pieces but that doesn't stop him from referencing two similar films that were quite funny, House of 1,000 Corpses and Cabin Fever. As a result a movie that could have been good is just a cut above the average slasher flick, no pun intended. Merendino also left out another essential ingredient for this genre: T&A. This will not start a trend.

The story is otherwise boilerplate slasher. Five students prowl around an abandoned plantation that is the subject of a vague legend. Four will die and one will live, and with this movie that isn't a spoiler. Two of the three male students are brothers, bonded by what apparently was a bad childhood (guess what happens before we know).

Yeoman acting is bolstered by standout performances from an uncredited Kurtwood Smith as the sagacious shrink and Estella Warren and Ashley Scott as lesbians who tag along to help on the ill-defined graduate work. The on-location New Orleans scenes also lend a creepy atmosphere to this otherwise ordinary film.

Rating:
Summary: Real Creepy Camera work and Music good movie i thought!
Review: i just rented this movie the other day from blockbuster. to be honest after watching the movie the cover art on the dvd package sucks! it makes it look like a total b movie with the evil little face and estella warren with her boobs almost hanging out and why is the girl behine her in the cover blond in the movie shes brown haired and has dreds! oook lol. BUT i was wrong the movie itself is great. it has very creepy camera work as in shots of scenes and how they were taken by angles and such. the movies color is great! a little dark at times but for a low budget movies its looks like one of those bigger budgeted studio financed "in theatre" cameras used.

the music was very creepy it was like light errie ghostly whispers! and was put out more on the scenes when needed.
the original sound on the dvd is in dolby digital stereo wich is only the two front speakers
but I RECOMMED if you got a dolby digital 5:1 or 6:1 surround sound to set it at
dolby prologic 2 decoding.
set it on that when watching it the sounds ALL come out thru all front and back speakers brings the movie more to life! trust me just set ur surround reciever to prologic 2 sourround sound format on your reciever
and wow better then what they use on the disc LOL.

as for the story its was nothing new really boy is nuts.
kills parents and then is there really a
"haunting"
at the plantation or a curse?. and then these young look like college kids to me go investigate and then chaos begins sorry im not gona say what cuz i dont wana ruin it for you haha.

but the acting is VERY good all are above b actors. kinda almost seems like they should be doing bigger movies then this but hey you gota go where the money is i guess.
but the actors bring this movie to life more BESIDES THE MUSIC and the creepy cinamatography.

the thing that made me laugh was that old man RED from that 70's show is in this movie for like a cameo but i was like oook why is he in a horror movie?.

BUT ANYHOW go watch this movie turn off the lights raise up the dolby prologic 2 surround sound "recommended" and get ready for the heebie jeebies!.

Rating:
Summary: Estella Warren is the only reason to watch this
Review: I love slasher movies but I admit that the hokey cover box of this movie scared me off a little bit. Then I found out the film was directed by James Merendino and picked it up right away. Merendino is the stylish director behind SLC Punk, a heartfelt indie film about the Salt Lake City punk scene in the mid-80's and one of my favourite movies of all time. Sadly, none of the director's trademark originality or unique style are present here. Evil Remains, sadly, is a derivative and mediocre slasher.

The first scene takes place on a New Orleans plantation in 1982 where a young boy inexplicably murders both of his parents, Michael Myers-style. Flash forward to 20 years later where a graduate student decides to write his thesis on this very same plantation that has been abandoned for so many years and rumored to be haunted. So he brings a notebook, a camera and 4 of his friends to spend a couple of days on the plantation grounds in the hopes of writing a killer thesis. Surprise surprise the plantation grounds are not deserted and the boy who many believed died 20 years ago is there to slice and dice anyone who dares venture into his home.

One thing I'd like to mention is that you should not let the horrible cover scare you away, as it seems to imply that this would be a slasher film for the pre-teen set. This is actually a very dark, scary and sometimes gory film that does have a few things working for it. The plantation grounds and its surrounding woods make for a creepy setting and the film maintains a high level of intensity throughout. But whatever "Evil remains" has going for it soon gets eclipsed by the fact that the cast are annoying characters who yell all the time and get killed off way too quickly. Only the Estella Warren character has a backbone to her.

I also would have liked the villain to be developed in more detail. In the prologue of twenty years back he was introduced in an intriguing way but as the film progresses we never actually uncover any secrets about him nor do we catch a glimpse of him as he just keeps running around with that stupid goat's mask on his face. What had the potential to be a great new villain in horror lore ends up being nothing more than a bland shape in a goofy suit. Another disappointment was the absence of any nudity in the film, especially considering that the two lead characters are lesbians. Such wasted potential. I kept expecting Merendino to inject his film with a twist or surprise but it never happened and this ended up being predictable and derivative. I still think he's a great director however "Evil Remains" has convinced me that horror movies just aren't his specialty.