The Remaining (2014)

The Worst Film Ever

Lack of good storyline.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This movie didn't contain any major actors, nor was there a lot of money spent on the budget and yet I thought it was still a decent movie, totally worth the watch. Spoilers ahead- the movie is about a wedding ceremony that is taking place as the end of the world as foretold in the book of Revelations in the Bible unfolds. As the ceremony is taking place you can see the bride and groom's friend filming the happy event, the laughter, the dancing, not realizing in the next moment they will never see many of their friends and family again. Those who are believers are taken away, nothing but their lifeless shells remain while those who "remain" are subject to all the torments foretold in the book of Revelations.This is not your typical horror movie and whether to consider it a "horror" at all is really an individual perception. I will say this movie did have not neat side effects, was well acted for the basis of the material. Not a new concept as of course it is a biblically inspired film but it also put me in the mind of the series "Left Behind." If you like those type of movies this will be enjoyable as well.

The Remaining, a film which takes a great risk in combining the Horror genre with Christian Film genre, is an interesting concept with both good and bad outcomes. As was mentioned by other reviewers this film in particular really took a risk in that it drew in the secular-horror crowd, which was mostly critical of the film's 'religious' content, while at the same time it drew in a Christian crowd who was somewhat apprehensive of the 'horror' content. That aside, what of the movie itself? Let's get started! From the prospective of filmography, the film did a good job with creating a sense of thrill from the various settings, lighting, and the many graphics effects employed. Often from time to time the film would switch to the use of a 'cam-corder' and 'smart- phone' prospective, which was not too annoying for the viewer. For the most part it appeared to be believable with a few hiccups here and there. However, given the budget that they had to work with, I would say that they did a good job overall in this area.From the sense of acting and script-writing, I would also say that it was generally believable. Nothing really stood out to me as being over- acted or under-acted as in the case of many 'Christian' B-movie type films with lower budgets. Also, in comparison with many horror type movies, I would say that it held its own with the plethora of horror movies to compete with. The feel of the movie started out with a young- adult type feeling, then quickly moved into a more mature type feeling to it. I would say that this was used by the director to show the gravity of the situation at hand with the end of the world and how it would impact people at a deeper level when the true nature of their mortality is revealed.Now on to my objections. As a Christian, I enjoyed the concept of a 'Rapture' movie. I believe that the Rapture is a biblical concept. In fact, I think it would be neat to have a TV Show or Movies akin to 'The Walking Dead' type feeling set in this type of 'biblical-tribulation' type setting with this budget. I think that would be fantastic. However, this movie in particular was not faithful to the Bible's description of the Rapture in a few ways. First, the Bible states, "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." - 1 Thessalonians 4:17. I take this to mean that the actual body will be sent up with the Lord. This film portrayed the bodies remaining, while the souls departed. I think that this was done for dramatic/horror effect, not Biblical teaching. The next major problem that I had with the film from a Biblical prospective is that it makes it appear that after the Rapture the first thing to happen is the Hail / Fire / Blood from the sky as noted in the verse: "The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up." - Revelation 8:7 This portrayal totally ignores the six previous seals from Revelation 6, which include some very well-known events such as the 'Four Horsemen', martyrdom of many, great earthquake/sun blackened, etc. So, according to the Bible, a great many serious events occur before the Hail / Fire / Blood event occurs. None of these other events were shown as having happened at all.Next, a major problem exists with skipping the three judgments that occur after the Hail / Fire / Blood which include: 1/3 Bloody sea, Asteroid 'Wormwood', and 1/3 part of Sun/Moon/Stars destroyed. These would have made for good effect. Perhaps they did not have the budget for these events. Finally, on the fifth trump come the Scorpion/Demons that effect the people in the movie. On to these creatures. In staying consistent with the Bible, these creatures cannot harm those with the 'Seal of God' as noted: "And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." - Revelation 9:3-4 I would think that those surrendering to Christ, would be given the seal. However, in the movie it is portrayed that once a person 'surrenders to God' then the creatures come and kill them. This is certainly the opposite of the Bible.So, from the prospective of being a faithful adaptation to what the Bible teaches, I would say that this film is lacking and is even doing damage to what people think about what the Bible teaches! A bad outcome! However, if this film is viewed lightly as a generally Christian concept film that is not trying to be faithful to the actual Bible, then all of this could be ignored. The film could be seen as a maverick film trying to break into a new genre, and even giving ideas for future Christians to make films. For this reason it could have a good long-term outcome! All things considered, I give it a 7/10.

In my point of view it was a genuine piece of crap. The problem is not the Christian (ridiculous by the way, a wrong assumption out of a context) rapture, but that the movie does not work neither as a horror movie nor as a Christian propaganda.You are watching it trying to figure out what is the movie point when it suddenly finishes, which is not all that bad, since your "suffering" is also over.I was with the wrong idea that it could be something like a scifi/horror crossover but in the end it seems more like one of those movies where the young ones die like flies.Not to mention that till the end I was trying to understand why they were in that situation but without success. They were not "bad" people, most of them were left behind by the "angels" because they did not go the church, which is a pretty lousy definition of "god" and "bad".Thinking like that all the Indians were just lost :)

This is a unique and new take on the apocalypse. So often have certain scenarios (e.g. alien invasion) been recycled... this biblical perspective is super interesting! The movie has a solid narrative, decent actors, exciting scenes, good music, and a captivating ending. The camera is a bit too shaky and the camera scenes are annoying (as they are used too excessively).I also want to mention that I don't like how other reviewers give a low rating because it takes a Christian perspective. In my eyes, these reviewers are narrow minded - they don't seem to enjoy taking different perspectives. It's sad to see how many such people are out there.