Brian Avenet-Bradley is without a doubt one of the more talented directors in indie horror in recent memory and he certainly knows how to kick a movie off in high gear (in this case we see two people both commit suicide at the same time), it's just too bad he can't seem to keep this energy up for the entire running time of his films and that his scripts always seem to be a tiny bit too vague.

His latest effort, Dark Remains, isn't quite on the level of his previous work 2003's Ghost Of The Needle, but I'm still recommending it simply because it's a stunning looking low-budget movie, there's plenty of good jolts, and Avenet-Bradley is not afraid to pace his movie at a slower pace preferring to use a quiet premise (that is sustained by various scare moments usually involving things occurring in the background barely out of sight of his characters) and slow build-up of suspense rather than slap you in the face with quickly edited visuals.

When Julie (Cheri Christian) and husband Allen (Greg Thompson) wake up one morning to find their young daughter horribly murdered they're understandably stunned. In order to get away from the big city, and the prying questions of detectives who seem to think Allen may be responsible, they rent a cabin off in a remote location. Allen thinks it's the perfect opportunity for them to relax and try to recover from the shock.

Things seem to be going alright at first, even if Julie seems a bit distant, but soon enough all sorts of supernatural events start to occur after Julie goes out with her camera (she's a photographer, a character type Avenet-Bradley seems to enjoy using - no surprise considering his wife/producer/director of photography Laurence, is one herself) and starts capturing what appears to be spirits on her film.

Convinced that it's their deceased daughter's way of communicating with them she soon becomes obsessed with clicking pictures of the specters, much to Allen's chagrin as he doesn't believe her for a second and can't see what she does in her pictures. But all that's about to change when the hauntings are kicked-up a notch, Allen starts to delve into the past history of the cabin, and people start turning up dead.

Dark Remains is one visually strong movie, the husband and wife team of Brian and Laurence certainly know how to make their film look like gold using all sorts of shadows, quick movement, and lingering shots to build up a creepy mood. It's one of the better shot indie flicks I've seen in a while and the scare scenes are shot with great confidence (the creepiest moment is early on when Julie doesn't notice the female ghost in the shower behind her), but it's in the script that the movie stumbles.

Seemingly inspired by the wave of Japanese horror movies invading the shores of North America, Avenet-Bradley just can't manage to make his story engrossing enough. All the elements are in place and the characters journeys into madness are feasible, but he's just piled on way too much attempts at a backstory and leaves the viewer with too many questions in the end.

Regardless, though, this is still worth seeing simply because it's a starkly shot ghost story that's acted well, is great looking, has steady acting by the leads, and an effective score by Benedikt Bryden - with a little quicker pace and a tightening of the plot it could've really hummed though.

Visit the Official Website for more info. (Chris Hartley, 1/22/06)

Directed By: Brian Avenet-Bradley.
Written By: Brian Avenet-Bradley.

Starring: Cheri Christian, Greg Thompson, Scott Hodges, Jeff Evans.