From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: The Remaining (2014)

Posted on February 22, 2026 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to another “From Horror Movie, To Horror Comic” update. This time around we will be taking a look at a religious horror flick that would end up getting the graphic novel treatment from Kingstone Comics! this is a sub genre of horror that I think is often over looked by fans as most just think that they will be preachy and lack the scares of your normal horror feature, but that’s not true. While yes, they all tend to have a very faith based message, some of them truly bring some scares as who doesn’t find the end of the world scary? And the fright flick we will be looking at today is The Remaining, a film about the end of days. So if you are ready, let’s dive into this film as well as the graphic novel based around it.

Before we get too deep into our look at The Remaining, let’s take a look at the Demons who are our killers and death bringers in this film. When the Rapture happens and the second trumpet echoes out into the air, The Fallen, who are winged demons, come upon the Earth and attack the remaining people left behind. The demonic Fallen fly around in the darkness and stormy sky and swoop down to attack their prey. The Fallen truly love to torture their victims as they feed on people’s fear and misery. Their appearance is very ghastly, and this puts fear into the hearts of those who see them. They are very strong and can lift a person into the sky to either kill them or injure them before dropping them back down to the ground. They also make horrible noises and at times you can hear them in the air above you before they come down to snatch you up. They hunt humans mostly during the night and are drawn to people who pray or find faith in God as they want to wipe his teaching and word from this world. Their main tool to deal death are their tails that are much like a scorpions as they can impale a person as well as sting them that inflicts as very nasty wound that has poison inside it and also gets infected very easily. The Fallen Demons will kill individually but also will kill in a horde, and they truly are very dangerous. The Fallen Demons do not have any known weakness, and once they are called to Earth, there is no way to defeat them. So as you can see, these demonic Fallen truly are very dangerous and could even be unstoppable.

Now that we have seen what the Demons can do to those humans that are left behind, we should take a look at the film they are from! Like always, I will be taking the film’s write up from our friends at IMDB and then I will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts about it. So if you are ready, let’s see what would happen to those who would remain.

The Remaining (2014)

“A supernatural thriller that addresses questions of life, love and belief against an apocalyptic backdrop. A group of close friends gather for a wedding, but the celebration is shattered by a series of cataclysmic events and enemies foretold by biblical end-times prophecies. The survivors face a horrifying, uncertain future as they scramble for safety, but as their world collapses around them in chaos and terror will they choose real life through faith, or just try to survive?”

The Remaining was a film that was created by Casey La Scala, who was the producer behind such films as Donnie Darko and Amityville: The Awakening and was inspired to write and direct his own horror film after visiting the set of Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. He wanted his film to be on a bigger scale for the scares and that’s when he decided to base it around The Book of Revelations and the rapture that is said to take place when believers all over the world will be called to Heaven and those left behind will face the end of days. The film was picked up by Triumph Films for release and then such names as Johnny Pacar, Shaun Sipos, Alexa Vega, Italia Ricci, Liz E, Morgan and Bryan Dechart was brought in for lead roles, and Nathan Whitehead was brought in to score the film. The film was released on September 5, 2014 in limited theaters and would end up grossing $1,169,603.00 on a unknown budget and come out alongside other horror films as Tusk, The Pyramid, The Quiet Ones, Devil’s Due, As Above So Below and Dracula Untold, to name a few. The film would also be shown around the world and was well reviewed by fans and critics to very mixed reviews with many praising the terror but hating the dialogue. While it’s not a popular nor cult film, it does have its fans and has left its mark on the horror genre and is one of the biggest film in the faith-based horror subgenre in the last few decades.

