THE REMAINING - 2014

They say one of the things you should never talk about if you want to keep friends is Politics or Religion, when it comes to Religion we all have our own theories, our own beliefs, make our own decisions but one thing they all have in common is death, perhaps it’s afterlife is entirely different but all in all the practice of all religion when we die a small part of us leaves the body and moves to another realm. So what happens when one director decides to make a horror style film of the Christian Religion and its Apocalypse?

The film begins at the wedding of Skylar and Dan, all is going well, when suddenly a loud trumpet sounds and more than half the room fall to the floor, Skylar’s parents being part of the recently raptured. Outside trumpets blow and the world falls, Demon’s fill the skies as fire rains down. The Rapture has begun as has the seven years of Tribulation that comes with it. Skylar her new husband and a few friends leave the wedding party and make their way to a church where they hope to find a friend who ran off earlier. Along the way the group is attacked and one seriously injured once they get to the church they find a large group who have also come seeking shelter including a Pastor who has his own theories on what is happening outside in the world. Now they just need to find a way to survive.

I’ll be honest when I saw the trailer for this film I thought it looked pretty fantastic, I’ve always been a fan of God v’s Devil, Good V’s Evil style films so I expected something pretty big from this one. The first thing that you will notice is that the entire film is shot on hand held camera and is usually POV (point of view) think the same style as “Cloverfield”. Then you’ll notice how preachy the film is, It’s pretty obvious the film wants you to think about your own life and where you’ll be should the Rapture take place, but luckily it also has a little more going for it as well, there is some great horror scenes and moments for a film shot with such a cheap budget but I don’t think they make up for all the soul searching the film makers expect you to do. The other thing though is that the film is actually quite confusing in the end the only conclusion you can come to is “you’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t!” I have no idea what the final message of the film is, in fact I watched it twice to be sure I didn’t miss anything, and still came to the same conclusion.

The horror elements of the film are quite good, there are some great death scenes and if you can look beyond the hand held camera I’m sure if you’re a horror fan you’ll enjoy what they have done on such a budget. Written and Directed by Casey La Scala (Grind) if the film had a bigger budget a lot more could have been accomplished. Starring Alexa PenaVega (Spy Kids, Nashville) as Skylar, Bryan Dechart (Step Up 3D, Awakenings) as Dan, Johnny Pacar (Wild Child, Hot Mess) as Tommy, Shaun Sipos (Melrose Place, Vampire Diaries) as Jack, Italia Ricci (Chasing Life, Unnatural History) as Allison, John Pyper-Ferguson (Drive, X-Men) as Pastor Shaye. There is no one that stands out here, the acting is stock standard nothing exceptional from anyone really.

The fear of death, the love of life and what lies after is what you’ll get here throw in a lot of Christianity and their beliefs, this is definitely not a film for everyone, when you watch this you will have to have an open mind, if you fall into the trap of thinking you’re being preached at then you’ll hate what you’re viewing but if you see the film for what it is you’ll most likely come out on top. Then again your life won’t stop if you don’t see this either, I don’t believe it’s a film you’ll be discussing with workmates or around the dinner table either and I don’t believe you’ll have an epiphany either, although if you do find yourself standing outside the closest train station wearing a sandwich board with bold letters stating the Angels are coming and screaming about the world ending…. Don’t blame me!

The Remaining gets 2.5 out of 5 BanShee Screams

Thanks for reading.

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