Evil Remains

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.

A group of friends investigate an allegedly cursed plantation that was the scene of a horrific murder twenty years prior. Of course, as soon as they arrive they split up.

Strange things start happening.

EVIL REMAINS uses paranoia, claustrophobia, and the unknown to keep the atmosphere thick with dread. There's a growing sense of disorienting insanity as the trespassers find themselves in a trap that gets tighter and stickier.

Not a bad movie, though it's more unsettling than terrifying. It's best watched in total darkness as most scenes are... well, dark...

The graduation student Mark (Daniel Gillies) is developing a monograph work about contemporary myths, and he interviews the psychiatrist Dr. Theodore Rosen (Kurtwood Smith), who was treating Carl Bryce (Jeff Galpin), a deranged teenager that killed his parents twenty years ago. The body of Carl has never been found and there is an urban legend that the spot is a cursed place since slavery times, causing madness and death to those that trespass the area. Mark invites his friends Eric (Jeff Davis), Tyler (Clayne Crawford), Kristy Goodman (Estella Warren) and Sharon (Ashley Scott) to help him in his research in the old real estate. Once there, a mysterious killer starts to execute and chase the group, with the survivors trying to escape alive.

"Trespassing" is a predictable and forgettable low-budget movie, with a promising beginning and a deceptive ambiguous conclusion. The story is another rip-off of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", but with an awful handy cam that shacks and trembles the images, most of them too close and without permitting to see the surroundings. Ashley Scott performs the annoying and totally incoherent character Sharon, taking the worst possible attitudes under stress. The conclusion is ridiculous, probably with the intention of a sequel. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Invasão Mortal" ("Mortal Invasion")

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.

I just wanted to write this because the other critic seemed quite harsh. This little movie was quite a fun and scary surprise with very adequate acting and directing. This is a slasher/ghost story that kept me on the edge of my seat and just tense enough to keep me up right now to write this. It does have similarities with some other major motion pictures like Texas and Wrong Turn but also to Session9, because it is subdued in a way and keeps the viewer guessing. The sounds are very well executed as is the lack of sound in some scenes. This silence becomes very threatening at times especially in the darker scenes. All I can say is I really liked it a lot. Watch it alone with the lights OUT.