Let me start of by saying that it is 6:14 in the morning on New Years Day of 2008 and I am (obviously) sitting at my computer, thinking about the film I just finished watching. Yes, this is in fact my 2 cents on a film. A horror film, no less. You see what I did there? With the title? Clever, I know. Anywho, for those of you who aren't interested in horror movies or just don't care what I have to say, go ahead and skip class this morning. No offense taken. For everyone else...
Alright, the topic of discussion is the Spanish horror film [REC]. I came across this film on upcominghorrormovies.com and was immediately interested. So, I did a bit MORE research, tapping my favorite resource, IMDb.com. My interest grew. I had to see it. Sadly, foreign films are hard to come by, especially if they've only just been released in their country of origin. But, after much searching and dedication, I found it. The rub? It was in Spanish with nary a subtitle in sight. What did this mean for me? Duh, it meant I was going to be watching a film without understanding a word of what was being said. Yes, I did watch this foreign film with out a translation. No, I have no real idea what all was said. Interestingly enough, this had no negative impact on the viewing.
[REC], as I said, is a horror film from Spain, that can be best described as a cross between the Blair Witch Project and Danny Boyle's excellent film 28 Days Later... In other words: first person camera perspective + "zombies" = joygasm! This is about a TV reporter who, with the help of her cameraman (us), is covering the night shift at the fire department. In the middle of the night the men get a call and soon enough we are on our way to an apartment building to offer assistance and film the events that transpire. Once there, we see that something is amiss. It appears an old lady upstairs is off her rocker. Let me rephrase: she's fuckin' psycho! Covered in blood and, for all intents and purposes, rabid, she attacks. Things get... a bit hectic, the movie slows back down, then things get good. I have to say, watching this film at 4 in the morning in a dark house was great. Honestly, the last 15 minutes of this movie had me riveted. I finally know what "edge of your seat" means. Blinking is not an option here, people.
Because this is shot in the same style as the Blair Witch, there is a lot of shaking. There is a lot of blurriness. There is a LOT of chaos. While some will probably find it annoying, it adds so much to the tension. This isn't a film set with directors and steady-cams and make-up artists. This movie is on the move, the camera is in a man's hands, running up and down stairs, wrestling with the infected, fighting for survival. You feel as if you are actually there, holding the camera, and that makes everything that much more visceral.
I can't say it enough: I absolutely loved this flick. Sadly, it's over much too soon with a little over a 70 minute run time. On the plus side, those 70 minutes are very well spent. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in (if you're a horror buff like me), I'm sad to say you're most likely going to have to wait a couple of months for a DVD release here in the States (with subtitles though!). I, myself, am working on getting some subs and I'm sure once I do the film will be that much better. Again, a must-see for horror movie fanatics.
Angela is a television reporter and the host of a segment called "When You're Asleep." Angela and her camera man, Pablo, film people and things active in the city while most of the inhabitants are sleeping. On this particular night, Angela and Pablo will be filming a group of firefighters at their station and on any calls they may have to go on. After a fireman's typical night of waiting and participating in boring activities such as eating, sleeping and a game of basketball, the station finally gets a call from a nearby apartment building, much to Angela's relief. Residents have reported that an elderly shut-in is locked in her apartment and is screaming like a banshee. When the firemen get to the location, with Angela and Pablo in tow, they find that the police are also there and the apartment buildings residents are all huddled on the ground floor foyer.
With Angela reporting on the events as they transpire, and Pablo continually filming, the situation turns from from mundane to hellish in the blink of an eye. It gets even worse when everyone in the building, including the police and firemen who initially answered the call, are all quarantined inside the building. Any attempt to escape would offer certain death from the military who are now outside guarding the building, and staying inside could mean an even worse fate. Angela, Pablo, the other residents of the apartment building must try and survive and ultimately find a way out. And so begins [REC]. A roller coaster ride of a movie, if the roller coaster consisted only of a slow, 30 minute roller coaster ride up a hill and then proceeded into a 40 minute, break-neck free fall.
Directed by Jaume Balageuro and Paco PlazaIn, [REC] is a white-knuckler filmed in the same voyeuristic style as films such as Blair Witch Project. It is of the "found footage" variety that some of you love and some of you loathe. Luckily, after a few terrible BWP copycats (The St. Francisville Experiment, anyone?), the "found footage" genre has seen some decent films of late such as Romero's Diary of the Dead and even some recent entries like The PoughKeepsie Tapes and the upcoming Cloverfield. Does [REC] bring anything worthwhile to the table? Absolutely. [REC] delivers the goods and is easily one of the better horror films to use the cinéma-vérité technique to date. With outstanding performances by the cast and the lack of a soundtrack, the entire film achieves it's goal of making the viewing experience personal and putting you there with these people and their plight. Whether the camera is shaky, out of focus, or on the floor, the style and atmosphere created make everything seem very realistic and necessary. It also helps that unlike other films that attempt this free style type of filming, [REC] never feels too much like any of the scenes were staged or scripted, avoiding one of the major pitfalls associated with this type of film. There is blood in the film, but it is not a splatter-fest. The film is more effective portraying the escalating terror instead of trying to use any elaborate gore effects to achieve it's goal.
What helps sell the film, and it's Descent-like death spiral, is how Pablo handles the camera. In the beginning, it is deliberate, methodical and familiar with any type of documentary or news report. But the more the film progresses, the more things spiral completely out of control, the camera works echoes it's handler. It is now shaky, frenzied. Later, the camera is used not only to film, but when the lights go off, it is their only source of light. When that fails? Nightvision. It is at this point in the film when viewers will get what they came for if they wanted to be scared in any way. While the film is laden with tension and a few "jump scares" it's the last 5 minutes of the film are spectacularly creepy and unnerving. It is also what helps thrust this already competent horror movie into the top tiers of horror films with an ending that will be hard for viewers to forget.
An American remake is in the works already, picked up by Sony's Screen Gems, who have reportedly hired John and Drew Dowdle, the filmmakers behind the already mentioned The Poughkeepsie Tapes. They will write and direct the film (called Quarantine).
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