The Remaining is a film that I have overlooked for years and did not really pay attention to it until 2022 when I found that the film also had a comic book based around it. So I knew I had to see it and cover the graphic novel here, and it would be 2023 before I would both watch the film and read the graphic novel. On a lazy summer Sunday I put the DVD of The Remaining in the player and sat back and watched it, and I have to say that over all I enjoyed it as I feel that the film had some great visuals and used darkness and shadows really well in many of the scenes. The first picture in this update is one of my favorite shots in the film as it has a very dark and spooky mood that truly says horror. Those who are looking for The Fallen Demons to be a big part of the film as far as being seen will be a little disappointed as they are not seen hardly at all and when you do it’s seconds. I really do wish that we would have seen more of them as they are truly the main villains of the film as they stalk our heroes across the city. The film’s writer and director Casey La Scala was raised religious, and it was clear that he wanted to make a horror film that could be faith based but yet not be so forceful in pushing a message, and for the most part he pulls it off. But with that said, much of the meaning of put your trust and faith in God is very present and only slightly in the end truly pushes that message home. While I do also agree that some of the dialogue is a little bland, I did find that I liked the bond the actors seemed to have making this film as it showed up on screen. I also liked actress Italia Ricci who I think could have made a go at becoming a horror actress, she did play Silver Banshee in the TV Show Supergirl for five episodes and she is one of my favorite Superman villains next to Parasite and Doomsday. Also for those who are wondering actress Alexa Vega who plays Skylar is best known for playing Carmen Cortez in the Sky Kids movies and has been in other horror films like “Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)”, “Mother’s Day (2010)”, “The Devil’s Carnival (2012)” and “Machete Kills (2013)” to name a few. And let’s be honest, I feel that one sub genre that gets over looked is faith based horror and I would like to see Kingstone Comics along with artist Kyle Holtz to team up and make more comics like this based off these type of films. Over all this is not a groundbreaking film but was a creepy end of days film that brought some scares as well as makes you wonder what would happen to you if the end of days happened in your lifetime.

So as you can see, The Remaining have their hands full with The Demonic Fallen that want to bring them death and a part of the destruction of the world as we know it. But now we are at the part of this update that we take a look at the graphic novel adaptation of the film that was released by Kingstone Comics, you remember them the Christian comic publisher that we covered when we did an update on Samson that you can read here. I would like to thank Amazon for having this graphic novel in stock and making this update possible. I would also like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s take a look at The Remaining and see how well this graphic novel stays true to the film it’s based on.

The Remaining GN ***
Released in 2014 Cover Price $9.99 Kingstone # 1 of 1

It’s Dan and Skylar’s wedding day, and Tommy Covington is filming it walking around the venue and getting video of their friends and family wishing them good luck and this includes Jack, Ally and Lauren. The ceremony goes smooth but Dan needs to tell Skylar something but all the guests keep interrupting. The reception is filled with joy and prayer, but Ally seems to be down and Jack notices as they are dating, and they break up that very night as she does not think he truly loves her. And just like that the air gets cold and people at the wedding just drop over dead, and Tommy is able to find a few of the living that include Skylar, Dan and Jack, and they are scared and shocked as outside planes are falling from the sky and crashing to Earth and the earthquakes start happening as the group of friends flee the venue in order to try and find Ally, but to their horror they find a massive storm is in the air and the streets are littered with death and destruction and all the while Tommy keeps on filming. The group also find that others are still alive and people are trying to help one another, and what is on everyone’s mind is why this happened and why are they left alive. Skylar tells the others that she thinks this is the End Of The World as told in the Bible and that the dead are the good people called to heaven, and she wants them all to find shelter as what is coming next will be very bad. Just then the sky turns weird and massive hail falls from the sky and causes them to hide in a library where they meet a teenager name Sam who ends up joining them as they continue their quest to find Ally, and now there is loud noises coming from the sky and so do demonic creatures that try at attack them, but they once more find shelter this time in a church as Skylar is injured by the creatures and needs medical help. And at the church they also find Ally who is happy to see them but also upset about the death of her friends and Skylar being injured. The priest is still at the church and fills in the friends about the Rapture and Tommy shows them his video that shows the demons in the sky that hurt Skylar as Jack and Ally make up and confuse their love for one another. Skylar’s wounds are getting infected and Dan goes out to the parking lot to get more medicine from the nurses van to help her, and they are able to get it and escape the sky demons that are all around. Tommy gets talking to Sam and they two bond over food and Tommy telling her about his love for Ally, and then all the friends start telling each other their dirty secrets like Dan had an affair, Tommy tells Ally his feelings for her and Jack is filled with anger. The Demons break into the church and kill the priest and the nurse, leaving everyone afraid in the basement. In the morning Dan, Jack, Tommy, Ally, Sam and the injured Skylar make their way to the hospital to get treatment for her as she is dying and while Tommy and Jack search the hospital for medicine, Skylar dies in Dan’s arms as Ally and Sam are with them in this moment of grief. Dan goes outside and curses the name of God and is killed by a demon, as Tommy and Jack return to the body of Skylar they find Ally has been killed as well by a demon. Now its only Tommy, Jack and Sam left, and they make their way to the bridge were many people have gathered. And Tommy makes the connection that everyone of his friends that have just died got attacked once they found a link with God, and Jack right then is at the prayer tent and gets ripped apart by demons. In the end Tommy and Sam are running for their lives as the demons are all around and have to make a choice.

