The Remaining (2014) Review!!

Synopsis – Friends gather at a wedding, but the celebration is shattered by terrifying apocalyptic events forcing them to examine life, love and faith as they must choose between redemption and survival.

My Take – It was not obvious from the title nor the trailer, that this film is actually a vehicle for Christian preaching indulging into the last testaments. Frankly the message was not subtle. It is out there for the audience to listen to and reflect on. I do not think I have seen such a horror film with an overtly religious intent. However, if you are one of those who do not like religion mixed with their film entertainment, this will not be for you. Directorial newcomer Casey La Scala, the producer of notable films like “Donnie Darko,” “A Walk to Remember,” as well as “Amityville Horror” franchise sequel entitled “Amityville: The Awakening.” aims to over whelm with his passion- project. The film takes place during the wedding day of Dan (Bryan Dechart) and Skylar (Alexa PenaVega). Their best friends were all there: the best man Jack (Shaun Sipos), the maid of honor Allison (Italia Ricci), and the photographer Tommy (Johnny Pacar). Everything was going on perfectly until suddenly, a lot of people suddenly dropped to the floor dead. This was followed by a series of disasters of such magnitude the world had yet not known until that time, killing even more people.

The film mixes a live action disaster film and found footage end-of-the-world supernatural thriller, the film focuses on a group of friends making their way through the aftermath of the Biblical Rapture. For those who somehow haven’t been exposed to the “Left Behind” movies either by seeing or hearing about them, the Rapture is a worldwide event talked about in the Book of Revelation where Christians are suddenly taken up to Heaven when Jesus Christ returns and seven years of horrific Tribulation begin. Basically, God turns his back on the World and gives it over to the Antichrist and his minions to do with as they will. There are plagues, natural disasters, and other catastrophic events which unfold as the clock to Armageddon counts down. Backed up by Sony Pictures, while this was still very much a B-movie, writer/director Casey La Scala did almost a good job in telling the story at a fast pace. The atmosphere of suspense and tension were effectively developed. I was reasonably entertained though, despite the preaching. I was hoping that the end would reveal that it wasn’t the rapture and in fact aliens where masking there invasion as the rapture to avoid any resistance! That would have been an awesome twist! Nevertheless as a horror this film completely fails! The pace is dragged back by short but frequent ‘talking’ scenes, but I put up with that.

Maybe they should have had one big scene. Aside from a couple of genre favorites, the cast of “The Remaining” is made up of faces actors won’t immediately recognize. This helps to keep audiences detached from familiar faces that would take them out of the viewing experience. The two actors many sci-fi and horror fans might identify are those of Alexa Vega and John Pyper-Ferguson. Vega played Carmen in the “Spy Kids” films and also appeared in “Machete Kills,” “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,” and “Repo! The Genetic Opera.” Pyper-Ferguson is seen in cult classic shows like “Alphas,” “Caprica,” and “Battlestar Galactica.” Its hard to point out what went wrong with this film, something seems a miss. To be entirely fair, this film doesn’t bring anything new or unique to the theme. It doesn’t really even prick your conscience at all which is suppose to be the point behind the “Rapture” nonsense being hurled at other “Non-Believers” in the hopes that they can recruit more people and up their fiscal income of their faith. On the whole “The Remaining” takes 2014’s Left Behind and fuses it with Paranormal Activity to make a really good movie, well for the most part. Things do come off the rails in the third act when it just inexplicably ends about 15-20 minutes shy, which is a shame because despite it’s faults, this movie really had me hooked and ready for what would come next. Watch it only if you got nothing to watch.