Zombie apocalypses' appear to be a good place to go for TV and film at the moment, they bring in the money, the gore and the action, they can also be a good vehicle for a social commentary but most of the time they're just good fun.
Remains takes place on the eve of peace, something goes horribly wrong and a celebration turns into a radioactive face burning party. When the dust settles those who avoided the Triffid like blast remain the same but the majority of the population end up as flesh hungry beasts.
The one good thing I loved about Remains was the fact that Miko Hughes has quite a large part to play. For Elm Street fans like myself (NEVER SLEEP AGAIN Review) you'll remember Miko as the young kid who played son to Heather Langenkamp in Wes Craven's New Nightmare.
Here he plays a gay magician who finds himself stuck in a hotel with three other survivors; Tori (Evalena Marie), Victor (Anthony Marks) and Tom (Grant Bowler). Tom and Tori have some past issues to work out, Victor seems a little too handy at smashing in peoples skulls and of course there's enough sexual tension between all four characters to keep anyone happy. But Mr Niles doesn't think the horror fans are ready for man on man action yet... Hooray for Evalena Marie's awesome Bras!!!
Remains plays out like you'd expect when you have people holed up in one place during a zombie apocalypse. You've probably played games like Left 4 Dead and Dead Island to know that here the characters will work together to perform simple tasks in an attempt to attract help and then when help comes, the four consider the fact that they were probably better off alone!
The world is a dangerous place now and although it's everyone for themselves when those selfish folks have weapons it is not a good mix. Lance Reddick leads a bunch of wannabe soldiers, into the paths of our four survivors and although it looks like helped has arrived, as things normally go these rescuers are hiding things and don't trust our friends despite outnumbering them by 2 or 3 to 1!
Remains isn't a deep look into the human psyche or your typical zombie film. The Zombies if unfed will munch on each other or themselves. Remains is just your typical fun zombie adventure with characters who actually have a common purpose whilst keeping secrets of their own. The cast who you will probably recognise from TV and Film all come together to bring the content to life or urrr unlife... it's a strange mix of action and adventure that tries to be more than just a popcorn flick but if you want to have fun, a popcorn flick it is!
Enjoyable, Zombe-licious, head bursting fun! Remains takes a simple formula and makes it work unlike other films that try to imitate the same sort of feel like Zombie Women of Satan, a true failure in the Zombie movie genre. Stick with the likes of Steve Niles' Remains and The Revenant if you truly want to enjoy modern day Zombie movie madness.