The Child Remains Review: There’s Got To Be A Better Way To Deal With Unwanted Children
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Suzanne Clement, Allan Hawco, Shelley Thompson
Directed by Michael Melski
Michael Melski’s film The Child Remains is one of those films that has a subject that some people might consider as a bit depressing, if not all out morbid, but that’s what makes horror movies fun, doesn’t it?
The movie uses the heavy topic of child death to deliver the chills in moderate fashion, and the backdrop is Nova Scotia’s Ideal Maternity Home, where unwed mothers back in the 30’s and 40’s had the opportunity to remove themselves from their young children, and it was at that point that the tots were surrendered to Minister William Young and his wife Lila. What the original intentions for these innocent children might have been would never be known, because the home itself was merely a front for a rogue auction site, if you will, and the kids were sold to the highest bidders – ultimately unsettling at best. The children who couldn’t be sold were treated like garbage, starved out, then buried in ragged wooden crates known back in the times as “butter boxes.” Flash-forward to present-day, and we follow the twosome of Liam and Rae, and needless to say Rae’s life has been on a precipitous slide ever since her days as a crime-scene reporter have left her with some serious trauma issues. According to her beau, the remedy for a peaceful start to recovery is a birthday getaway at a remote inn…and you guessed what it used to be back in the day.
As the two attempt to settle in to their temporary slice of solace, it becomes apparent that they aren’t alone on this distant jaunt to relaxation, and whatever it is has its sights on Rae’s unborn child. The film itself likes to pace itself rather slowly, and it’s a decent route for the storyline to traverse – it’ll seem at times like there’s no end in sight, but there are more than a few worthwhile scares to break up the stagnancy. The performances, while not exactly riveting, are adequate enough to assist the film’s conveyance of the creepy plot, and aside from an almost complete 180-degree swerve towards the movie’s latter-stages, we’ve got a pretty entertaining watch. Overall, if you’re willing to immerse yourself in The Child Remains‘ innate eerie disposition and forgive the turtle-like speed in which it crawls, then this is a film that can easily be digested with little or no difficulty – well worth a watch if you’ve got the time.
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Film
Summary
A plodding, slogging dark paranormal chiller that will certainly have you wanting to keep the lights on, or stay the hell away from the woods – but then again, doesn’t every horror film warn against that?
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