Reno, Nevada, United States: Enter the dull everyday life of employees, employers and gamblers having fun at the slot machines and poker tables, while others are enjoying online gaming… In the background, a news reporter presents a new “oven” where the entire nuclear supply of the world should be destroyed in order to solve the problems of society.
Then a countdown happens for the oven to start and the news stops reporting. All of a sudden people who were not shielded with a certain kind of barrier turn into zombies and the zombie apocalypse starts in the streets.
The ones that survive start killing the zombies stuck inside the building while planning what to do next. The movie was made by the cable TV network Chiller, which streams horror movies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and also makes original content.
Remains is based on a comic miniseries by Steve Niles and Kieron Dwyer. At the beginning of the comic book, the zombie apocalypse does not happen as quickly as it does in the movie, so the screenplay skipped a portion of the comic books.
The story by Steve Niles was already a bit different than what we are used to, and the movie adds more twists to it. The comic book has less central characters than the movie, but the main characters are still Tom and Tori. Evelana Marie stars as Tori and Grant Bowler as Tom.
Remains is full of action. The characters don’t just sit around and chit chat sharing each other’s fears and memories because zombies are attacking almost every minute, and each moment the situation gets even worse. This is not a movie for the faint of heart as there is an abundance of blood and gore in Remains.
The overall production quality does look like a movie made for television, but it is still better than most. The story, acting and camera work all score above average marks as well, even though it is easy to see that it is not a big-budget horror movie.
The main setting is in a casino. For the majority of the movie, the casino serves as a shelter for the survivors. Definitely not a place to have fun. It still manages to capture the atmosphere of a casino even with all the apocalyptical stuff going on.
From the very first scene, the director has perfectly captured the true atmosphere of a casino. We see people playing a blackjack game while others enjoy their luck on slot machines and roulette tables. The big, heavy poker tables serve as barricades after the zombie outbreak. And, those who had been having fun just a few hours before then hid behind the slot machines.
The setting might seem similar to that of Dawn of the Dead where people are stuck in the shopping mall. However, the people working there have had pretty interesting lives. The movie also provides an explanation about why the zombie apocalypse started in the world.
Also, the idea of people turning into zombies when the story has already started is not present in many films. Surprisingly, Remains was shot on 35 mm, which is quite unusual for TV movies. However, the Blu-ray disc quality is still poor. There are some problems with audio too. It is not the best quality, the levels change from one scene to another, and it is hard to hear some of the dialogue.
In an interview with the creators, also available on the Blu-ray, Producer Andrew Gernhard, director Colin Theys, screenwriter John Dodlan, and makeup effects supervisor Ben Chester all deliver their commentaries through a single microphone. Overall, even though Remains is neither the scariest movie nor the best quality, it is still worth watching at least once. Rent, don’t buy this one.
