Devorados Vivos

I'm really getting burned out on modern day zombie films, so here we go with yet another walking dead film that sometimes is good, but for the most part falls into all the usual traps that drag these films down. Munch munch, argue argue, dwindle cast, dwindle, drama here, gut munch there, textbook doggy.

A bunch of hugely unlikeable people survive a blast of some sort in Reno and find themselves surrounded by the living dead. There's our hero (I've forgotten his name), waitress Tori (who is really annoying), a tiny magician, and a jerk. At first thing go quite well for the film as these folks try and survive various zombie attacks, but far too soon into the film it becomes obvious that we're going to get a lot of bored folk trapped in a building surrounded by the living dead. Remember that bit in Dawn of the Dead where the characters gain power over the shopping mall and realise that all those material goods mean nothing spiritually when you're under siege by zombies? Well, that happens here too, within the first half an hour.

Eventually some other survivors crop up, armed to the teeth, and there's some bickering and double crossing and what not. You've seen it hundreds of times before. Reamins doesn't do anything new really. They should have kept up the zombie attacks and kept down the interpersonal drama, because when these folk go toe-to-toe with the zombies, it's fine. When they're shouting at each other, you can't help but wonder how much time you've got left before you can switch it off. The stop start nature of the film really drags it down, despite some subtle humour and the introduction of super powered zombies.

I'm gaining nothing from watching films like this now. If anyone knows of any recent zombie films that actually do anything new – give me a shout.

I have definitely seen worse movies but given its premise Remains should've been much better. It gets brownie points for its idea, a good music score and Grant Bowler's likable lead performance. Unfortunately that's it for the good points. Remains is very poor technically, with slapdash special effects and choppy editing. The make-up also makes the zombies look goofy rather than menacing. The story had potential but doesn't come anywhere close to living up to it. It isn't dull pacing-wise as such, but the whole thing doesn't flow, there isn't much of a focus and the sense of suspense and horror just aren't there. The dialogue is truly dire, always coming across as trite and hackneyed, and the direction goes through the motions but does nothing else. The characters are as interesting as a plank of wood, and with the exception of Bowler the acting especially from Evelanda Marie does nothing to elevate that. All in all, Remains has its moments but essentially it is limp and not recommended. 4/10 Bethany Cox

If you can get past the terrible production values, poor makeup FX, and mediocre acting, you have a somewhat decent script that might have worked in better hands. The director just doesn't make the best of anything and couldn't they give them another 350k come on guys can we at least make it a solid Million Dollar budget. I don't come to expect much from a Chiller Premiere but I have come to know that on a shoe string one can make a decent compelling TV movie. While they didn't exactly have Emmy Winning Actors they had a workable cast under better directorial guidance might have given us something a bit more entertaining. Its really to bad sometimes its better to have 5 good zombies in great makeup instead of 15 that are useless untrained locals.

On the day of the celebration of worldwide peace, there is a nuclear accident and people are turned into zombies. In Reno, a group of survivors are trapped inside a casino: Tom (Grant Bowler), his girlfriend Tori (Evalena Marie), the gay Jensen (Miko Hughes) and the stranger Victor (Anthony Marks) clean the place and stay inside with supplies for a long time. When Tom hears a transmission in the walkie talkie, he believes that help is coming and the use a searchlight to indicate their location. However, Tori suspects that the group under the leadership of Ramsey (Lance Reddick) is not what they think they are. Would her feeling be accurate or is Tori paranoid?

The trash "Remains" is a funny zombie movie despite the bad reviews. The plot is uneven, with good but also bad moments but the result does not disappoint at all. There is a hook in the conclusion for a sequel. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Devorados Vivos" ("Devoured Alive")

Though not the worst zombie movie ever made, "Steve Nile's Remains" disappoints and bores. For one thing, if a creative's name appears in the title, he or she should earn that place in the marquee with a script that goes somewhere. Sadly, neither the story, nor the characters in it do much more than shuffle around, running away from zombies.

Worse, one doesn't really care what happens to the people left alive in the zombie apocalypse. They're largely uninteresting at best, awful and selfish at worst. Even if the script had given them rich personalities, the actors are unconvincing and often wooden (especially Evalena Marie). The directing is methodical and the camera work uninspired.

The plot is, in essence, DAWN OF THE DEAD in a hotel. It's largely influenced by (if not derivative of) Steven King's FIRESTARTER and THE STAND, as well as Justin Cronen's book _The Passage_. About the only innovative aspect of this of this movie is who survives. But really, by the end, you just won't care.

Watch it if you're folding laundry. Or really loaded.