There were three films that I was looking forward to watching at HorrorHound this year. One was She Was So Pretty: Be Good For Goodness Sake, which you can read the review by clicking the link, mostly because I had been looking forward to seeing what director Brooklyn Ewing would do with her second film. The second one, The Child Remains (2017), followed the first film, but in a different screening room across the street. The last film I was wanting to catch will be my next review here, so be on the lookout for it. I beat it across the street right after the other movie ended in order to make it over there in time. This one sounded like it would be one I could really get into, so there was no way I was going to miss it.
Rae (Suzanne Clément) is a reporter who is letting her work get to her. Her husband Liam (Allan Hawco) has decided to take her to a little bed and breakfast type place in order to get Rae to relax, especially now that she is expecting their first child. The place that they are staying at was once a home for expecting single mothers who had nowhere else to go. Rae begins to think that someone from the past is trying to talk to her or possibly warn her about something. Even though Monica (Shelley Thompson) reassures Rae that what happened in the past was all her mother's doing, Rae begins to dig into what really happened and finds a dark history. Liam thinks that Rae is just letting her work get to her again, but is the past trying to repeat itself?
The Child Remains is a movie from Canada that was written and directed by Michael Melski, who gave a short introduction to his film. The movie says it is based on a true story and to my surprise, it actually was. Based on the real-life story, which is called the 'Butterbox Babies' now, the plot of the movie doesn't actually have a lot to do with the real story. The time period is moved forward so that the backstory takes place in the 1970s instead of the 1930-40s. The story is set in present day and doesn't dwell much on what happened in the past, though it is important to present day events. There is a lengthy scene where Rae is reading a journal from a woman who stayed at the home during that dark time. The Child Remains is one of the few films I looked up before going because I wondered about the title of the movie. When I read that there are dead babies, possibly having them haunt the place, I knew I had to go see it. Killing off kids, especially babies? Sign me up! I was disappointed that there are no infant deaths though. Think of me what you will, it is only a movie after all. There are articles and talk in the film about some deaths, but nothing happens on screen. It is implied at one point, with a baby being put in a box like you see in the poster, which gets buried in the ground, or did it? I was a little surprised by where the plot goes in that regard. There is a bit of a haunting type plot going on with it all, but it comes down to possession in a way. While I enjoyed the story, both past, and present, I thought that the plot gets a bit too confusing towards the end of it. Something ends up going on with Liam and I didn't really like where that plot went, which just ended up causing some of my confusion. I also thought that the movie was starting to drag towards the end as well. It isn't an overly long film, 107 minutes, but I did find myself wishing it would wrap up. There is a good mystery going on with the story, but once we find out what is going on, that is when it feels like it starts to drag out a bit too much. It seems that Rae and the place are connected, which was kind of cool but it was also a pretty big stretch, at least I thought so.
There wasn't a whole lot as far as effects went. Some blood at times, but nothing that would impress a gore hound. The acting was really good at least. Suzanne Clément was very good in the lead role and I liked her character. It was a nice touch to make us think that everything was just Rae being paranoid, but it was kind of obvious that wasn't the case at all. Shelly Thompson was also very good in her role and I also liked her character as well. Allan Hawco is a good actor but I had mixed feelings about his character. Liam seemed like a nice guy, but he was just all over the place.
Liam writes music and finds something like a spirit box that plays a song. The more time he spends doing this, the more bizarre he seems to get. I thought this would be pretty interesting, but I felt that the story kind of chickens out on the whole thing by the end and goes in a slightly different direction instead. All in all, The Child Remains wasn't a bad movie, despite how much I am complaining about it. I did enjoy it and had fun with it. I will likely watch it again to see if I can fit things together better. Sometimes it takes a second watch to figure everything out and I'm fine with that. It is easy for me to miss things when I'm feeling tired and the loud sound can make it hard to hear in a small room with the music and all. I kind of wish that The Child Remains had more to do with what actually happened instead of making up a story to include it and build on it, I guess that would be the best way to describe it, but I still thought it was a good film. Without looking, I'm assuming this is out or will be before too much longer since I believe it was part of the IFC Midnight films. That was what was mostly being shown in this screening room, but not all films were from them. Even though it did disappoint me some, I will still encourage everyone to give this one a try.
