Trespassing

Stop and think about it...did anyone NOT notice the "old haunted house" that on the outside looked like it just came off one of those new siding commercials, yet the inside looked abandoned? Who was mowing the lawn and taking care of the flowers by the steps - hey this is in the swamps and grass grows year long.

Some of the reviewers comments, especially the ones that rated this film a "10" well, yeah, I used to smoke that stuff too before going to a movie...

I was surprised to see the soundtrack in Dolby, not Ultra-Stereo or some other second rate sound system. Did anyone notice how s-l-o-w the end credits rolled and that horrible sound (some call music) that went with the end credits?

Rating: *** out of ****

I'll admit it, the deciding factor that made me seek out this film was Estella Warren. Sure, she displayed little acting talent and almost no screen presence in any of her prior roles, but there's no questioning she's a total hottie and seeing her in the role of a scream queen was a dream come true. To my utmost surprise, both she and the movie are pretty damn good, making this movie one of the more pleasant surprises of the past few months.

Evil Remains is about a small group of graduate students (five in all) who head to a long-abandoned plantation estate to help one of the guys do his thesis on myths. The plantation itself is the site of a popular myth, that the land is cursed and whoever trespasses will find themselves with an uncontrollable urge to act on their rage. Upon their arrival, the guys set up the equipment in the house while the two girls (Estella Warren and Ashley Scott), who also happen to be lesbians, go for a short walk in the woods, not knowing their return to the house will be a particularly bloody and messy one.

Right from the beginning, Evil Remains is immediately distinguished by the effective direction of James Merendino, who has a knack for developing creepy atmosphere, building suspense, and even delivering a few genuine scares. Despite the fact that natural lighting typically annoys me (and it does make it a bit difficult to tell apart the male characters for a while), it's used to good effect, giving the movie a stark look that works especially well during the nighttime scenes.

Merendino handles the stalk-and-slash sequences superbly; the second half of the film is essentially a series of bloody slasher action and exciting chase scenes that utilize both the claustrophobic and wide-spaced settings fairly well. The house itself is only explored to a mildly satisfying effect, but it's an effectively constricted location that immeasurably aids in tightening the suspense, especially in one scene where the survivors find themselves anxiously awaiting the killer on the other side of the door.

Taking everything into consideration, I was most surprised by the performances, which are all quite good. The gorgeously hot Estella Warren is especially excellent as the smart, likable heroine who actually thinks the situation through before acting. As a matter of fact, I was quite amazed by Warren's work here, since she showed no discernible acting talent in any other film I've seen her in. The only one in the cast that doesn't quite hold up is Ashley Scott, who's not bad, but the role requires her to do little more than whine.

The movie is still obviously not without its flaws. Despite the solid acting, the movie does little to establish its characters, in particular the two brothers with a troubled past that's brought up but dropped just as quickly in favor of some bloody slasher action. The decision to make the lead a lesbian is interesting (the only other slasher I've seen that made its heroine a lesbian was Deep in the Woods, but it only seemed like an excuse for nudity in that flick), but it ultimately makes little difference, as Warren and Ashley Scott could merely have played best friends and no one would be the wiser, but at least it prevents Warren from having a forced romance with one of the male characters.

A few of the characters could also show a little more common sense; one guy sees a freaky-looking image on a photo he just took, but neglects to show it to anyone else as incentive to leave. Another guy leaps off the roof of the house to escape but actually ends up backing himself towards the front door! And there's one lengthy scene that'll have you shouting "close the damn door!" Most disappointing is a potentially exciting chase scene through the woods that makes an abrupt segue that temporarily kills the momentum.

The plot's also a little hazy, there's no sense of clarity regarding exactly what it is the curse does and how a masked killer would specifically factor into it. Still, the film works for what it is, a fast-paced slasher with a number of bloody kills, exciting chases, and a terrifically secluded setting. Definitely recommended to genre fans.

Indie teen slasher actually entertains but lets itself down with a frankly criminal ending.

It is pretty much staple horror fare throughout, but it does succeed in doing what any half decent film should do, and that is to entertain the viewer.

The story here is a curse apparently engulfs an area of land where a boy allegedly slaughtered his parents. A bunch of students decide to go in and investigate the house of the atrocities and sure enough, 'crazy kids in the dark mansion' ensues and a fight for survival begins.

The characters are pretty mediocre, and fairly unconvincing, but they serve the purposes of the film acceptably. The best character is the killer, as for once he does not lumber slowly, rather, running at pace and looking capable of actually catching victims.

The direction is stable for the course, and hardly inspiring nor dull. It does its job without being anything especially flashy bar a couple of fairly interesting moments.

The plot, if you can call it that, is pure killer chase and cat and mouse. There's nothing original or exciting there.

The movie's strength is its atmosphere. It really does do a reasonable job of making the environment chilling. Sure, it's no Ring or Blair Witch et al, but there are far worse in this field than Trespassing.

Indeed, all the above would surely qualify it as a decent enough way to fill in an evening, if maybe a bit forgettable. Unfortunately, it is not forgettable thanks to an ending on a par with My Little Eye's for sheer lousiness.

Yes indeed, the conclusion of this movie is up there as one of the worst I've ever suffered. There *is* no real conclusion, and as a result you end up totally unsatisfied and replaying the last minute to see if you missed anything.

You didn't.

The ending is rushed, weak, answers nothing, and simply whimpers out, rather than giving us some kind of closure.

I feel quite cheated out of 2 hours because of that finish, I really do. A pathetic and unconsidered way to cop out of giving the audience what they actually deserve.

Thanks to it, this movie was a complete waste of time.

To be fair, it was watchable. The thing that annoyed me mostly with this movie is that it was very slow moving, the character's you never really got any inside depth of so you was left with that neutral feeling of you don't care if they LIVE or DIE. The acting was somewhat to be desired but what do you expect when they probably picked a handful of people from the street and gave them a few hours to remember their lines. The thing that amused me the most was the actual DVD box, on the back it says "Scarier than CABIN FEVER, more terrifying than JEEPERS CREEPERS" - LOL what planet is this guy from, first off he picked 2 lousy examples of horror movies to compare with and second off it was NEITHER!

I saw this one today at the Fantasy and Horror Filmfest in Munich. This was very disappointing. Absolutely no suspense at all, apart from the two or three "shock moments" which resulted through the sound effects. A wanna-be-shocker, who tried to copy movies like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "The Blair Which Project", with exchangeable actors and a storyline told in one second. It could have been so good! As the "monster" was shown the first time, the whole audience laughed because it was everything but frightening (I just say: dog). This movie was one of the worst and most boring movies I have seen in a long time, I checked my watch every ten minutes. No shock moments, instead of that endless talks. Before you spend your money at this movie, think twice.