This is one of my favourite horror movies from the west. I love horror movies and I've seen most of them, Dark Remains was the first and only horror movie that I couldn't finish watching alone. Sure it is a B-movie, but it's a good one. I loved the acting and the story. I loved the characters in it and the horror elements. Dark Remains is not a jump-scare movie, it's not very typical western horror. Dark Remains is a psychological horror movie that builds up a suspense. I was surprised to see this type of horror from the west because the western horror films is often "not scary at all" jumpscares, that are way too predictable.

A grieving couple move to a remote house after the death of their daughter, but they find a deadly spirit in their new home, and the locals aren't helpful ...The opening is grim, then the daughter dies and it's not clear if it was suicide. She's maybe 7 years old, and they discover her in bed with her wrists all bloody. Ugh. Anyway, I was reading this as a metaphor for the horrible inevitability of suicide, but it got more literal and ended up fairly spooky.The direction/editing is plain, with a soundtrack of plinky-piano/twangly-harp, just right for TV melodrama. Lots of poor attempts at jump-scares, especially the back-fitting of a figure that wasn't there the last time you looked, the figure moving across the background. The tumbling down the stairs one worked, both times.Greatest weakness is the script, because it doesn't combine things into each scene, and there are too many characters for such an intimate story. Plus the dialogue is weak, leaving lots of meaning on the table.Overall, a cheesy production, but the theme is strong and sort of breaks through in the end.

Two things about this movie… Number 1: It does NOT deserve all the extreme praise it is getting. Nothing about this movie was cringe-worthy or made me jump. If anyone truly found this movie "jump-worthy" they need to get out more.Number 2: It does NOT deserve the bashings it is getting either. Personal attacks on the lead actress Cheri Christian are unwarranted and while it lacked in many areas, the ghosts at times were very cool--especially the one on the floor.Okay. I am going to do it. I said I was not going to write an IMDb review of this movie (but rather was just going to review it for my magazine, Twisted Dreams) but I lied. Here is my review.I have been waiting for three years to see this movie. I was one of the celebrity guests at the Halloween Horror Picture Show three years ago in Tampa and Dark Remains was fresh on the market and one of the movies playing. I saw the cover and was hooked.Unfortunately, I was not able to stay and watch the movie but contacted the production company after the show and asked how I could find it.Long story short, I just found it for rent a few nights ago at the local Hollywood Video. I snatched it up and eagerly watched. I tried to keep an open mind, realizing that this movie is Indie and that if I got too excited, I might be let down.While I was not impressed, I was not let down either really.Allow me to explain. Julie and Allen lose their daughter to a vicious murder. It appears that Allen thought he locked the door before bed, and when Julie got up during the night to check, it was unlocked. Okay so their daughter Emma is dead.They move to the country to a beautiful log cabin and as others have said, have a host of Deliverance type neighbors to choose from--from the scum that got them the home, to the creep down the way who lives in a remarkably nice home to have the IQ of a turnip. Not a personal attack…just stating that the effect to make him seem dim-witted wasn't bad.Then the ghosts start appearing.This is where I have mixed emotions. I am an Indie horror author myself and tend to cut other Indies (no matter what Indie path they follow) some slack. However, I do have a serious issue with many movies nowadays due to the fact that most plots are either non-existent or they are not developed. Dark Remains falls into the latter category. What could have been a good plot was simply not developed well enough.I was confused from the first shots of the movie. They were run together and made for a very confusing foundation. I had to wait until the end of the movie to figure out, "oh…that is what that scene was of!" I agree with some of the comments that the acting was flat and that there were just too many ghosts.Also the prison really was not warranted in the movie. In the special features though, it was really interesting hearing about the ghost Big Red that haunts it, and so forth. However, for the movie, it simply was useless.Though the scenery was really beautiful and if I bought a house like that cabin, the ghosts would have found themselves seriously evicted no matter how many priests I had to call, I think that the plot line needed a LOT more development rather than just rushing to the end of the movie and climaxing with, "oh and by the way…here is why there are so many ghosts." In layman's terms…it took too long to get to the real story. The movie could have been much shorter and filled in with a better story development or at least some filler that wasn't so boring…yes I said it…boring to watch.Could have been fabulous and wasn't honestly bad. Old school definitely which is a nice change…but simply took too long to get from point A to point B.

After all the crap that Hollywood (and the Indies) have churned out, we finally get a movie that delivers some scary moments. There are some clichéd moments, but I'm not sure it's possible nowadays to make an entirely original movie. There's not much new here...it's just done well.Make sure and pay attention, as the "subtle" scares come quickly and often. This is not a movie to watch while you're eating pizza.There's one very well-written red herring in this movie and, unfortunately, one very poorly-cast role. Cheri Christian just doesn't make an effective Julie (the wife/mother). For one thing, she's totally unsympathetic. I know, I know...she's just gone through a traumatic experience. But the viewer never gets to know her as she "normally" is and the relationship between her and her husband is rather discomforting (in an unintentional way). I think that the director had meant for us to have some sympathy for her, but I never did.Finally, a thumbs-up for the ending, which is both disturbing and satisfying. It could easily have been cheapened with a sound effect at the beginning of the end credits, but the director wisely resisted.This is not a masterpiece by any means, but it IS a good, old-fashioned scary movie...something that's rather rare nowadays.