The camera work here is terrible and the effects are worse. Suzanne Clément deserves so much better than this and she is the only reason I haven't given this a 3
27 Reviews
Categorically not good
brenswee17 February 2020
Suffer the Little Children
nogodnomasters4 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The film uses the "Butterbox Babies" as a historical background from the Ideal Maternity Home in East Chester, Nova Scotia. It charged women to have babies there and then placed the babies up for sale. The ones that were not adoptable slowly starved to death. In this film, the place is now a bed and breakfast.
Liam (Allan Hawco) and his wife Rae (Suzanne Clément) go there to celebrate her birthday, late in the season. Rae is a journalist who suffers from PTSD and has connected to the house which triggers images. Things do not seem right as she insists on investigating. Liam is an unsuccessful jingo writer and lives in his wife's shadow.
And then the ending happened which was too much too soon. Not as bad a space aliens in Indian Jones.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
Liam (Allan Hawco) and his wife Rae (Suzanne Clément) go there to celebrate her birthday, late in the season. Rae is a journalist who suffers from PTSD and has connected to the house which triggers images. Things do not seem right as she insists on investigating. Liam is an unsuccessful jingo writer and lives in his wife's shadow.
And then the ending happened which was too much too soon. Not as bad a space aliens in Indian Jones.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
So so horror but cool back story
narmelan_tharmalingam9 October 2020
If not for the true story factor, this film like several horror films, no offense, would have been yet another cheesy depiction of Christian imagery perversion. However, the true story which is what serves as inspiration for this flick deserves recognition because director and writer Michael Melski uncovers with creativity a dark part of history for The Maritimes - specifically Nova Scotia, that may have been kept swept under the rug. Delivering a horrible box office performance despite the praise received before major release, one may watch this film with floating thoughts about what the documentary may look like during moments of disengagement, as there are plenty of those during this film. The disappointment subsides when you accept early on that this movie is a film that is categorized for the horror genre but it is not truly a horror film. What should be chilling moments are quite comical when you consider how strange dolls can disturb a grown man like Liam played by Allan Hawco to the point he has to leave the doll outside his room in the hall yet this same consideration is not exhibited towards his pregnant wife Rae played by Suzanne Clement who is out walking alone in the woods in a town they never visited before. Nonetheless, the typical atmosphere and elements of creepy are present here: strange house, extraordinary fishy nice mature woman, flashbacks, and wooded surroundings. The Child Remains is worth a watch particularly if you are Canadian - it is just something that makes sense for us. Without a giveaway the highlight is when Suzanna Clément's character screams "I'll see you in hell" followed by the next scene that tells us the day is now Monday.
Music , Mumbled Lines
tm_8327 March 2020
Absolutely Not.
goodbyebluesky2713 December 2019
I should have known when I saw that the words "supernatural" and also "mercy" were misspelled in the trailer that watching this would be a bad idea, and yet I thought I'd give it a try anyways. Big mistake. Stay as far away from this one as you can, ignore the fake reviews, this one is just terrible all around.
An absolutely, positively, vile form of cinema. Mid, terrible, agony to watch.
carsynspencer30 August 2020
Twas a dark August night, when I decided to make chicken quesadillas with my roomie and watch a horror movie. So naturally, we choose one that's based on true events, hoping and expecting to be thoroughly spooked. However, we were disappointed. The quesadillas were immaculate, but the movie was far from that. Furthermore, we giggled throughout the entirety of the film because the acting was awful and the effects were worse than waking up at 6:30 on a Saturday morning. Please, for the sake of all things that are good in the world, DO NOT waste your time watching this movie.
Nope.
luvireland-1125312 April 2021
This movie will haunt you, and not in the way you were hoping.
crzenor30 August 2020
One of the absolute worst movies I have ever sat through. Just when you think it couldn't get any worse, surprisingly it got worse. The only reason I was able to stay to the end was the comedic value of the film. Do not, and I repeat do not watch this if you were hoping to watch a cinematic masterpiece based of the true events of the butterbox babies.
Actually not that bad
jimmyb-032996 February 2020
Decent little horror
RandomTard12 October 2021
This movie has pretty good story, acting and production. What it doesn't have is a good ending. The build up was done well but once it gathers some speed and things start to happen it goes downhill. In the end you'll just be scratching your head and wondering how was all that supposed to work.
Good spooky film!
k_schurawel29 October 2020
I saw a negitive review from September and I had to follow up with a positive one.