The Remaining is a creepy look at the end of days and follows a group of friends who are at a wedding when the rapture happens and they stick together looking for safety and to get answers and along their way they see lots of death of destruction, pick up a new friend name Sam and even encounter demons in the sky that want to make humans dead who try and find faith now. And in the end many of the friends do not make it and the ones that do have to make a choice find God and be ripped apart or stay neutral and watch as Earth turns into Hell. For a faith based horror comic based on a horror film, this is a pretty great read as all the spooky elements come from The Sky Demons (The Fallen) as well as just the atmosphere of the world coming to an end and the fear of those left behind. Our main focus of the film is Tommy Covington, a man who was hired to film his two friends’ wedding and who by the end of this graphic novel confesses his love for a woman dating his best friend, becomes friends with a young woman he meets that a fellow survivor and lastly tries to be the peacemaker in the high tension environment that his friends find themselves in. Jack and Ally are a couple that have been dating for seven years, and while she wants to get married, he seems to just be happy with the way things are, and right before The Rapture, the two break up and he spends his time trying to find her as he truly does love her. Sadly they both meet their end at the hands of The Demons as both end up finding faith and guidance in God. Sam is a younger lady who has found herself alone and hiding in the library before she ends up joining up with Tommy and his friends, and she truly becomes part of their group and goes along the quest to find and save others. The newly married couple are Dan and Skylar who are deeply in love and things get bad when she is attacked by The Demons that cause terrible wounds that get infected and as well filled with poison, and she dies of her wounds and Dan turns on God and faith all together and gets killed. And that is the thing, all of these friends have their own secrets and these could be what has kept them from being brought to Heaven during The Rapture as many are not close or have to faith. The Demons are truly evil as they attack anyone who mentions God as their goal is truly to bring on the end of times, and all those who are sinners or faithless will be the target for their deadly attacks. The graphic novel does have some blood and violence, but is by no means a bloodbath. The cover for this graphic novel is pretty cool ,and the interior artwork done by Kyle Hotz is top notch as Kyle’s style is perfect for this style of faith based horror comics…in fact I wish Kingstone Comics and Kyle Hotz would team up more often and make more comics and graphic novels based on faith-based horror films! While many readers might be turned away from the religious tones and messages in this graphic novel, I for one was not as I found it to be a entertaining read that was filled with some spooky moments and did its job of making a group of friends come together under extreme stress in order to try and watch after each other. And I want to also say that I feel that this graphic novel did a great job of staying true to the film its based on with the major change being they show The Fallen more and I am ok with that change! Checkout the artwork below to see the style of Kyle Hotz used in this graphic novel.

The Remaining is one of those horror films that is not known but has its share of fans, and I am sure this graphic novel helped bring attention to the film as that is what comic books based on the fright films of the cinema and home media are good for, and I really do wish that more filmmakers and studios would work with comic publishers to make these types of comics for readers. I really do give Kingstone Comics respect for doing this comic series as this is totally out of the norm for them, and I hope that they do more comics like this as I would like to see them do a comic based on the 2023 film Nefarious as I think it could have made a great spooky read, make this happen Kingstone and Kyle Hotz! But our time with The Remaining has come to an end, but our time with horror comics based on horror films has not as our next update will take us to the Motel Hello or I mean Motel Hell as I will be revisiting that film as well as the IDW Comic series based on it. So until next time, read a horror comic or three, watch a horror film or two and as always support your local horror host. I hope we get in time to the Motel to get some fresh Farmer Vincent jerky!