3 out of 5 Couldn't you have at least killed one kid?
Rae (Suzanne Clément) is a reporter who is letting her work get to her. Her husband Liam (Allan Hawco) has decided to take her to a little bed and breakfast type place in order to get Rae to relax, especially now that she is expecting their first child. The place that they are staying at was once a home for expecting single mothers who had nowhere else to go. Rae begins to think that someone from the past is trying to talk to her or possibly warn her about something. Even though Monica (Shelley Thompson) reassures Rae that what happened in the past was all her mother's doing, Rae begins to dig into what really happened and finds a dark history. Liam thinks that Rae is just letting her work get to her again, but is the past trying to repeat itself?
The Child Remains is a movie from Canada that was written and directed by Michael Melski, who gave a short introduction to his film. The movie says it is based on a true story and to my surprise, it actually was. Based on the real-life story, which is called the 'Butterbox Babies' now, the plot of the movie doesn't actually have a lot to do with the real story. The time period is moved forward so that the backstory takes place in the 1970s instead of the 1930-40s. The story is set in present day and doesn't dwell much on what happened in the past, though it is important to present day events. There is a lengthy scene where Rae is reading a journal from a woman who stayed at the home during that dark time. The Child Remains is one of the few films I looked up before going because I wondered about the title of the movie. When I read that there are dead babies, possibly having them haunt the place, I knew I had to go see it. Killing off kids, especially babies? Sign me up! I was disappointed that there are no infant deaths though. Think of me what you will, it is only a movie after all. There are articles and talk in the film about some deaths, but nothing happens on screen. It is implied at one point, with a baby being put in a box like you see in the poster, which gets buried in the ground, or did it? I was a little surprised by where the plot goes in that regard. There is a bit of a haunting type plot going on with it all, but it comes down to possession in a way. While I enjoyed the story, both past, and present, I thought that the plot gets a bit too confusing towards the end of it. Something ends up going on with Liam and I didn't really like where that plot went, which just ended up causing some of my confusion. I also thought that the movie was starting to drag towards the end as well. It isn't an overly long film, 107 minutes, but I did find myself wishing it would wrap up. There is a good mystery going on with the story, but once we find out what is going on, that is when it feels like it starts to drag out a bit too much. It seems that Rae and the place are connected, which was kind of cool but it was also a pretty big stretch, at least I thought so.
There wasn't a whole lot as far as effects went. Some blood at times, but nothing that would impress a gore hound. The acting was really good at least. Suzanne Clément was very good in the lead role and I liked her character. It was a nice touch to make us think that everything was just Rae being paranoid, but it was kind of obvious that wasn't the case at all. Shelly Thompson was also very good in her role and I also liked her character as well. Allan Hawco is a good actor but I had mixed feelings about his character. Liam seemed like a nice guy, but he was just all over the place.
Liam writes music and finds something like a spirit box that plays a song. The more time he spends doing this, the more bizarre he seems to get. I thought this would be pretty interesting, but I felt that the story kind of chickens out on the whole thing by the end and goes in a slightly different direction instead. All in all, The Child Remains wasn't a bad movie, despite how much I am complaining about it. I did enjoy it and had fun with it. I will likely watch it again to see if I can fit things together better. Sometimes it takes a second watch to figure everything out and I'm fine with that. It is easy for me to miss things when I'm feeling tired and the loud sound can make it hard to hear in a small room with the music and all. I kind of wish that The Child Remains had more to do with what actually happened instead of making up a story to include it and build on it, I guess that would be the best way to describe it, but I still thought it was a good film. Without looking, I'm assuming this is out or will be before too much longer since I believe it was part of the IFC Midnight films. That was what was mostly being shown in this screening room, but not all films were from them. Even though it did disappoint me some, I will still encourage everyone to give this one a try.
3 out of 5 Couldn't you have at least killed one kid?