This absolutely counts as horror, intriguing plot, spooky turn arounds and as someone who loves traditionally horror (not gore, there is a difference between the two) I think it hit all the boxes and even had two parts I was not expecting!
I sincerely enjoyed it.. I think any female would be creeped out as its about birth, murder, ghosts and demon babies.
hits more to home when your body is capable of birth (my bf and I had different reactions) but he still had it be a 7/10.
Worth a watch! I won't say any spoilers, but it is slow moving and one part your like WHAT? satan?
so good.
I sincerely enjoyed it.. I think any female would be creeped out as its about birth, murder, ghosts and demon babies.
hits more to home when your body is capable of birth (my bf and I had different reactions) but he still had it be a 7/10.
Worth a watch! I won't say any spoilers, but it is slow moving and one part your like WHAT? satan?
so good.
Much better than I thought it would be
Opinion0212220 January 2020
This film has a slow build up to a conclusion that I, certainly, didn't see coming. I like movies that keep me guessing. The production isn't top quality, no offense to Canada, but I knew right away it was coming from there. I'm not sure what it is about their movies, but I can almost always identify them and/or their actors. Not bad, just different. The writers did a nice job off tying up loose ends that I didn't even suspect existed. The saddest thing about this film is that thing like this actually happened, giving horror writers material for stories to come. This one was inspired by a Canadian adoption agency, but America had its own outrageous orphanage scandal, too. For me, it was worth watching. And, for the record, this ISN'T a phony review, as one reviewer suggests. Each to their own, as the saying goes.
shame
ropelawshiel16 March 2020
I found it an interesting watch, creepy and acting quite good, but as with so many horror films, it was let down by the ending. It appears it is not worth rooting for anyone in these horror films. You will just be disappointed.
Slow, awkward, and stupid ending
ramblingvagabond14 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Note to directors: When you want to add suspense to a movie, don't make things awkward thinking that's a good substitute. Awkwardness just makes thing awkward, nothing more. And then you don't want to keep watching it, or you start skipping past the awkward mess.
The Butterbox story is a good idea for a movie but was done poorly. Parts of it made no sense. And the ending...my God the ending! It's typical hollywood nonsensical BS. Just when you think everything is turning out fine, BOOM, something weird and unexpected happens. Except it's not unexpected. Twist endings in horror movies have been a useless and despised staple since the 1990s.
I can hear the creators talking about it now. "So, we're writing a horror movie, and we're going to set it up so everyone thinks it's all ok at the end. Then Wham, we come in with a twist ending! No one will be expecting it! The audience will be like woa man, that really surprised me." Except no one is surprised. It's clichéd.
And one last thing... when Jesus said "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God", he wasn't saying the children should suffer. The modern translation is, "You're going to have to put up with children coming to me. Don't forbid them, for this is like the Kingdom of God." He explained that people should come to him with trusting faith like children. Unfortunately, Hollywood and the radical left want to pervert that into something like Christians want children to suffer. That's because Hollywood and the radical left hate Christians and want to distort the truth about them. No surprise there.
The Butterbox story is a good idea for a movie but was done poorly. Parts of it made no sense. And the ending...my God the ending! It's typical hollywood nonsensical BS. Just when you think everything is turning out fine, BOOM, something weird and unexpected happens. Except it's not unexpected. Twist endings in horror movies have been a useless and despised staple since the 1990s.
I can hear the creators talking about it now. "So, we're writing a horror movie, and we're going to set it up so everyone thinks it's all ok at the end. Then Wham, we come in with a twist ending! No one will be expecting it! The audience will be like woa man, that really surprised me." Except no one is surprised. It's clichéd.
And one last thing... when Jesus said "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God", he wasn't saying the children should suffer. The modern translation is, "You're going to have to put up with children coming to me. Don't forbid them, for this is like the Kingdom of God." He explained that people should come to him with trusting faith like children. Unfortunately, Hollywood and the radical left want to pervert that into something like Christians want children to suffer. That's because Hollywood and the radical left hate Christians and want to distort the truth about them. No surprise there.
Don't watch
shanetout7 February 2021
True story was better.
wilsonswak10 August 2021
Another stinker I wish I never watched.
deloudelouvain24 October 2020
Another movie on IMDb with fake reviews from people involved in the making of this monstrosity, or at least from people knowing somebody that were involved. Everything is very low quality, from directing to acting to special effects. The worst thing about The Child Remains is the acting, it's bad, something you would expect from category Z wannabe actors, which they probably all are. The script is pretty bad as well even though with decent actors and a good director you probably could do something with, but in this case it's just awful. The so-called horror is the kind of horror you would get at a cheap haunted house attraction at the annual town fair, in other words you couldn't scare anybody above five years old. The soundtrack fits perfectly with the movie, cheaply made and annoying. I would avoid it if you like quality horror movies.