Samson: Mighty Hero Of Movies and Comics

Posted on April 16, 2019 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink, my tiny spec on the World Wide Web and the place I like to chat about things I enjoy. For this update I would like to chat about Sword and Sandal Hero and Biblical strongman Samson! Plus I will be having an NES First Play Challenge as I play for the first time and try to beat the super rare game Little Samson on my good old RES! We will also be talking about Brad Harris, my favorite actor to have played Samson in film, plus Samson from the Bible and I will talk about Samson from Sparkle Comics and review Samson ½ released by Samson Comics! So as you can see, this is a very Samson heavy update wherein I have said Samson a total of nine times up to this point and we have not even really started. So if you’re ready to get your mighty power of Samson on, let’s get into this update and bring the walls down!

The Israelites and the Philistines were at war with each other with Israel being on the losing side, when one day an angel from heaven told a couple that their son would be the one chosen to be the start of the tide to change. The new born baby Samson was Nazirite from birth and that meant he could never drink wine, he could not shave nor cut his hair and could got touch the dead nor graves! But I am not going to get too much into Samson of the Bible as later in this update I have a feeling we will be looking way more into it and will break it down…and maybe even review it as a comic book. But all I can say is that Samson is a great tale and has a strong man fighting for the good of his people and is tested and broken and still finds his inner power to be the hero he was born to be. Also if you want to read about a man killing an army of men with the jaw bone of a donkey, I would recommend you giving this Bible story a read or watch the 2018 movie Samson starring Taylor James as the muscle bound hero.

The film Samson from 1961 is hands down my favorite Sword And Sandal film to star the character, and for me actor Brad Harris is the best actor to play the mighty hero as he fits the strong man role well. In Italy films based on muscle bound heroes were very popular in the 1960’s, and the Italian cinema cranked out films as fast as they could make them and flooded the market with what is known as Peplum or also Sword And Sandal. But by 1965, these films were replaced by the Spaghetti Western and the Eurospy Film and would sadly never make a comeback at the cinemas worldwide. But you’re not here for a history lesson on Peplum Films, you’re here for Samson from 1961! The film was directed by Gianfranco Parolini and follows Samson as he joins forces with a Queen who has been overthrown by trickery of her Court Counselor. The film was a hit and stripped Samson of his biblical history and just turned him into an adventure strong man character and spawned four other films in the Samson series. Samson was released alongside such other films in the Sword And Sandal genre as “Hercules In the Haunted World”, “Mighty Ursus”, “Atlas”, “Ursus In the Valley Of the Lions” and many more! Samson is a film I can remember seeing on VHS when I was a kid and would be one I would go on to buy both on VHS and DVD and is one of the first Sword And Sandal films I introduced my girlfriend Juliet to when I was on one of my kicks of watching one a night.

The film’s star was Brad Harris who was born in Idaho on July 16, 1933 but was raised in California where he went to Burbank High School and got a scholarship to ULCA for his athletic accomplishments on the football field. While in college he took up bodybuilding when nursing a knee injury that lead to him building a muscular physique. By 1957, he decided that movies were his passion and took film work as a stuntman and stand-in with his first role being “Monkey On My Back” where he played Spike McAvoy with many other roles to follow and was in such films as “Li’l Abner”, “Ocean’s 11” and “Spartacus” to name a few. His first Sword and Sandal role was in 1961 when he took on the part of Goliath in the film “Goliath Against the Giants” after which he stayed in Europe and made films in the genres of Italy and even became very big in German cinema as he not only acted but also became a second unit director, stuntman and coordinator making him a very popular man to hire in cinema. By 1968, he would go on to also executive produce films including films like “King Of Kong Island” and “ Mutations” dabbling in the world of Horror. His final film role was in 2012 as he played the Captain in “Shiver,” a thriller that starred Danielle Harris, Casper Van Dein, Valerie Harper and Rae Dawn Chong. But besides movies he also had roles on TV with his most popular being on soap opera “Falcon Crest” where he played Deputy Duffy from 1984-1989. Besides work in media he also had his own company called Modern Body By Design about health and working out and eating right. Sadly Brad Harris passed away on November 7, 2017 at the age of 84 after battling an illness. But hands down when it comes to the character of Samson, I think of Brad Harris…who oddly only played the role once. But while gone his work in cinema will live on forever as he is at the top of the list of Sword And Sandal actors.

