Finally the long awaited wait for [REC] has come! [REC] is quite possibly one of the best horror films to come out in a long time. The award-winning, blockbuster Spanish horror film [REC] had already been remade for U.S. audiences under the name "Quarantine". Directed by Jaume Balaguero, "REC" is a film that adapts the first person, The film has the B-grade movie feel, but the director made it work. After all, what better way to emulate realism with a DV camera than for the movie to look very unpolished and rough around the edges? I enjoyed "Quarantine" but "REC" is a lot better, Think of cereal in a market, you can buy a generic bag but will it taste and be as fresh as the original, hell no!
[REC] is overly scary!! A movie so driven that it makes washing your hair with battery acid feel more pleasant. It rocks you in the face and stabs your brain with your nose bone. The fear and look of this film is like a look into reality caught on camera and it will disturb most viewers, The quick scenes of rabid attacks are like ice picks piercing ones eyes, This movie is a film that will give you the shivers, The same kind of feeling you might get when you think about flossing your teeth with razor wire. [REC] is the movie I'm describing.
The film's style feels very rough and edgy. (Quarantine was polished and beautified) The film looks very simple and stays close to realism. The apartment looks very normal until the lights go off then we see how horrific and claustrophobic the setting really gets. The film is nicely paced clocking at 79 minutes, those 79 minutes will go down in history like a prostitute bobbing on your apples!
[REC] starts off with a news reporter, The ever so cute Manuela Velasco and her camera man Pablo. They are making a documentary at a small time fire station dept. Soon they will realize that it's going to be a a night of sheer terror. They receive a call to rescue an elderly woman, They never would have suspected that a first call to that night would be their last. As the group of fireman, police and the camera crew begin to walk upstairs they find a gentle night air is pierced by the sound of horrific screams and things take a turn for the worse. So they find the elderly woman creeping around her apartment dripping with blood from her mouth, All the police, fireman try to help her out until CRUNCH!!! She takes a livid bite out of one of the fire mans body and leaves him in a shaking frenzy, As this is happening the building is being sealed off by the government allowing no one from the building to escape. With no escape the crew finds out later that they have no way of escape, They find themselves surrounded by frightened residents who are infected with a violent bacterial infection.
These infected have so much power, A bitten little girl had the power to attack a police officer. As the carnage is building deeper and deeper the government sends in the center of disease and control to take samples of the infected. As all hell starts to break loose like a soccer riot we have the infected fleeing up the stairs like they were on crack cocaine, They were freakin animals!!! They were like a pack of wolves looking to feed on anything they could sink their teeth and gum lines into, If they got a chance they would Pop your blood sockets and drink you friggen dry.
As we get deeper into the film we get to the final 20 minute mark, all I can say is that the last 20 minutes will carve a memory in your mind so that you will never forget what you have witnessed. Angela and Pablo are still fleeing these infected maniacs to try to find a way out, one of the infected was bashed in the head with a sledge hammer to the violent use of a video camera, blood was oozing and the tension was building to the climax of the film.
Angela and her camera man Pablo are searching for a key to release themselves from this building and end up in this room, The last room they could possibly see if they don't find a way out. Both Angela and Pablo come across news articles and audio tapes of some kind of demonic possession. Moments later there’s a segment where the lights go out and Pablo's forced to use night vision and when the possessed creature jumps out of the dark to attack its almost as if you are standing right there. In fact you never even see the cameraman its almost as if he's you! The ending in what could be one of the scariest and deranged moments ever caught on film. My teeth were clenched and my jaw felt locked as I found myself tense in excitement nearly ever couple of minutes. [REC] is one of the best Spanish horror films in recent memory. Those final 10 minutes will go down in history, I can assure you that.
I Am What I Say I Am - Rated R [JohnnyHorror]