Good, but didn't understand the ending
helenafrazier2 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Great movie, I loved the inspiration. I followed until the very end, was the demon thing symbolic of something? I think that I would appreciate this movie better if I could understand its role and the ending, Please help!
Overall chilling
coraschell-1875227 October 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The storyline was pretty well done and exquisitely written, the plot twists were well unknown until the end of the film which they added really well into the storyline. The acting on the other hand was more poorly executed but the characters tied in the movie together.
Overall the movie is not a bad film, I would suggest only the watch it if you can stomach it, the idea of this film is in the title "the child remains", so basically you have the feeling of cannibalism.
Overall the movie is not a bad film, I would suggest only the watch it if you can stomach it, the idea of this film is in the title "the child remains", so basically you have the feeling of cannibalism.
A little slow, but worth it
athenawishes26 May 2019
Pretty good
lawrencehobart24 December 2019
Well acted, eerie, and a good combination of Amytiville Horror and The Shining type of movies.
Very surprised to see such poor reviews, for an up and coming filmmaker as I suppose this was, it was a good movie, in the most difficult genre to make a good movie. I had decided not to see the reviews before watching it and I'm glad didn't.
Good acting, perhaps the story was a little predictable, but good as well. Great photography. Not sure about the dual outcome at the end.
Good acting, perhaps the story was a little predictable, but good as well. Great photography. Not sure about the dual outcome at the end.
The ending ruined it
brookesparks-937501 November 2020
I'm from Nova Scotia and was curious to see what a movie that was shot here was like, You know the saying curiosity killed the cat? well its definitely true. The movie was decent up until the end which ruined the entire vibe. Slept peacefully and was not even a tiny bit scared due to the ending being so incredibly bad.
Not an overly impressive foray into the supernatural...
paul_haakonsen5 January 2021
Well, the concept idea of "The Child Remains" definitely had potential, and this had the possibility to be a good movie.
However, writer and director Michael Melski managed to deliver a movie that was unfathomably slow paced in its storytelling. So slow, in fact, that it was quite an ordeal to sit through the movie. And truth be told, the movie suffered terribly from this slow pace of storytelling, because by the time something worthwhile started to happen - in the last third of the movie - it was way too late, the damage had been irrevocably been done to the movie.
The acting in "The Child Remains" was actually good enough, taking into consideration the limitations imposed upon the performers. And because this movie had such a small cast ensemble, there was much more pressure on the actresses and actors to perform and deliver convincingly, and they actually managed to do that well enough, even with the plot, script and storyline working against them every step of the way.
I managed to sit through the ordeal that is known as "The Child Remains". And as the movie came to an end, I was left with an overwhelming sensation of having wasted a significant amount of my life on watching this movie, because everything felt like it was mere filling crammed in between the start and ending of the movie.
Ultimately, "The Child Remains" failed as a horror and a thriller, though the mystery aspect of it actually worked out well enough. My rating of "The Child Remains" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.
However, writer and director Michael Melski managed to deliver a movie that was unfathomably slow paced in its storytelling. So slow, in fact, that it was quite an ordeal to sit through the movie. And truth be told, the movie suffered terribly from this slow pace of storytelling, because by the time something worthwhile started to happen - in the last third of the movie - it was way too late, the damage had been irrevocably been done to the movie.
The acting in "The Child Remains" was actually good enough, taking into consideration the limitations imposed upon the performers. And because this movie had such a small cast ensemble, there was much more pressure on the actresses and actors to perform and deliver convincingly, and they actually managed to do that well enough, even with the plot, script and storyline working against them every step of the way.
I managed to sit through the ordeal that is known as "The Child Remains". And as the movie came to an end, I was left with an overwhelming sensation of having wasted a significant amount of my life on watching this movie, because everything felt like it was mere filling crammed in between the start and ending of the movie.
Ultimately, "The Child Remains" failed as a horror and a thriller, though the mystery aspect of it actually worked out well enough. My rating of "The Child Remains" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.
Not bad at all
mardilouise31 January 2021
Whilst the character development failed to make me feel sympathetic towards the protagonist, the story is intriguing enough to hold one's attention to the end. Some of the horror motifs were a bit laboured, but is that not what all horror movies are like? There were some silly plot holes which were clumsily plugged - but overall not a bad way to spend 90 minutes of leasure time.
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