Vampire Owl :: This movie seems to be about the end of the world.

Vampire Bat :: Yes, it is about that and also what happens during this ultimate horror being unleashed on Earth.

Vampire Owl :: Do you think that mankind has a chance to see this possible end before they kill each other with their deadly weapons?

Vampire Bat :: I strongly believe that mankind will destroy itself in wars before God decides to bring his wrath on them.

Vampire Owl :: It is a strange thing, isn’t it? People blame God and sometimes the religions a lot, but can’t even love their own people even when they are outside the beliefs.

Vampire Bat :: A lot of things that these humans do are strange. If we think about them, we will only have a lot of negativity in our lives.

Vampire Owl :: For now, I will only hope that at least this movie happens to be good.

Vampire Bat :: Well, the movies about the end of the world are usually better than those which talk about the things like romance, which are mostly fake and exaggerated.

Vampire Owl :: Lets watch this soon, before mankind kills each other. Otherwise, there will be nobody left to read your review.

Vampire Bat :: Lets go for the movie right now!

[Gets a cup of tea with butter cookies].

What is it about? :: Dan (Bryan Dechart) and Skylar (Alexa Vega) are getting married and the friends are enjoying the occasion. The occasion is well-planned and the wedding ceremony goes great. Among their friends, Tommy (Johnny Pacar) has been in love with Allison (Italia Ricci) for quite some time, but she is in a relationship with Jack (Shaun Sipos) who is another person in their friends circle. Everything after the ceremony also seems to be going on well with an abundance of joy, and while people are having fun, suddenly some people start dropping down dead. With some people in the party dead in a second and the others having no idea what to do, Dan, Skylar and Jack run out of the building, in hope to find Allison who had left earlier. Outside the building, they find terror being unleashed in the streets with chaos and destruction all around.

So what is this sudden death and panic all about? :: The incident is associated with rapture which is related to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to Earth, and all the believers who are dead as well as the good believers among the living have their souls taken into eternal life. Skylar finds the reference to the same in the Holy Bible, but is attacked by a winged demon which is unleashed on Earth for the end of days. Joined by a girl called Sam (Liz E. Morgan), the find sanctuary in a church where a lot of others including Allison have also found shelter. There they find Pastor Shay (John Pyper-Ferguson) who tells them that he has been a pastor only by name and he has used his title only for his comfort, and took God’s name just for the sake of doing it. Surrounded by demons, and Skylar fatally injured, time runs out here.

The defence of The Remaining :: There is a certain amount of mixture with the genres with the horror elements, the thriller side and the disaster moments which make the most of it. The drama side is also present as the survivors ponder over their lives, the flashbacks and what remains their hope. There are also some elements of the found footage genre which are well-used. Some scary moments will justify the same, and that makes one wonder if this could be made into a video game; something in which survival is impossible – the certainty of death which prevails in this movie works very much in its favour, as death is the safe place to go, as always. The performances are pretty good even though there is nothing extraordinary around here. Italia Ricci is the one who gets the most attention, and I have felt that Liz E Morgan provided the most interesting performance here.

Claws of flaw :: The special effects are kept minimal here, and one might think that there is not enough disaster here for a disaster movie, and not that much horror that such evil mentioned in the movie could bring. A collection of better horror and disaster elements might be required by many. People might also have problems with its idea, and it won’t always be easy to take the right point of the theme for everyone. There is also the presence of some cliche elements here and there, but horror needs them up-to an extent. In the end, you will ask why this one couldn’t be better, especially as it has the theme and everything else ready right here. There seems to be a problem here about understanding what exactly should be the focus, but that only shows at times; there are questions like we had gone through in The Lazarus Effect.

Soul exploration :: The movie’s idea of rapture is rather far-fetched for most of the main Christian congregations. I haven’t heard about this myself except for the meaning of that word in the dictionary. But lets leave that behind and take the right point out of it, and take the secular meaning here. We know that unlike the Western idea about secularism which goes for the separation of the religion and the state, the concept of secularism in India has equal participation of all religions instead. Taking the exact meaning of this movie through its context might be easier, but what I have thought about more is about what I can take out of it for use in the common man’s life. The questions that we can take back home are about being the good person related to all religions – are we really good just because we keep visiting the religious places?

Further soul exploration :: No, the questions don’t end there, as more needs to be asked. Does goodness come naturally by saying that we believe in God and are part of certain religious groups? What does it take to be a good person in a materialistic world which has comfort written all over it, and people are just by the monetary gains rather than the goodness factor? Do we have what it take to be a good person instead of being the great achiever – why are stories of achievers considered inspiring instead of tales of good men and women? Shouldn’t good people be given all the attention rather than those who are branded as achievers only to mock and abuse those who are struggling in their lives? How many people go for a good man or a good woman in wedding without looking for the high salary, family status and dowry? Lets give these questions a few thoughts.

Release date: 5th September 2014
Running time: 88 minutes
Directed by: Casey La Scala
Starring: Alexa Vega, Italia Ricci, Johnny Pacar, Shaun Sipos, Bryan Dechart, Liz E Morgan, Kimberley Drummond, John Pyper-Ferguson, Erin Murphy, Kim Pacheco, Hayley Lovitt, Mary Austin, Judd Lormand, Rusty Martin Sr, Katie Sawhill, Defecio Stoglin, Kaitlyn Christian

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.