Children make such sympathetic characters in horror movies. For example, remember The Others? That’s one of three reasons I’m so disappointed with The Remains. The other two? Possession by a demon or demons and a haunted house also rank high on my horror flick trigger list. With all of these situations present in this film, I should have been on the edge of my seat while watching it. But instead, I had to fight off dozing off. What went wrong? Perhaps by watching Stranger Things -- Netflix’s terrific horror offering that focuses on youngsters -- right before viewing The Remains, I might have set the bar too high.  

Victorian house. Lots of room.

Be careful that it’s not your doom!

A father and three kids in tow

move quickly in. What do they know?

Nothing spooky is in their minds,

but wait until a chest one finds.

It’s filled with items from the past.

And with each thing, evil is cast.      

The children soon become possessed.

Their father doesn’t know what’s best.

So are we scared? No, not a bit.

More horror needed for a hit.   

The Remains trusts that some loud sound

and noisy music played all round

will overcome the lack of scares.

But horror cries for lots more dares.

It’s very important to feel like everything is really happening in a horror movie. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that feeling from The Remains. No hairs stood up on the back of my neck; I didn’t want to cover my eyes; and I had very little curiosity about what would happen next, mostly because so many things seemed predictable. Also, the demons or ghosts should be more frightening. Plus, those frequent loud noises and that overpowering background music come across as distracting -- not scary.    

On a positive note, the young actors (Hannah Nordberg, Dash Williams, Brooke Butler) are not at fault. It’s the material that fails them. And Todd Lowe, who plays the father here, does a fine job with his role. He looks and acts every bit an ordinary guy caught in a horrifying situation.

Should youngsters watch The Remains? Only as a disciplinary action.   

There are horrors beyond life’s edge that we do not suspect. And once in a while man's evil prying calls them just within range. --- H. P. Lovecraft

 (Released by Vertical Entertainment; not rated by MPAA.)

For more information about this film, go to the IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes website.