Devorados Vivos

Watching "Steve Niles' Remains" without having any knowledge about it prior to sitting down and watching it turned out to be a rather nice surprise. This movie really knocked me over and surprised me quite a lot. This is a zombie movie well worth a place up amongst the heavy-weighter's like Romero's zombies movie legacy and the "28 Days Later" movies.

Given the story is essentially as it is in all other zombie movies, the end of the world is coming fast, and with it comes the walking dead. A mysterious explosion devastates Reno and only a couple of survivors make it out alive. However, radiation sickness is not their worst enemy, it is the dead that have returned back to life. Trapped in a casino hotel with dwindling food supplies, a couple of survivors board themselves up, hoping for a rescue.

Not much innovation to the storyline, but regardless, the movie turned out to be entertaining and fun to watch. At certain points throughout the movie there was a very "Resident Evil 2" game and "Left 4 Dead" game atmosphere to the cinematography, which I enjoyed quite a lot.

There was a good level of action in the movie, spiced up with an adequate amount of blood and gore. "Steve Niles' Remains" doesn't over-indulge in the macabre gore like many other zombie movies do, but it is done with tasteful modesty. I enjoyed it, at least. And the zombie make-up was actually quite good. However, the eyes, that I didn't care much for. Contact lenses to make your eyes look weird, doesn't make it look like you are dead, use contact lenses that totally glaze over the eyes with a matted grayish-white color instead, that works.

I must admit that there was a couple of scenes in the movie that would have been better if they were not actually in the movie, or if they had decided to go in another direction. The first scene was the one where the zombies chased after a radio-controlled toy car, giving up the living meals that was within their grasp, that was just ridiculous. The second scene that I didn't care much for, was the one where the zombie stood face to face with Tori and she held up the two cut off fingers, and the zombie decides to chase after the two fingers when she throws them instead of gorging itself on the full-grown woman buffet in front of it, again, just downright ridiculous.

"Steve Niles' Remains" had a great musical score that accompanied the movie quite nicely. Mostly background music though, that you don't really pay that much attention to, but it is there and it works.

As for the title, well they should have cut out the Steve Niles' part of it, that would have worked so much better. That part just gives it a sort of low-budget self-gloating quality, which isn't particularly flattering. But of course, the title of the movie have no impact on the outcome of the entertainment of the movie, which was good.

The people they had cast for the various roles were doing fair enough jobs, though the characters did come off as rather shallow and lacking personalities and depths. In the face of the end of the world, people seemed to be rather indifference or just totally lacking motivation to act accordingly. They could have fleshed out the characters a bit more with a better script and some more in-depth dialogue. The two lead people, Grant Bowler (playing Tom) and Evalena Marie (playing Tori) were actually the ones with the most memorable performances.

I was impressed with the quality of the production of this movie, especially since I had never heard about it, nor were familiar with it in any way. I just randomly came across it on Amazon while browsing for zombie stuff, decided to give it a go, and must say that I was more than thrilled that I did, because it was really one amazing surprise of a movie. "Steve Niles' Remains" is well worth a place on the DVD shelves of any zombie aficionado's movie collection.

When it comes to cheaply made zombie movies, I always look for where they put the money. If a small budget is spread evenly across everything, the result is usually a film with nothing particularly well-done. Unfortunately, Remains falls into that trap. The acting is weak, the special effects are terrible, and worst of all, the zombies are some of the least convincing I've ever seen. Honestly, the zombie actors somehow managed to ruin "acting zombie," which is kind of an achievement in itself.

And yet, strangely enough, this still isn't the worst zombie flick I've seen, which says something. The core idea is familiar and proven: a group of survivors holes up in a building - in this case, a casino - while the undead wander outside. We get all the usual suspects too: soldiers who aren't there to help, human greed and betrayal, flaming relationship conflicts, desperate resource runs, and so on. There's not a single element here you haven't seen many times before.

But maybe that's exactly why the film ends up being passable, despite all its issues. It's formulaic, sure, but it still scratches that basic zombie-movie itch.

REMAINS is yet another zombie movie, not quite as low budget as the very worst of the genre (DEADHEADS or THE ZOMBIE CHRONICLES) but pretty low budget all the same. I mean, the budget is enough to reasonably execute the premise and bring to life a ruined city and its environs, but not enough to provide a halfway decent script or memorable actors.

The storyline involves a group of survivors holed up inside a casino after a zombie apocalypse. The casino setting is featured heavily in the film's poster and box art, but is severely underutilised; they could have been in any old building. This is an action-focused narrative with lots of shoot-outs and run-ins with fellow survivors. It's all low rent and rather cheesy, but not unentertaining.

The story is based on a comic by Steve Niles and has some fun with zombies, making them more human than seen elsewhere. There's an undercurrent of black comedy running throughout, but it hurts that the human characters are less than interesting and you never really feel involved or care about what's happening to them. REMAINS is mildly watchable but entirely forgettable.

An accident turns the world's population into flesh-eating zombies, meanwhile a handful of the survivors holdup in a small, seedy casino.

Remains (based on 'Steve Niles' graphic novel) has an interesting concept and some nice ideas including sleeping zombies. The backstreet lower end of Vegas setting add a visual, uneasy feel and the closing act and last thirty seconds stop it going to the grave.

This budgeted post-apocalyptic flick is commendably filmed by Colin Theys and is better than most productions of its kind, that said, it sadly falls short on delivery with pacing issues and uneven effects. In addition, it simply lacks the tension it should have due to inconsistencies across the whole offering.

Nevertheless, Remains is worth viewing if only out of interest and for the delightful and talented Evalena Marie.

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