We don't agree with the harsh reviews of this movie. This is a haunted house flick, and having lived in a big old haunted Victorian, we thought they did a very realistic job of giving you the feeling of what that is like. It's not constant terror or horror, but lots of creepy, weird things happening that you are always trying to explain away (seeing figures, crashes in the attic, noises and voices). The seance was a good idea, as that was very popular during the Victorian times and they did good job of making it seem like it could be a hoax. Our frustration was with the thin story line about the haunting (what was going on with the original family, what happened to the girl, etc). You can make an educated guess, but revealing that story through the haunted chest in the attic would have been much more interesting and scary and would have led to a better ending which seemed rushed and hokey. We thought the characters were well rendered and believable, seemed like a real family, not saccharine where you root for them to get offed. This is one where it would be worth someone with better writing skills taking a shot at fleshing it out. Has the potential to be a really good scary movie. Seemed like the unscrupulous Realtor idea came from American Horror Story's first season. Now that was scary!

The acting is not that bad, well... The blonde one is a pointless character and a bad actress... The kids did it well, but the story is just boring and the movie too short. Maybe with 30 more minutes they could make it more interesting?I don't know, too little events and then the story unfolds in the last 30 seconds of the movie.I wouldn't buy or rent this movie, it is a waste of time. I just created this account to rate it because I was up late expecting a good movie, but no... I should have read the reviews before watching.Just dull.

The synopsis for "The Remains" is what lured me in, well, and also because I have always enjoyed horror movies. But I wasn't familiar with this movie prior to stumbling upon it by sheer random luck.And now having seen it, I can check it off the list, and say that I have seen it. It wasn't a particularly impressive movie, to be bluntly honest. The movie had a huge potential, but director Thomas Della Bella didn't utilize the potential. And the few scare moments there were to be found throughout the movie ended up as being nothing impressive, mere moments that you shrugged off with a casual shake of the head.I will say that the atmosphere in the movie was good, and Thomas Della Bella was good at building up the suspense, but he just lacked the conviction to bring it to a fulfilling climax. As such, then the movie suffered terribly, and ended up being less than mediocre.For a horror movie, then the only really frightening thing about the movie was the lack of scary moments and things that actually made you want to turn on the light. It was a dull, slow experience if you are looking for a good scare.The acting in "The Remains" was adequate, and it was Todd Lowe who was carrying the movie with his performance.Usually a good horror movie also has fairly good special effects. "The Remains" hardly used any special effects. So don't expect this to be a glorious Hollywood special effects galore.The best thing about the movie was actually the ending. That took me by surprise, and I hadn't seen that coming. So that was an upside to an otherwise flaccid and monotone movie."The Remains" is the type of horror movie that you watch once, then you bag and tag it, put it on the shelf, most likely never to see the light of day again.

Thomas Della Bella brings us this film length extension of his short film Open House. Sadly I was unable to find any copies of Open House so I cannot go into much detail on the short, but I can see the vision that went into The Remains. For his first feature length venture, Della Bella truly delivers. We are given an impressive juggling of drama, tension and thrills throughout the 85 minute film and exposed to some familiar thriller/ horror genre traits. We hear the atmospheric sounds, we see the moving of the doorknob slowly, we quiver slightly with anticipation as each scene builds, and we muse over the development of the back story. All of these are clearly old school techniques and normal expected executions (within a horror film), but rarely do we see them executed so well in modern films ( with exceptions of the likes of The Witch and Crimson Peak). Della Bella uses the familiar, to breed the fear in his viewers. He draws them in using the scenes with the children and their father and then sets up the perfect spiral into the dark world they're inhabiting. So many elements in this film, become characters in their own right. The huge creepy dollhouse, that breeds an unease from its dark space at the end of the hallway. The occult photographs, that urge us to question the interactions with spirits in the home in other times. And the ugly old doll, that projects a sense of dread whenever we see little Victoria holding it. With a blending of atmosphere, reminiscent of a hint of Guillermo Del Toro, and some simple but well executed moments, that remind us of the work of James Wan and Leigh Whannell, I think Della Bella has left his imprint firmly in the horror world. Personally I can't wait to see what follows this and observe his growth as both a writer and director. The casting in The Remains is well selected. Todd Lowe plays our grieving father John (best known as Terry Bellefleur in TV's True Blood). He is saddened, heartbroken, vulnerable and weakened by recent months. We know hes barely able to process his sorrow for his wife, we see it each time he has to talk to someone else and explain what has happened. Yet it is also apparent that his children are now his life! He will protect them from anything and proves such on screen sublimely. Brooke Butler (from All Cheerleaders Die and The Sand) is Izzy, the hellbent on rebelling eldest daughter and wayward teen. We feel annoyed at her at times, but understand she is grieving differently and acting out to mask her own pain. The younger two children are Victoria (played by Hannah Nordberg - best known as Josslyn Jacks on General Hospital) and Aiden (played by Dash Williams - who has appeared as many characters on Jimmy Kimmel). Both children have the regular childlike moments (teasing each other, being playful and just acting like themselves) and the possessed creepy side down well. The blank stares, the hollow looks, the ghastly emptiness. I was taken in by their performances. As I read some of the (now I know unfair) IMDb reviews on this film, I admit I was truly skeptical about watching it. However I have never let anyone elses thoughts dictate my viewings and went with my gut instincts and I will definitely be hunting this down on DVD when I can. Great work all!