Mortal Remains

Do you remember Karl Atticus?

What happens when two filmmakers ask a simple question about a local director who died under mysterious circumstances decades ago? Mortal Remains follows the journey of two filmmakers trying to uncover the mystery of Karl Atticus, a Maryland filmmaker responsible for one of the biggest film urban legends in Maryland history. It all starts off lighthearted enough as Chris and Mark innocently enough begin to unravel the mystery of Karl Atticus' lost film MORTAL REMAINS. The film was only screened once to a local crowd and was never seen again. All traces of the film and Karl are erased from local records and the mere mention of his name brings dread to those who know of him and his films. The more they ask, the more they find themselves drawn deeper into not just the world of a local legend but something even more sinister. Strange occurrences begin to plague those who know the legend and to those around them. The search for the truth, and the film (long believed to be destroyed) provides the viewer with a terrifying experience that can only be attributed to Karl Atticus.

With found footage films becoming more common place it's easy to discard this as another run of the mill FF film. This film has none of the tropes and clichés found in today's found footage films. From almost the start the atmosphere of this film is intense and does not let up until the end. No film since The Blair Witch Project has terrified me like MORTAL REMAINS. This film is very well done and never once are you subjected to overly done clichés. The best thing to do is to see this film, you won't regret it. But be careful when you ask someone 'Do you remember Karl Atticus."

I would call myself an avid film watcher... especially of horror films. But I also watch the latest Marvel releases and my wife forces me to watch any rom/com on Netflix the minute one comes out. Story lines people! It seems that every Marvel film, every horror film and especially every rom/com I see reuses the same old plot. Which is why I found this film refreshing. At first I thought it was interesting because I thought it was real. Then I realized it was one of those mockumentary movies. Then I started second guessing myself again. A movie that made me THINK? What a novel idea.

I thought it's pretty great watching this movie with good acting throughout. Sort of a documentary (fake) about a mysterious cult horror director from late 60's, early 70's that went missing after a while and the story about his last movie called Mortal Remains. Now it's a pretty believable story because of good writing of the acts and decent acting. Keeps you hooked till the end...supposed to have been shot right before The Blair Witch Project, mentioned couple times but has nothing to do with it. Gives you that serious tone of the story that's going on because of it. Enjoyable movie.

The mythos and world-building of this faux-documentary are amazingly well crafted! The lengths that the creators have gone to in order to build mystery and intrigue around the project are impressive and very well executed.

The same can be said of the film itself. Well written, well crafted, and well executed.

I really don't have any complaints at all about this one. If you like found footage, chances. are you will really enjoy "Mortal Remains."

Very little known, near underground-kind, independently produced and marketed micro budget mockumentary horror, that all sums up to some intrigue for a found-footage horror enjoyer. A flawed, but admirable effort in faux documentary genre, by two directors who are also writers, acting leads, operators, cinematographers, editors, and so on.

Filmmakers Mark and Christian are in process of making a documentary about "The Blair Witch Project", when the movie's actual director Eduardo Sanchez raises up a question about infamous Maryland's (same area/town as in "Blair Witch") filmmaker Karl Atticus, a shady guy who made b horror flicks at the turn of the 70's, with rumors about using real corpses for better effects. A cult may be involved as well. Thus, the duo takes up a new project. A movie like "Mortal Remains" only works with good world-building, and there was effort put into that, although there are discussable plot holes here and there, and characters don't always act reasonably, the overall atmosphere creates palpable tension throughout. Majority of the interviewees were up to the acting task, and if there was more script than improv, most lines passed as natural enough. Pretty split feelings on how the journey ends - taking the route of a more genre-conventional, shocking resolution, whereas I would've preferred a little more plot at the expense of scares.

After a little post-film research I was surprised to find out they're currently shooting a sequel, although that might've been dragging on for years now. They truly need more lore. The genre spirit is there, so this goes as a sure recommendation to the suckers for handheld pseudo cinema. 6/10.