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[REC] (2007)

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Overall Rating 78%
Overall Rating
Ranked #990
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Connections: [REC]

"REC" turns on a young TV reporter and her cameraman who cover the night shift at the local fire station. Receiving a call from an old lady trapped in her house, they reach her building to hear horrifying screams -- which begin a long nightmare and a uniquely dramatic TV report. --IMDb
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Review by Tristan
Added: May 5, 2008
When it comes to horror movies, I'm sure most of you will agree with me when I say it is almost impossible to find a truly decent one. I've more or less given up on mainstream titles, and turned my eyes toward the independent and foreign film markets. This has turned out very fruitful, as I can say that almost every single film I've seen has been dark, chilling and downright terrifying - everything a horror film should be. The recent Dimension Extreme release Inside proved to be one of the darkest horror films I've seen in years, and I doubted if I'd see another one like it for some time. That is until I came across a little film titled [Rec].

Tonight's film begins with Angela (Manuela Velasco), the host of a documentary TV series While You're Asleep, and her cameraman Marcos (Pablo Rosso) following a group of Barcelona firefighters during their nightly routine. They interview the fire chief, join the men in their dinner, and nothing much happens until they receive a call that an old lady is trapped in her apartment. After meeting up with police at the scene, they force themselves into the apartment to find a crazed elderly woman, screaming and covered in blood. While trying to calm her down, one of the police officers is viciously attacked by the woman, and is brought downstairs with the hopes of getting an ambulance. The group soon realizes that the building has been quarantined because of a BNC (Biological/Nuclear/Chemical) hazard, and will remain this way until a health inspector can get inside and give the all clear. As the group tends to the wounded police officer, another person is violently attacked, and soon everyone is fighting for their survival as the virus spreads from person to person, turning the infected into violent, enraged killers.

When I first heard the title for this movie, and saw the posters, I assumed it was just another torture film done with the hand held camera to give it a more realistic feel. I had no idea I was watching a virus outbreak film until almost a third of the way through it, and that really says something about it. It was very unconventional, and while that may seem like a bad thing, believe me when I say it wasn't. This genre of film was all but dead before 28 Days Later came out, but that was 6 years ago, and we were in need of an updated - and somewhat original - take on the idea. The zombies, and I use the term lightly, are very much like the ones from 28 Days Later in both speed and appearance. The only major difference, which I think plays a large part in what makes them very unique, is the high pitched squeal they let off before and while they attack people. It doesn't sound like much, but it really adds a lot to the film, when the cameraman - who is essentially you - is walking around in total darkness, that shriek comes out of nowhere, and all hell breaks loose.

I saw this film with subtitles, and since all Spanish sounds flustered and panicked, it is hard to say whether or not the acting was good. From what I could tell, the characters' progression from normal to terror seemed very realistic and not at all forced. The first person aspect added a nice element to this, as very few cuts took place, and a majority of the scenes were a minute or two long, and focused on a small group of people. It had a very claustrophobic feel to it, and there were times where I was honestly on the edge of my seat as they walked through a narrow hallway, wondering who, or what, would jump out at them. There wasn't an excessive amount of blood and gore in this one, but what was used was tasteful, and seemed realistic. There were a few shaky moments, where it seemed that the effects looked a little sketchy, but from what I understand, this was a very low budget film, and I can forgive them on some special effects bloopers. Considering that was the only minor gripe I had with the entire film, I'd have to say it was damn near a perfect movie. It was also nice to see some Night of the Living Dead and The Shining references thrown in, just for the geek factor.

Like every other film of its kind, the first thing people want to do is compare it to The Blair Witch Project. I have no problem with that, as I feel that [Rec] is actually a superior film. What I do have a problem with is it catching shit for using this style of filming. I know it's not the first of its kind, but if you want to nitpick, the film has been circulating film festivals in Europe for almost a year now, and not just cashing in on the success of Cloverfield and Diary of the Dead. Sadly, this movie probably won't see a DVD release until after the remake, which has been scheduled for an October release. It has been given the more obvious title of Quarantine and is being directed by the same man who brought us The Poughkeepsie Tapes, another movie which looks to use the POV style of film making. Hopefully the remake can live up to what a fantastic ride this film was. It went from casual to balls-to-the-wall horror in mere seconds, and didn't let up until the final scene, which was one of the most terrifying finales I think I've seen since the aforementioned Blair Witch Project. I wish I could tell all of you to get out there and see this film right away, but unfortunately we'll all have to wait for that undetermined DVD release.

