Susannah[REC]
August 11th 2008 06:22
[REC] (2007)
Starring: Manuela Velasco
Directed by: Jaume Balaguero and Luis Berdejo
Between this film and The Orphanage, Spain is obviously intent on scaring the rest of the world and removing Asia’s stranglehold on the horror industry.
Filmed in documentary style, with handheld camera by a camerman whose face we never see, this film is all the more scary for it, as we really are limited to only what the camera can see at any given moment. This is used to good effect by the filmmakers as it lends the events of the film an immediacy and urgency, throwing the viewer into the core of the action.
The plot follows a graveyard shift reporter called Angela (Manuela Vasquez) whose television slot is to profile what other people are doing while you are asleep. The show itself appears to be called “While you are asleep.” Tonight Angela and her camerman are covering what goes on at a firestation. One of the firemen points out that if everyone is asleep, then who is watching her show? Things seem to be pretty routine, dull in fact, before one of the firetrucks gets called out to assist an old lady in an apartment block who is injured and will not come out of her apartment.
That too appears to be a fairly routine call-out until, that is, they actually arrive at the scene. The firemen and the reporters discover that the police are already there, and that the incident may be more serious than they first thought. Together they go up to the old lady’s apartment, where she subsequently goes ballistic, biting one of the policemen. Then, a plastic cover is dropped over the entire apartment block. The firemen, reporter, camerman and residents of the apartment discover, to their horror, that they have in fact been quarantined because of a biological danger, and, according to the police with them they are not to worry, but will be let out as soon as it is “safe.” When that will be is anyone’s guess. They are not to attempt to leave in the meantime for “their own safety.”
This film is scary. Not only because of the apparent zombie threat, but because of the horror the quarantine situation itself provides, where the characters really are trapped with an unknown threat, with no chance of escape. Many theories are put forth as to what is causing the residents’ of the apartment block to attack each other and seemingly come back to life after suffering fatal injuries. This includes some racist hypothesising put forth in a moment of comedy, when the reporter interviews one of the buildings residents, a preening middle aged man who only wants to be filmed on his left side, and who expresses his racist theories on camera when he thinks they have not started to film him yet. The actual cause of the outbreak, which we find out right at the very end, is extremely chilling, and the scariest sequence in a film that has a high scare ratio in its taut 85 minute running time. They even go into night vision on the camera at the end, and that is never a good sign in a horror film. The sequence involving the little girl will also have your hair standing on end.
The acting is very good, and despite the plethora of zombie films available, the idea feels fresh, even introducing a supernatural element back into the zombie myth. Yes, the reporters have to keep filming the whole time, even when their lives are obviously in danger and it would just make more sense to put the camera down and run. But their reasoning is that they have an obligation to document what is going on in the building, especially when it looks increasingly likely that no one will make it out alive.
[REC] is well worth seeing. The makers already have a sequel in the pipeline and America has a remake planned called Quarantine.
Starring: Manuela Velasco
Directed by: Jaume Balaguero and Luis Berdejo
Between this film and The Orphanage, Spain is obviously intent on scaring the rest of the world and removing Asia’s stranglehold on the horror industry.
Filmed in documentary style, with handheld camera by a camerman whose face we never see, this film is all the more scary for it, as we really are limited to only what the camera can see at any given moment. This is used to good effect by the filmmakers as it lends the events of the film an immediacy and urgency, throwing the viewer into the core of the action.
The plot follows a graveyard shift reporter called Angela (Manuela Vasquez) whose television slot is to profile what other people are doing while you are asleep. The show itself appears to be called “While you are asleep.” Tonight Angela and her camerman are covering what goes on at a firestation. One of the firemen points out that if everyone is asleep, then who is watching her show? Things seem to be pretty routine, dull in fact, before one of the firetrucks gets called out to assist an old lady in an apartment block who is injured and will not come out of her apartment.
That too appears to be a fairly routine call-out until, that is, they actually arrive at the scene. The firemen and the reporters discover that the police are already there, and that the incident may be more serious than they first thought. Together they go up to the old lady’s apartment, where she subsequently goes ballistic, biting one of the policemen. Then, a plastic cover is dropped over the entire apartment block. The firemen, reporter, camerman and residents of the apartment discover, to their horror, that they have in fact been quarantined because of a biological danger, and, according to the police with them they are not to worry, but will be let out as soon as it is “safe.” When that will be is anyone’s guess. They are not to attempt to leave in the meantime for “their own safety.”
This film is scary. Not only because of the apparent zombie threat, but because of the horror the quarantine situation itself provides, where the characters really are trapped with an unknown threat, with no chance of escape. Many theories are put forth as to what is causing the residents’ of the apartment block to attack each other and seemingly come back to life after suffering fatal injuries. This includes some racist hypothesising put forth in a moment of comedy, when the reporter interviews one of the buildings residents, a preening middle aged man who only wants to be filmed on his left side, and who expresses his racist theories on camera when he thinks they have not started to film him yet. The actual cause of the outbreak, which we find out right at the very end, is extremely chilling, and the scariest sequence in a film that has a high scare ratio in its taut 85 minute running time. They even go into night vision on the camera at the end, and that is never a good sign in a horror film. The sequence involving the little girl will also have your hair standing on end.
The acting is very good, and despite the plethora of zombie films available, the idea feels fresh, even introducing a supernatural element back into the zombie myth. Yes, the reporters have to keep filming the whole time, even when their lives are obviously in danger and it would just make more sense to put the camera down and run. But their reasoning is that they have an obligation to document what is going on in the building, especially when it looks increasingly likely that no one will make it out alive.
[REC] is well worth seeing. The makers already have a sequel in the pipeline and America has a remake planned called Quarantine.
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Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
I love Spanish cinema.
Have you checked out my site at all?
cheers,
Bryn