Film Review: Dark Remains

I really wanted to like this film from writer/director Brian Avenet-Bradley considering I really enjoyed his previous film Ghost of the Needle and was just so-so with his first feature Cold Blood. The problems with Avenet-Bradley's new film Dark Remains in no way over shadows its good points but it does detract from the overall enjoyment of the film.

Like all of his previous films Dark Remains has impeccably great production value for an independently produced film. Shot in HD (unlike his previous films which were 16mm) this film is as rich and vibrant as those films especially considering that Laurence Avenet-Bradley (Brian's other half) returns as cinematographer on this film. The locations are key to this film as they were with GHOST having this time used an abandoned prison as one of the main locations for the creepy going-ons.

What detracts from the film is the utter lack of drive and conflict between the main two characters Julie (Cheri Christian) and her husband Allen (Greg Thompson). This is partially due to the largely pedestrian script that doesn't take the characters anywhere. The characters have to wait for things to happen to them rather then they be the ones to drive the plot, which for some films this is a lamentable trait but not always a successful one especially in horror films which need someone or something to drive the main characters to action or inaction as the case sometimes is.

It's a slow burn of a horror film like all of his previous films but unlike Ghost which had the main character violently react to the presence of the ghosts, the characters in this film either don't see them or don't react to them making the ghosts nothing more than camera fodder to make the audience jump out of their seats. A device that's used in such films as Ghost Ship and The Amittyville Horror remake which is sad especially since those films are so bad and play to the lowest common denominator.

With the dredge of both good and bad ghost stories being released every year you have to come up with something different or at least exciting in order to get your film noticed and this film has neither.