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It's strange to see film-makers rejecting all the incredible camera technology at their disposal and going for the grotty hand-held look. Everyone's doing it now it seems, and the only strange thing really is that it's taken about 10 years or so for people to begin "copying" The Blair Witch Project in earnest (although it had been done before that, of course). Cloverfield, Diary of the Dead and now [.REC] (or Rec for short, wow that's a lot of brackets in one sentence) have gone for the over-the-shoulder camera style one might more readily expect from a documentary. When the viewer instantly associates reality with that style, dropping something extreme, terrifying and incredible into the frame gives it that much more power. A Spanish news crew decide to film a Fire Brigade for an episode of 'While You Sleep', and ride along with the Firemen on a routine call to an apartment building where a woman is "trapped". No sooner have they arrived and found an insane old woman covered with blood, than the authorities surprisingly seal the building from the outside with swathes of plastic. Presenter Angela and cameraman Pablo are unlucky enough to become embroiled in one of the most horrific films I think I've ever seen. There are a few flaws - there's little in the way of character development, with most of the occupants being typecast as realistically annoying and self-centred - "When can we leave", "What's going on", "I want to go up to my apartment", "Stop biting me" are about as much as they can muster. Worse, though, is that Angela seems to have been lumbered with the lines "Keep filming Pablo" or "What's going on Pablo" rather too much. I half expected Pablo to turn to her at one point and just say "Look, will you SHUT the gently caress UP for one minute this is harder than it looks" but he's professional enough to just keep rolling (mental note, hire Pablo for first feature film). Also, of course, there have now been so many zombie films that follow the "get bitten, look sickly for a while, then attack former-friend-now-victim when they expose their neck" formula, that it's easy to get tired of the characters fumbling around and failing to understand the simple rules. How long before a zombie film features a character just sitting his fellow survivors down in front of a TV to watch the Dawn of the Dead remake, 28 Days Later and maybe even [.REC] and saying "This is what we're up against, any questions?" With those very minor gripes aside, let's get on with praising this very scary film. The environment is a wonderfully claustrophobic old-fashioned apartment complex. A nice big spiral staircase with a marble lobby is the focus of much of the film, with the action dipping in and out of darkened rooms as the characters try to find a way out past the quarantine. The acting is very good overall, at least as far as acting very scared goes, and the script has a few nice moments. But the pacing is the film's real power. It really does accelerate nicely, and there are plenty of moments to chill even the most cynical of bones. As we close in on the last half hour, things just start getting worse and worse for everybody and there is very little room for a hero. This is survival, at best. Be not afraid of romantic subplots, or even quirky sidekicks. This is balls-to-the-wall horror. What's so scary about it? What sets it apart? Yeah, there's a cop who abuses his power and begins to lose it, the guy who rises to the occasion and starts to kick some zombie arse, throats getting torn out by zombie kids and sprays of arterial blood - YAWN. Ok, not YAWN exactly, and all very well done, but certainly not ground-breaking. Until the ending. The ending really knocked me for six and I realised that the whole film lulls you into what you think is safe-territory. What REC does in the last ten to twenty minutes is to present the viewer with something so confusingly terrifying all you can do is hold your breath. I will not spoil or ruin it, but it needs to be seen because in those last minutes there is such a rich vein of horror being tapped that it's like the motherlode of scary. PS - an inevitable shot-for-shot remake called Quarantine is set for release. From the looks of the trailer, you would do well to see the original if you don't mind subtitles, but if you do mind them see the remake like a big fool. Pyrion Flax fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Jun 3, 2008 |
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Jun 3, 2008 20:48
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 08:32 |
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This is one of those films that I watched on recommendation without having any prior knowledge of what it was about. My initial impressions were that this was another generic Blair Witch knockoff, but in the end, I'd argue that this is what many were expecting The Blair Witch Project to be. The scares in REC are not hinted at; they're bold, blunt, and downright terrifying. It's tough for a horror fan these days, but REC is easily the most (un)pleasant surprise I've had in quite some time. I can't remember the last time I was this engrossed. Sidenote: Watch it before the already godawful-looking remake Quarantine hits this October. Whatever you do, don't watch the Quarantine trailer; when I say it spoils the end of the movie, it spoils the end of the movie. 5/5 Thello fucked around with this message at 09:19 on Jul 25, 2008 |
