{"id":617,"date":"2014-09-05T06:40:22","date_gmt":"2014-09-05T06:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/?p=617"},"modified":"2014-09-05T06:40:22","modified_gmt":"2014-09-05T06:40:22","slug":"chris-dowling-christian-horror-writer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/2014\/09\/chris-dowling-christian-horror-writer.html","title":{"rendered":"Chris Dowling: Christian Horror Writer?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Chris Dowling on the set of “Produce.” (C. Dowling)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the most pumped up movies about the rapture and end times is coming to theaters this weekend and chances are you\u2019ve never even heard of it. The film is called The Remaining<\/em><\/a> and it is not your father\u2019s A Thief in the Night<\/em> movie.<\/p>\n

Affirm films has been experimenting with their faith-based films division, trying hard not to do a \u201cbait and switch\u201d on the audiences attending these films. People who went to see Mom\u2019s Night Out<\/em> saw a true comedy. People who saw When the Game Stands Tall<\/em> saw a true football film. Now, those who see The Remaining<\/em> will see a true horror film. Not an axe-murderer movie with a message, but something just as scary.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has everything people love about horror films but with some meat,\u201d says Chris Dowling, the co-writer for the film. \u201cMost horror films, you walk out of the theater and completely forget about. You and your buddies are already talking about if you want to grab coffee or how late Buffalo Wild Wings is open by the time you hit the parking lot. The Remaining<\/em> is not that movie. It stays with you. It\u2019s a conversation starter. You don\u2019t just walk away from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"(Affirm<\/a>
(Affirm Films)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I got a chance to talk Chris earlier this week about the project and was pleasantly surprised by what I learned. While similar in concept to other \u201crapture movies\u201d like the upcoming re-make of Left Behind<\/em>, this one attempts to stand out among the crowd with some impressive names attached to it. The movie is written and directed by Casey La Scala (executive director of Donnie Darko<\/em> and A Walk to Remember<\/em>), Doug Emmett (cinematographer of Paranormal Activity 4<\/em>) and Brian Stultz (production designer for Iron Man 3<\/em>).<\/p>\n

The Remaining<\/em> begins with a group of friends attending a wedding when a series of catastrophic events rains on their parade. People suddenly drop to their death with no explanation. In a matter of minutes, the group goes from celebrating to scrambling for safety. Has Mother Nature gone mad or is there a more sinister enemy behind the death and destruction?<\/p>\n

The supernatural thriller centers on the extreme and horrific circumstances surrounding the biblical accounts of the end times, but not in a way that most of us are familiar with. So, how is The Remaining<\/em> different from other end time films?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard of a Thief in the Night<\/em>, but have never seen it and I made a specific choice not to see any of the Left Behind<\/em> series when working on this film,\u201d says Chris. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to be influenced either knowingly or subconsciously by the ideas they had in their films. So, with that said, I can\u2019t speak on specifics on how different they are, but I can make some guesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Scary<\/a>
Scary stuff. A scene from “The Remaining.” (Affirm Films)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFirst off, (spoiler alert), when the rapture goes down, we don\u2019t have people disappearing with a bunch of empty clothes laying around. Here, bodies drop. Everywhere. It\u2019s the souls that get taken up. We wanted to do something different and it definitely makes for a much more terrifying and confusing event where there are thousands of \u201cdead\u201d bodies littering the city. It\u2019s not gory or slasher stuff, but there are demons chasing people and some seriously bad stuff is going down. This is Revelations after all!\u201d<\/p>\n

The trailer does look pretty scary so it will be interesting to see how audiences will react to it. Chris says that he watched the reactions of filmgoers at a screening recently and he couldn\u2019t be prouder of the end product. \u201cI think it\u2019s really fun to operate on the fringe of something where there is little precedent. I\u2019m really proud to be on a team that is pushing the edge of faith films and testing the waters.\u201d<\/p>\n

This led to my next question, \u201cSo, are you hoping to scare the \u201chell\u201d out of people with this picture?\u201d<\/p>\n

\""The<\/a>
“The Remaining” (Affirm Films)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFrom both a literal sense and figurative sense I suppose so,\u201d says Chris. \u201cBut only by the nature of what the film is: a horror. As far as working akin to a \u201cHell House\u201d or something where we as filmmakers are trying to scare you into accepting a faith with Jesus Christ\u2026that\u2019s not really the angle I was going for. I really wanted this to be about checking yourself and questioning where you are at with your faith. I think it\u2019s really tough to scare someone into a relationship with God. That doesn\u2019t mean it can\u2019t happen, but usually if your \u201ccome to Jesus moment\u201d is built on being scared into it\u2026I don\u2019t know\u2026I feel like those are the people that do an altar call or say a sinner\u2019s prayer or something\u2026and then four weeks later, they are already over it and you never see them at church again. I think faith needs to be rooted in something more than fear. I hope this leads people to examine their own faith in a more comprehensive way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before my interview, I did some research on Chris and took note that he has also been an actor in the past. \u201cHa! Acting was a brief moment in time. It was cool. I did a couple little things and had a character with a small (blink and you miss it) run on the soap Days of Our Lives<\/em>, but ultimately I knew I really wanted to write. It\u2019s been a long, strange trip, but things are really coming together. I\u2019ve worked some odds and ends jobs like everyone else in L.A., but at the end of the day, I get to work from home doing what I love and have time to hang out with my wife and little girls. There is nothing better than that!\u201d<\/p>\n

And Chris has been busy. In tandem with The Remaining<\/em>, Chris has written and directed his next movie, Produce<\/em><\/a>. \u201cIt has secular appeal with a faith vibe,\u201d says Chris. \u201cIt\u2019s about an ex-major league baseball player whose life is turned upside down when he becomes friends with a teenager with Down Syndrome that has a child-like faith in God. I\u2019m also producing a documentary about a comedy troupe that is made up entirely of actors with autism called, Asperger\u2019s Are Us<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opening in theaters on September 5, 2014, The Remaining<\/em> is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of terror, violence and destruction throughout, and thematic elements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most pumped up movies about the rapture and end times is coming to theaters this weekend and chances are you\u2019ve never even heard of it. The film is called The Remaining and it is not your father\u2019s A Thief in the Night movie. 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