As many of you readers know, I am the owner of a small independent comic company called Sparkle Comics that started in late 2016 with our release of “Shocking Macabre Theater # 1” that was a horror anthology comic featuring Ohio Horror Hosts like Dr. Creep, Baron Von Porkchop and A. Ghastlee Ghoul drawn by Damien Brunk. In 2017 we launched our first Sword And Sandal comic title, and it was Samson and was written and drawn by Don Stephenson based on an idea by me! The plot of the first issue takes our muscle bound hero Samson and his crew on a journey through China were they see the great wall as well as other marvelous sites and creatures all set in ancient times. Here at Sparkle, our comic’s version of Samson is inspired by Brad Harris and we even slightly based the characters appearance around him in his honor and dedicated the issue to his memory. While Sword And Sandal Comics are not in demand at comic shops and are sadly mostly a niche market, our goal at Sparkle Comics is to make it a must read genre of comics again! While not out yet Don Stephenson and myself have chatted about the second issue and it looks like Samson and his crew might just end up in Egypt! Check out below for some art from Samson # 1 as well as the cover and make sure if you’re into Sword and Sandal Comics to check out the Sparkle Comics website and order yourself a copy.

In 1992, the action game Little Samson was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System and was developed by Takeru and released by Taito! In Japan the game was called “Holy Bell Legend Lickle” and the main characters name was Lickle and not Samson. And in the game Little Samson is joined on his adventure by friends like Gamm the Golem, Kikira the Dragon and K.O. the Mouse who are like his crew all who have their own pros and cons when playing as them. The games director was Shinichi Yoshimoto who worked on such other classic video games as Ghouls ‘n Ghosts and Strider. The game was met with great reviews and many players and critics hold it as one of the best side platformer games for the NES. Sadly this game was kind of lost in the shuffle as this was released only three years before the NES was retired and was already on the ropes as Sega Genesis, Sega CD and Phillips CD-I as well as Super Nintendo were all in the game in 1992 when Little Samson was released. With this game coming out late in the NES’s life, it also meant that it did not sell like gangbusters and is now a very pricy game in the used market bringing in around $700 to over $1,000.00 on Ebay and in stores. Little Samson is a very popular collectors game and for this Mini NES Challenge I just bought a fan reproduction cart and with that let’s get to the challenge! Oh and I also want to say that from all accounts Little Samson has nothing to do with the Biblical hero nor the Sword And Sandal Film one.

So I chose January 30, 2019 to play this game as the weather outside was below freezing and my car would not start in order to get to work at Rockstar Pro Wrestling. So I opened a bottle of Asylum Orange Cream Soda and began my first time playing the game Little Samson. This was my first time playing this game and man all I can say is that this is a fun hidden side scrolling gem on the Nintendo! It’s the right amount of challenge and the right amount of rage inducing action that brings me as a player the right amount of enjoyment. Picking and playing as four different characters is a great way also to add more play as some characters are harder to play than the others with the mouse being the hardest and Samson being the easiest. After playing the game for a few hours, I got pretty far and will plan on playing this again soon and see if I can beat it as the game is worth putting time into. Below are some pictures I took that day to document the first time ever playing Little Samson.

So I think it’s time for us to get into the comic look at Samson who is a great classic powerhouse hero that is perfect for the world of comic books. So before we get into this issue I want to remind you that I grade this comic on a 1-4 star scale and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you’re ready I am ready to see what Samson ½ has in store for me!

Samson # ½ 1/2
Released in 1995 Cover Price $2.50 Samson Comics # ½ of ½

This comic is nothing more than a sampler of comics that Samson Comics had in the works and we get no real stories from the few pages of story and many of the previews are just pin-ups! This was a major letdown and a waste of my time and almost ruined this update as it has zero to do with Samson even if he is on the cover.