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Jul 25, 2008 09:17
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This one certainly offers a great deal of scary film for the buck it was made. However, "reality TV" handheld camera style aside, it's an above average, yet by no means a groundbreaking zombie movie. It is worth watching, well paced, and will indeed scare you, but will hardly leave a lasting impression. If it does, then probably because of the heroine, who is really really cute.  3.5/5 edit: Seconding the advice above, do not watch the trailer for Quarantine. Not only because of spoilers, but because the acting in the remake looks terrible. pigdog fucked around with this message at 10:35 on Aug 23, 2008 |
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Aug 23, 2008 10:26
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One of the better horror movies I've seen in the past few years. The ending is terrific and horrifying. 5/5
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Sep 18, 2008 08:40
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I haven't seen a horror movie that's held me this well since the Dawn of the Dead remake, and .Rec blows even it out of the water in every way. Very, very intense. 5/5
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Sep 28, 2008 02:12
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I loved REC. It was fairly typical zombie fare, as noted, but god drat the last ten minutes of the movie was scary as hell. Watch this at night, with the lights off. There's lots of loose ends and very little explanation of the details, but in the end, it doesn't matter and you won't care.
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Sep 30, 2008 22:00
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I watched this during my night shift in the hospital(I work in the blood bank so I am surrounded by blood and am alone through the entire shift). Needless to say, it scared the piss out of me. I do not recommend watching it under those circumstances but I do recommend the movie. (4/5)
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Dec 6, 2008 14:45
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Echoing some of the earlier statements that the movie is scary as hell. The movie starts out innocuously enough. The middle parts of the movie are pretty typical zombie fare. The camera takes a bit of getting used to, but it plays nicely into the plot at several points and by the end it's not really distracting at all. I won't say anything about the ending to spoil it, but it's drat good. I would recommended this movie this movie to fans of the horror genre. Flaws in the movie are the (at times) annoying camera, and weak development of minor characters. 4.0 / 5
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Dec 10, 2008 22:27
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I started off this film somewhat worried. I had just watched the Rifftrax version of Cloverfield and I was tired of the lengthy setup these shakycam docu-horror movies have. But oh boy, did I have nothing to worry about with this film. Like many others have mentioned, this is how horror movies should be. Pure balls to the wall horror and intensity the entire time. Unlike most movies like this, gore is not just thrown in as much as possible for shock value. Out of all of the aforementioned shakycam docu-horror movies I've seen, this one is the first one I would actually be able to believe if I knew it was happening. The characters are all realistic and react in realistic ways to a situation as utterly messed up as this. Plus, unlike most of the other shakycam movies out there, the "cameraman" in this is a "professional" which I think allowed them to not have too much of the shakycam super crazy movement that tends to happen in stuff like Cloverfield while still maintaining the realistic documentary look. And thanks to the camera work, I was literally glued to my screen the entire film. Not to mention the running time was perfect. ~75 minutes was just right for a film like this. Nothing was drawn out, and there were no stupid subplots. Just, again, pure terror. Finally, and this is probably the most important thing I can say: the choices the characters make, make sense. This is one of the largest problems I have with horror today: characters make stupid decisions for the purposes of advancing the plot or getting cheap scares. However, pretty much all the decisions being made in this film really seemed to me like decisions that would make sense in that situation. The last 10-20 minutes is easily the craziest part. The biggest "oh poo poo!" part of the entire film, for me, was easily not the end, but the part when Angela and Pablo look down the stairwell, and suddenly the zombie faces of every single remaining person look up at them, including Manu, who was fine two minutes before. This film is quality horror through and through, and I'm glad I decided to watch it. 5/5 And also continuing it on: DO NOT watch the Quarantine trailer if you intend to watch this movie. It contains the very ending of the film in it (seriously, what the hell? who does that?).
