Remains doesn’t waste any time with the setup. A bomb goes off in the distance and a small group of survivors in Reno Nevada are forced to survive after the populace exposed to the blast turn into flesh hungry monsters.
As I was watching it I couldn’t help but start to wonder if the writers had seen Train to Busan and the Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula, especially after the Zombies go dormant in the dark, and the survivors use a remote controlled car to distract the Zombies.
Then I realized that Remains was made in 2011, and predates both of those movies by at least six years. I guess that means that maybe the writers of Train to Busan had watched Remains instead.
You will also recognize several famous actors, which isn’t always the case in some little known Zombie movies. Of course the main character Tom, is played by Grant Bowler, and he’s been in a ton of movies, while Ramsay is played by Lance Reddick, better known as Charon, the hotel manager from John Wick. (FYI, don’t be disappointed, he’s only in it for a few minutes.)
As the movie progresses, the tone changes, with the members of the military convoy becoming the “bad guys” instead of the Zombies. This is when things started to remind me of Night of the Comet, and that definitely predated this film as it was made in 1984. The soldiers who show up in Remains don’t last long. After trying to steal food, Tom leads some of the soldiers into an ambush and lets the zombies take care of the rest.
With the hotel compromised, Tom and Tori decide to try and get out of town again, which leads to an amusing, if failed, attempt to use a tiny car to escape the garage.
After retreating to the roof, Tom and Tori watch as the general’s daughter Cindy spins her vehicle out. They of course decide to go help and Tom uses a magic show “Hamster Wheel” prop to save Cindy.
While our three survivors are resting for the night, the new breed of more dangerous Zombies that Cindy warned them about have flooded into town. It’s time to escape or get eaten, and with the help of the bomb that Cindy had on her, they hope they might just be able to escape.
Cindy almost bites it because of her long hair, and then Tori’s true nature comes to the forefront as she decides to go it alone after cold clocking Tom and bashing Cindy in the face.
What happens to bad friends? They get their lips bitten off before getting caught in a bomb blast, then swarmed by a horde.
When the second bomb goes off it gives Tom and Cindy just the distraction they need to get in the car and head out.
Somehow Tori is still mostly in once piece, now turned into a super badass zombie – you know, just in case someone wants to make a second movie.
Remains scored a 71/100 and is Worth Your Time. It is what I would call a Popcorn Movie, its fun to watch, and consistent from start to end. I was really happily surprised with just how well done Remains was, for what I was considering a low budget movie. According to the internet, it was only one million bucks to make, which is nothing when it comes to movies, even in 2011.
| Review | Year | Score | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zombieland | 2010 | 100 | Comedy / Action |
| #Alive | 2020 | 100 | Action / Infection |
| World War Z | 2013 | 100 | Action / Infection |
| Train To Busan | 2016 | 100 | Action / Infection |
| Dawn Of The Dead | 1978 | 100 | Action / Horror / Classics |
| 28 Days Later | 2002 | 100 | Action / Infection |
| Night Of The Living Dead | 1968 | 100 | Action / Horror / Classics |
| Flesh And Blood | 2018 | 99 | Shorts |
| Serenity | 2005 | 99 | Action / Sci-Fi |
| The Girl With All The Gifts | 2016 | 95 | Action / Infection |
| Land Of The Dead | 2005 | 94 | Action / Horror |
| Resident Evil: Apocalypse | 2004 | 93 | Action / Infection |
| Resident Evil | 2002 | 92 | Action / Infection |
| Rampant | 2018 | 91 | Action / Infection / Mid Evil |
| Day of the Dead | 2008 | 90 | Action / Infection |
| Night of the Comet | 1984 | 85 | Comedy / Action |
| The Return of the Living Dead | 1985 | 85 | Comedy / Action |
| Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula | 2020 | 84 | Action / Infection |
| Zombieland: Double Tap | 2019 | 83 | Comedy / Action |
| Fido | 2006 | 82 | Comedy / Action |
| Shaun Of The Dead | 2004 | 81 | Comedy / Action |
| I Am Legend (2007) | 2007 | 80 | Action / Infection |
| 28 Weeks Later | 2007 | 80 | Action / Infection |
| The Evil Dead | 1981 | 80 | Classic / Action |
| Overlord | 2018 | 79 | Action / Horror |
| Infection | 2019 | 79 | Action / Infection |
| It Stains The Sands Red | 2016 | 79 | Action / Infection |
| Plan Z | 2016 | 78 | Action / Infection |
| Day of the Dead | 1985 | 77 | Action / Horror / Classics |
| Dead Rising: Endgame | 2016 | 77 | Action / Infection |
| The Dead | 2010 | 76 | Action / Infection |
| Freaks of Nature | 2015 | 76 | Comedy / Action |
| Cockneys Vs. Zombies | 2012 | 75 | Comedy / Action |
