Mortal Remains (2013 film)
Mortal Remains is a 2013 American horror/thriller film directed by Christian Stavrakis and Mark Ricche. Presented as a documentary, the film (which is based upon a true story)[1] purports to be an investigation into the grisly legends surrounding fictional Maryland filmmaker Karl Atticus.
| Mortal Remains | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Christian Stavrakis Mark Ricche |
| Produced by | Mark Ricche Christian Stavrakis |
| Written by | Christian Stavrakis |
| Starring | Christian Stavrakis Mark Ricche Eduardo Sanchez David Burian Josh Brokaw |
| Narrated by | Michael Gornick |
| Music by | Kevin McLeod |
| Cinematography | Stavrakis & Ricche |
| Edited by | Ricche & Stavrakis |
Production company | Cryptic Pictures LLC |
| Distributed by | Cryptic Pictures (US) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
Plot
Mark and Chris (portraying themselves) are old friends with a shared love of filmmaking. When their high school classmate Eduardo Sánchez directs a movie called The Blair Witch Project, Mark and Chris reunite with him by way of a parody film. Some years later, interviewing Sanchez for a retrospective documentary, the director relates a rumor he had heard during production on Blair Witch, about an underground Maryland director named Karl Atticus.
Atticus, a little-known Baltimore filmmaker from the late 1960s with two gruesome horror films to his name, dropped out of sight and apparently committed suicide following the violent premiere of his second film – itself titled Mortal Remains. Interviews with friends and relatives of the filmmaker tell a grim story, and Mark and Chris abandon their Blair Witch documentary in favor of tracking down the Atticus story.
The deeper they dig, however, it becomes apparent that Atticus was making much more than simple exploitation. The source material of his films, it is revealed, is the works of a shadowy 1920s horror writer named Vernon Blake, whose obscure books of gory fiction were rife with occult symbology and cryptic ciphers. A historian explains the use of the ciphers as potential markers; Mark and Chris discover a cipher "in the wild" shortly thereafter.
Glimpses are shown into the weird world of Atticus's brand of filmmaking, particularly with Culture Shock, a segment from Atticus's first film, in which a pair of mercenaries are snuffed out by a vicious tribe of native women. Interview subjects begin to demur, receiving stalker-like telephone calls. Mark is badly beaten during a nighttime search of a large cemetery; Chris, apparently obsessed, plows ahead and insists upon digging up a grave in search of clues.
The film ends with the filmmakers falling into the clutches of what appears to be Atticus and his cult-like followers. Chris and Mark are both apparently killed in the film's shocking finale, though it is rumored that both characters will reappear in Mortal Remains 2: Cult Movie, a sequel currently in production.
Cast
- Christian Stavrakis as himself
- Mark Ricche as himself
- Eduardo Sanchez as himself
Release
Theatrical
The theatrical premiere of Mortal Remains took place on Friday, October 13th, 2013 at the Oaks Theater in Oakmont, PA, where a riot sequence for the film was shot two years earlier. The DVD was physically released on the same date, sold in the lobby of the theater following the premiere.
Home media
Mortal Remains was initially "leaked" as a limited-to-50 "bootleg edition" VHS release to stave off piracy; when all 50 copies sold out almost immediately, a 100-count run of DVDs was produced. The film is also available on various streaming platforms.
Reception
The "micro-budget" film stealthily earned a solid underground following, boosted by word-of-mouth after packed screenings in New York City and Los Angeles. An informational website on the Atticus legend went live in 2010. Stickers bearing the slogan "Do You Remember Karl Atticus?" began appearing in public in 2012, concurrent with festival screenings of the film.