As you can see this Samson comic has zero to do with Samson and is just an over priced sampler from an independent comic company that did a terrible job of letting comic readers know what they were buying by having a very misleading cover and title. In fact I do not even want to waste anymore of my time on this issue so let’s just say it’s terrible and move on past it and look at a comic that is about Samson and truly saved this update and allowed it to happen thanks to Kingstone Media for making the comic and Amazon for stocking it.

Samson # 1 ***
Released in 2010 Cover Price $3.99 Kingstone Comics # 1 of 1

The Israelites are under the rule of the Philistines and things are what they are for the people. Israelite couple Manoah and his wife who cannot have children are visited by an Angel who lets them know that she will have a miracle child that will be the one to bring the Israelites into steps to become something more. The catch is that the son must be Nazirite in order to have the massive strength that will be needed. The son is born and named Samson and as he grows he starts to develop feelings for a Philistine woman and he sets to marry her. Samson on his way to visit her one day killed a Lion and days later comes back to the corpse and touches it in order to get honey from it breaking his vow to the Lord. At the wedding a feast is held for seven days and Samson has a bet on a riddle with some Philistine soldiers who cannot crack it and force his wife to find out the answer so they can win the cloths that are on the line. After getting the cloths to settle the bet and with this he robs Philistines, and worse his new wife is given away to another and this sparks a feud between Samson and the Philistines that has fires being set and people being murdered! And things come to ahead when Samson armed only with a jaw bone of a donkey is able to kill a thousand of Philistine soldiers and with this be becomes the ruler of the Israelites and has angered the King who wants him dead. But when Samson meets Delilah his life is about to change as she has been hired by the King to bring him down and she does so by gaining knowledge about who he is and his secrets of Godly powers comes from his hair and after cutting his hair he is taken prisoner by the King. Samson is blinded and forced into slavery and all the while he begs for forgiveness and for one more chance to serve God, one day Samson is to be tortured and after beaten for the masses to cheer to he is able to use his Godly strength once more and bring down the house killing thousands and becoming the true hero of God he was slated to be.

This Bible tale makes for a good read that is filled with action, faith, death and a hero who finds his inner power even when his Godly given super powers are taken away. The story follows Samson as he rises to power in order to lead the Israelites in their “war” with the Philistines who treat them like second class citizens. Samson is a man who takes his power and strength for granted and while he has a good heart he makes bad decisions that leads him down a path of self destruction as his lust for women and his loose lips of his weakness is what ends up leading him to his own death. When Samson falls from grace his life is very terrible as he is blinded and forced into slavery with daily beatings and verbal degrading. But it’s very powerful when he finds his inner power and is able to murder all his tormentors in one powerful move that breaks the support pillars of the building causing it to fall and crush them all. The King is a man who does not like to be shown up in front of his people and thinks that the Hebrew are nothing more than scum, and is willing to sacrifice thousands of his own soldiers in order to bring down Samson. Delilah is a woman who is willing to set a man up for money and seems to have no remorse for bringing Samson down and leading a man to extreme torture. The story of Samson and Delilah is one that is filled with lots of messages and meanings and the main one being for me is never take for granted gifts that are given to you. The comic is down played the violence of the Bible story and many of the battle scenes are done in one or two panels. The cover for this one is pretty fantastic and if you like Sword And Sandal films this is eye catching. The Interior art is well done and is done by Danny Bulanadi who is a veteran in the comic world who has worked with both DC and Marvel. To sum this up this comic does a good job of putting the Bible story onto comic pages and delivers an entertaining read for those who enjoy this tale. Check out the art below to see the style that Bulanadi used in this issue.

Samson is a Biblical and Sword And Sandal hero that I think works very well as a comic book hero as he has the power and look of a classic superhero and that’s why Samson has a home in the pages of Sparkle Comics. I always enjoy talking about and reviewing Sword And Sandal heroes, and this year we still have to look forward to another Thanksgiving update with Hercules! But for out next update we will be walking away from a epic heroes, and I will be turning over Rotten Ink once more to Juliet who will be talking about The Avengers…no, not those Avengers. She will be chatting about Steed And Peel from the British TV Show The Avengers. So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a Sword and Sandal film or two, and as always support your local Horror Host. Be ready for a smashing good time next update!