10/10.
bluemeanie #1: bluemeanie - added May 5, 2008 at 11:23am
Total agreement here. I saw this a few days ago on the recommendation of a friend and was blown away. Crazy film. Amazing film. The American remake, called "Quarantine", comes out around Halloween in the States. Will probably suck, but this film was incredible. 10/10.
bluemeanie #2: bluemeanie - added May 5, 2008 at 11:23am
But I don't think it was better than "The Blair Witch Project". No way.
grain of sand #3: grain of sand - added May 5, 2008 at 5:42pm
This was a really fun one. If I'm not mistaken the same dudes who did this one are about to do a sequel with a better budget, should be awesome.
waxtadpole3657 #4: waxtadpole3657 - added May 10, 2008 at 12:28am
HAH. The viral marketing for the American remake is awesome, only because the people on youtube actually think it's real. Seriously, watch the videos and read the comments. Knowing that it's just marketing for an upcoming movie, the comments will seem hilarious. Too bad the remake's a SHOT FOR SHOT remake (at least it looks like it from the trailer). The even show the last scene (as in the last god damn 5 seconds of the movie) in the trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/user/EricsVideoBlog
Tristan #5: Tristan - added May 10, 2008 at 12:42am
Yeah, I saw a promo poster from the remake, and it was the night-vision scene where she's lying on the ground. I'll try not to blow it, but I wonder if the "ending" will look the same, or if it'll look different.
cky2kendall #6: cky2kendall - added May 16, 2008 at 12:45pm
I remember seeing adverts for this on TV here in the UK, and I really thought it looked bad. There was no dialogue in them, and most scenes it showed didn't show much happening. But I have heard lots of good things about the movie, so I might end up checking it out. I'm torn between what I've heard about the movie and and what I've seen in a 30 second spot on TV.
Chad #7: Chad - added May 22, 2008 at 8:46pm
Freaking amazing. There's really nothing more I can say - this is how horror should be done. 10/10.
C L #8: C L - added May 24, 2008 at 2:24am
That is the best movie experience I've had in a long time. 11/10
grain of sand #9: grain of sand - added May 31, 2008 at 6:11pm
I got a better quality version of this and saw it nice and late. This actually had me scared, no other POV movie has had me scared whatsoever. So I'll say this is my personal favorite handheld camera movie.. that's not saying much, but I guess it is since I liked it A LOT better than Diary of the Dead. 10/10
Nirrad #10: Nirrad - added October 21, 2008 at 11:44pm
Meh, I didn't really like it all that much. After a while Angela was becoming really annoying. But that's just because I find other languages really annoying.......so that's just me. The "We have to get everything on tape" pissed me off. Someone needs help, yet the cameraman just stands there filming.....Jesus Christ. The "scares" were terrible, it was quite obvious when something was going to jump out and scare you. The only parts I really enjoyed were when the light on the camera is out, and only the cameraman can see the infected, and the part when the firefighter or policeman fell from the staircase. That gave me a few laughs. It's not a bad film, but I definitely wouldn't give it a 10, I'd go with a 6 or 7. I just really don't like these types of movies. And if Quarantine is worse, then fuck that movie. Not even gonna bother with it.
Lucid Dreams #11: Lucid Dreams - added May 3, 2009 at 12:43am
This was really fucking good and it scared the shit out of me on a few parts. When I had first saw it I thought it was a Cloverfield (hated) meets 28 Days Later knock off, but this really surprised me and I'm glad I watched it. 9/10
Greg Follender #12: Greg Follender - added August 30, 2009 at 9:18pm
Ok... I finally got around to watching this...
Frankly, I feel that while it certainly does a better job than most with the "spontaneous hand-held camera" work... the sub-par story and rather pedestrian scripting renders what could have been a great film, a merely decent one.

Sure... the acting is passable for the most part (aside from the incredibly annoying and inconsistently played main protagonist), but the weakly cobbled together story relies far too much on gorey scare gags to really suspend proper disbelief. It just doesn't make much sense in some places... sorry, but there it is.

Chad was certainly correct about the last reveal being the best part of the film... shockingly scary stuff that... and the ONLY reason this film might be remembered 10 years from now aside from it's American re-release.

I must say though... even with all that went on... knowing the film's conclusion through the American version's commercial campaign utterly killed the final drama of the thing for me. I'm glad I saw it, but I remain unimpressed. Too many sloppy storytelling techniques and careless editing mar an otherwise clever attempt.

Fun but overrated.

6.5/10... but I'm willing to stretch it to 7/10 for that amazing last sequence.
Optimus Prime #13: Optimus Prime - added October 22, 2009 at 2:57am
Finally got around to watching this... Everything about this is great. Loved it. The ending is the one of the scariest things I've seen in a while.
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