The Scariest movie I've seen in a long time

I didn't go to the theater this weekend.

Now, after you pull yourself up off of the floor, begin breathing again, and realize that this is, in fact, reality, let me say this. Instead of going to the theater this weekend, I ended up renting about 7 movies to watch and review. And to start off with, I'm picking this one. An independent film called "Dark Remains."

I'm a scary movie buff. I love being scared, I love ghost stories that make your blood curdle, and I can't get enough of horrifying scenes that make you want to scream. Sad part is, I have yet to see a movie that's done any of that since I was watching "Pet Sematary" when I was 8 years old. Until I picked up this stunning movie. Granted, the first time I rented it and watched it was a few months ago, it still scares me and keeps me lying awake at night, incapable of sleeping.

I sat in my livingroom, with the lights on, watching this movie with my fiance, hoping that I'd finally have a good review from a supposed scary movie (See my review on Hannibal Rising if you don't know what I mean). And I was not disappointed. My fiance and I were fighting over who got to hide behind who while the misdirection and entirely unforeseen plot twists caught us off guard every time. It was impossible to look away, at the same time, I really, really wanted to.

The story is of a young couple who live in a large city in Atlanta, GA. with their daughter. After she is killed while they slept down the hallway from her, they move into a secluded mountain area in order to grieve and escape the towns whispered rumors. But strange things begin to happen. Julie, the wife, who is an amateur photographer, begins seeing disturbing images in her photos and begins to investigate them deeper and deeper, until both her and her husband, as well as her neighbors, seem to be in far deeper than even she could've expected.

For anybody who has ever been even slightly entertained by a horror film or a ghost story, this is the perfect story for you. We haven't seen many descently done horror flicks and it's entirely rare to see one done as well as this, especially independently. The make up job is so very realistically gruesome that you're not sure whether what you've just seen was just a character in a movie, or an actual ghost.

Either way, if you pick up "Dark Remains," get ready to be scared. And be sure to keep the light on. You may find that you really do need it.

***Edit*** For those in the St. Charles, MO area, the only rental store that has this particular film available is Hollywood Video. It is also available on NetFlix***