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Dec 15, 2008 12:08
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I heard this movie was really good, the scariest movie ever. I went in with high hopes, but was only satisfied by the "stairwell" part mentioned before, the end sequence using only the night vision, and the aesthetically pleasing main character. 2/5
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Jan 3, 2009 12:59
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Just went through a slew of recent horror films and this was by far the best. I never really liked the camcorder films (Blair Witch, etc.), but this was just the opposite. I think it fit the movie perfectly. Starting off, it doesn't seem like it's going to be a scary film, but by the middle your mind will be changed. And the ending, holy poo poo the ending. As said before a million times, don't watch the drat Quarantine trailer before you watch this movie because it will be absolutely ruined (Thankfully I watched it afterward and was wondering how they could do such a thing) 5/5
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Mar 7, 2009 10:50
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Didn't really live up to the hype. Great setup for a tactical action zombie game, though. It has the progression and bosses ready to go. What I really tired of was the lame way the first 2/3 of the scares were telegraphed. Why do characters inevitably turn their heads away from the zombos, thereby exposing their necks? What's a zombie to do but bite that soft, sweet flesh? An when will people learn to stay well away from windows and doors that contain the rampaging creatures? (I'm sorry if I spoiled the obvious. You should probably watch more zombie movies.) However, the final reveal and scuffle is pretty goddamn fantastic. The very last shot is a bit cliched, but what the hell. 3.5/5
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Mar 9, 2009 06:13
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I'd heard that this movie was one of the best horror movies ever. I found it pretty lacking to be honest, I can't get into any movie that has zero character development. You don't need a 10 minute monologue about everyone's pasts but there wasn't any reason we should give a poo poo what happens to these people, and the main character while attractive nattered annoyingly the whole time. Also I'm not sure if Australia is different to the rest of the world but since when do camera operators take poo poo from presenters? "Are you getting this? Did you get that? Are you filming this?" I was waiting for him to flip out and hit her with the camera. Your average horror film with your average "BOO!" horror scares, though more brutal than most. I'd give it a 2/5.
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Mar 22, 2009 06:21
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I watched this and Quarantine back to back, and was jarred by the difference in the ending. It's that difference that makes [.REC] a far better movie. That said, I thought .REC did a great job with pacing and creating a sense of reality through the whole movie. There are no heroes here, just ordinary people and cops and firefighters trying to do their job and getting dragged into some sort of hell because of it. Sure, the one firefighter takes on a bit of a role, but that's it. All the action seems like it could have happened, and compared to some of the poo poo out there - Diary of the Dead, I'm looking at you - is positively night and day. Now, the ending... The way .REC explained the whole thing with the clippings and audio tape and then you realize the little girl is actually the loving monster in the final shots, it's absolutely terrifying. The acting in that scene is incredible, too, you can almost feel the fear. Quarantine, on the other hand, tries a different explanation for the outbreak and it falls on it's face. The recording is there but is garbled, and you're left wondering who and why that last creature is in the room. Don't know why they changed that, since it was the most dramatic part of the movie for me... I'd say see both movies, but see .REC first if you want to see the true vision of what it was to be.
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Mar 24, 2009 22:31
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 08:32 |
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Just watched this after hearing the glowing reviews, and... well, it's ok. Spoiler free: My biggest problem is one of direction: I can't stand shakycam. Especially if the character is a pro cameraman, he's not going to be flicking the zoom button every second. Bumps, sure, but not zoom-in, zoom-out, while bumping, and repeat. To me that's either a substitute for poor direction, or trying to hide poor effects. I do think it got a little better in the latter parts of the film, but the initial apartment sequences are just too much. As for the movie content, it doesn't really do anything new. Subject's been done before, the first-person thing has been done before. It does thankfully have intelligent characters, and the plot, although small, is good for what it is. Keeping this spoiler free- I felt a big cliche sigh coming on when the end sequence started, which was confirmed with the first scare. The very last sequence however was worth the cliche since it was done so well. If the movie had a bit more of those kinds of terrors, I felt it would've upped the ante considerably. Instead it felt fairly average to me. 2.5/5
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Sep 16, 2009 16:40
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