[REC]

[REC], the spanish horror film that has just been remade American style under the title Quarantine, has been touted for many months now as one the scariest horror films in ages. Well, I wanna be fuckin' scared and I wanna be scared real good. I want to wet my pants. I want to not be able to sleep tonight. I want to feel the sheer terror that I felt when I saw Zelda from Pet Sematary for the first time and haven't felt since. So here's what i'm gonna do. I'm gonna go make myself a bowl of popcorn, turn all the lights off in this house, and watch this movie all by my lonesome. Come on [REC], I dare you, scare me. Give me your best shot.

I'll be right back....


Phew. While this movie wasn't all too scary throughout, the end certaintly accomplished it's goal of scaring the shit out of me...Let me go make sure there's no weird creatures in this house then i'll post my thoughts...

[REC] is, much like Cloverfield and Diary of the Dead, a film told entirely through recovered camcorder tapes. Before you rant and rave about it being another ripoff of movies like that and just another attempt to cash in on the craze ; first off Cloverfield didn't invent the idea and secondly this film in fact predates films like it and Diary. The premise is that a woman, Angela, is filming a spot on firefighters for her show "While You're Asleep". The show gives us an insight into all the things that are being done while we're sleeping. Angela follows the firemen around ; eventually to a call of a woman screaming bloody murder in an apartment building. When they arrive on the scene, the elderly woman is essentially a zombie. Blood is dripping from her mouth, she's acting strange, and she eventually bites into a man's neck. After this incident, the building is quarantined off to prevent the spread of infection and the people in the building are left with no means of escape. The tv camera documents every last minute of the chaotic and terrifying ordeal to come.



Clocking in at just over an hour, [REC] is consistently entertaining and even though there are dull moments, there is never a dull moment. It's slow moving at times, but it needs to be. Never does it become boring. Every last minute is entertaining, whether anythings really going on or not.

One of the best things I can say about the film is that it's certaintly one of the more realistic and believable takes on the 'zombie' idea. No opening credits or actor's names plastered across the screen in this one. The filmmakers want us to feel like we're watching real footage, and they do a great job at convincing us and making us believe this could and is happening.

There isn't much of an explanation as to the background of the infection, nor is the word 'zombie' ever mentioned, which are both refreshing qualities. A little background is given as to where the infection began, but why is never delved into. This is not a government experiment gone wrong, like we're so used to seeing. It's just an unexplainable virus being spread and turning mofo's like this little girl into flesh eaters.



The last several minutes of the film, bathed only in night vision green, are absolutely bone chilling and will probably not leave my mind anytime soon. That whole thing about not wanting to be able to sleep tonight, I think it just might become a reality. I don't want to give anything away, but it's certaintly not for the faint of heart. I'll just say this movie may very well contain the scariest movie character of all time.



[REC] is definetly one of the best zombie films to come out in a long time and would probably rank somewhere in a listing of the top ones of all time. Awesome movie. Must see. But if you're not a fan of the 'fast' zombies, this one may not be for you because it's chock full of them. With Orphanage and now this, the spanish are proving to be a force to be reckoned with in the horror world.

The movie is not set to hit dvd until early next year, but if you know where to look, you can come up with a way to see it. Wink wink. The U.S remake, Quarantine, lands in theaters October 10th. Sigh. The original isn't even out on dvd yet and it's already been remade. Can't we at least wait a couple years?