| Here Alone | 2016 | 75 | Suspense / Infection |
| Shed of the Dead | 2019 | 74 | Comedy / Action |
| Survival Of The Dead | 2009 | 73 | Action / Horror |
| State of Emergency | 2011 | 73 | Action / Infection |
| Alone | 2020 | 73 | Action / Infection |
| Dawning of the Dead | 2017 | 72 | Action / Infection |
| Dance of the Dead | 2008 | 72 | Comedy / Action |
| The Rezort | 2015 | 72 | Action / Infection |
| Remains | 2011 | 72 | Action / Infection |
| Daylight's End | 2016 | 71 | Action / Infection |
| The Dead 2: India | 2015 | 70 | Action / Infection |
| Night of the Living Deb | 2015 | 70 | Comedy / Romance |
| Resident Evil: Afterlife | 2010 | 70 | Action / Infection |
| Zombie Night | 2013 | 70 | Action / Infection |
| Dead Rising: Watchtower | 2015 | 70 | Action / Infection |
| Zombie Hunter | 2013 | 70 | Action / Infection |
| For A Few Zombies More | 2015 | 70 | Action / Infection |
| Exit Humanity | 2011 | 69 | Action / Infection |
| Bird Box | 2018 | 69 | Action / Horror / Possession |
| Ravenous | 2017 | 68 | Action / Infection |
| Blood Quantum | 2019 | 68 | Action / Infection |
| The Night Eats The World | 2018 | 67 | Suspense / Infection |
| Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse | 2015 | 67 | Comedy / Action |
| Trench 11 | 2017 | 66 | Action / Horror |
| Cargo | 2017 | 66 | Suspense / Infection |
| Zoombies | 2016 | 65 | Awesomely Bad |
| Zombie Town | 2007 | 65 | Action / Horror |
| Zombie Apocalypse | 2011 | 64 | Action / Infection |
| Red Spring | 2017 | 63 | Action / Infection |
| Resident Evil: Extinction | 2007 | 62 | Action / Infection |
| Resident Evil Retribution | 2012 | 61 | Action / Infection |
| Resident Evil: The Final Chapter | 2016 | 60 | Action / Infection |
| Life After Beth | 2014 | 59 | Comedy / Action |
| Diary Of The Dead | 2007 | 58 | Action / Horror |
| Revelation Trail | 2013 | 57 | Action / Horror |
| My Mates vs. The Zombie Apocalypse | 2015 | 56 | Comedy / Action |
| Anna And The Apocalypse | 2017 | 55 | Musical / Infection |
| Deadsight | 2018 | 55 | Suspense / Infection |
| Bong of the Living Dead | 2017 | 54 | Action / Infection |
| The Dead Undead | 2010 | 53 | Action / Infection |
| Deadheads | 2011 | 52 | Comedy / Romance |
| Day of the Dead: Bloodline | 2018 | 51 | Action / Infection |
| Dead Don't Die in Dallas | 2019 | 51 | Action / Infection / LGBTQ |
| Disaster L.A. | 2014 | 50 | Action |
| Road Wars | 2015 | 50 | Action / Infection |
| Within the Woods of Undead County | 2016 | 49 | Action / Infection |
| I Am Alone | 2015 | 48 | Action / Infection |
| Valentine DayZ | 2018 | 47 | Action / Infection / Awesomely Bad |
| Savageland | 2015 | 46 | Horror / Drama |
| Infected | 2019 | 45 | Shorts |
| Block Z | 2020 | 44 | Action / Infection |
| The Dead Don't Die | 2019 | 43 | Spoof / Drama |
| Strain 100 | 2020 | 42 | Action / Infection |
| When the Fever Breaks | 2019 | 41 | Suspense / Infection |
| Zombie Undead | 2010 | 40 | Action / Infection |
| Hostile | 2017 | 40 | Action / Infection |
| Dead Before Down | 2012 | 39 | Horror / Supernatural |
| Gangs Of The Dead | 2006 | 38 | Action / Infection |
| Zombies | 2017 | 37 | Action / Infection |
| American Zombieland | 2020 | 36 | Comedy / Infection |
| Deadlocked | 2020 | 35 | Action / Infection |
| Dead Trigger | 2017 | 35 | Action / Infection |
| Another World | 2014 | 35 | Action / Infection |
| KL24: Zombies | 2017 | 34 | Action / Infection |
| Antisocial 2 | 2015 | 33 | Action / Infection |
| Antisocial | 2013 | 32 | Action / Infection |
| By Day's End | 2020 | 31 | Suspense / Infection |
| Dead 7 | 2016 | 31 | Action / Infection |
| Pandemic | 2016 | 30 | Action / Infection |
| Attack of the Southern Fried Zombies | 2017 | 29 | Comedy / Action |
| Zombie Hood | 2013 | 28 | Action / Infection |
| The Dustwalker | 2019 | 27 | Action / Parasite |
| Day of the Dead 2: Contagium | 2005 | 26 | Action / Infection |
| Anger Of The Dead | 2015 | 25 | Action / Infection |
| Zombie Road | 2018 | 22 | Shorts |
| Zombie Wars | 2007 | 21 | Action / Infection |
| Last Rites Of The Dead | 2019 | 20 | Drama / Thriller |
| The Mad | 2007 | 19 | Comedy / Infection |
| The Living Dead | 2020 | 18 | Horror / Drama |
| Quarantine L.A. | 2013 | 14 | Action / Infection |
| Driven | 2020 | 13 | Drama / Suspense |
| The Hive | 2014 | 12 | Demonic Possession / Horror |
| The Horde | 2016 | 11 | Action / Gore |
| The Last Starship | 2017 | 10 | Action / Infection |
| Rise of the Zombie | 2013 | 9 | Drama / Action |
| Flu | 2013 | 8 | Infection / Not Zombies |
| Red Days | 2016 | 7 | Action / Infection |
| The Returned | 2013 | 6 | Drama / Romance |
| Apocalypse Nerds | 2012 | 5 | Comedy / Action |
| Zombie with a Shotgun | 2019 | 4 | Infection / Drama |
| Soon Enough | 2018 | 3 | Action / Drama |
| Range 15 | 2016 | 2 | Comedy / Action |
| Eyes Of The Dead | 2015 | 1 | Action / Infection |
| Broadcast Dead | 2018 | 0 | Horror / Thriller |
| Dead End | 2003 | 0 | Horror / Thriller |
