A freak accident turns the bulk of the world's population into lethal flesh-eating zombies. A small and desperate band of uninfected human survivors seek refuge in a vacant casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Meanwhile, the undead horde becomes smarter, stronger, and more aggressive with each passing day. Director Colin Theys, working from a compact script by John Doolan, relates the engrossing story at a steady pace, maintains a grimly serious tone throughout, delivers a handy helping of grisly gore, and builds a considerable amount of tension. Moreover, the flawed characters are drawn with a reasonable amount of depth and react to the dire situation they are thrust against their wills into with varying degrees of nobility. The solid acting by the capable cast rates as another major plus, with especially praiseworthy work by Grant Bowler as amiable alcoholic loser Tom, Evalena Marie as tough, sassy, and fiercely determined cowgirl barmaid Tori, Miko Hughes as sweet gay magician's assistant Jensen, Anthony Marks as selfish and cowardly hunk Victor, Tawny Cypress as the spunky Cindy, and Lance Reddick as rugged paramilitary group leader Ramsey. In addition, this movie does some neat tweaking of standard zombie horror conventions: The ghouls sleep standing up at night and resort to eating each other when they can't find any living people to munch on. Adrian Coreia's sharp cinematography gives the picture a nice slick look. The twangy and ominous score by Matthew Llewellyn and Sarah Schachner does the bone-rattling trick. A worthwhile fright feature.
Review of Remains
