Starring Claudia Font
Directed by Jaume Balaguer and Paco Plaza
Release Date: Nov 23, 2007
WARNING: this is a "shaky-cam" film, where everything shown on screen is from the perspective of a video camera carried by a character; this means that there is a lot of moving the camera, focusing in and out and occasionly the characters will be seen out of focus. If you are prone to groan and complain about this use of cinema verite directing, you should not see this movie.
In the vein of 28 Days Later, the Blair Witch Project, Diary of the Dead, and Cloverfield, [Rec] is a psuedo documentary of what transpired while a TV crew was covering a story at a local Fire Station. Soon enough, Angela and Pablo and a an ensemble of tenement dwellers, firemen and one pissy cop trapped in an apartment building while sealed off by Health Inspection who refuse to answer why they are being forced to stay. One by one the claustrphia sets in and panic is set loose upon the people as their situation continually gets worse while hope is lost and doom is surrounding the survivors at all times. I really enjoyed this movie (despite being jolted occasionally by the "BOO!" moments that occur in the film); it moves at a very quick pace and as the tensions continues to escalate, you as an audience member can feel your heart beating in your chest when angela and the small group of survivors frantically run from corridor to corridor looking for a moment of refuge or an answer to their salvation; you don't know whether to root for them to survive or scream at them to stay put and wait for help. If you were a fan of Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, Cloverfield, George A. Romero's 'Dead' series, you'll be on the edge of your seat with [Rec].
Finally, i'd like to adress the 2008 US remake, Quarantine and by extension my opinion of Americanized Remakes of foreign films: I HATE REMAKES. 90% of the time, they're inferior to their foreign cousin (excluding The Departed since i haven't yet seen Infernal Affairs, 12 Monkeys, A fistful of Dollars, ). If you have a choice between seeing [Rec] and a film that's only made to profit of the success of another movie by coping it, QUARANTINE, stick with the original.
Rating: * * * * 1/2 of 5
(Poster from http://www.wikipedia.org/)
Click here to buy [Rec]
Directed by Jaume Balaguer and Paco Plaza
Release Date: Nov 23, 2007
WARNING: this is a "shaky-cam" film, where everything shown on screen is from the perspective of a video camera carried by a character; this means that there is a lot of moving the camera, focusing in and out and occasionly the characters will be seen out of focus. If you are prone to groan and complain about this use of cinema verite directing, you should not see this movie.
In the vein of 28 Days Later, the Blair Witch Project, Diary of the Dead, and Cloverfield, [Rec] is a psuedo documentary of what transpired while a TV crew was covering a story at a local Fire Station. Soon enough, Angela and Pablo and a an ensemble of tenement dwellers, firemen and one pissy cop trapped in an apartment building while sealed off by Health Inspection who refuse to answer why they are being forced to stay. One by one the claustrphia sets in and panic is set loose upon the people as their situation continually gets worse while hope is lost and doom is surrounding the survivors at all times. I really enjoyed this movie (despite being jolted occasionally by the "BOO!" moments that occur in the film); it moves at a very quick pace and as the tensions continues to escalate, you as an audience member can feel your heart beating in your chest when angela and the small group of survivors frantically run from corridor to corridor looking for a moment of refuge or an answer to their salvation; you don't know whether to root for them to survive or scream at them to stay put and wait for help. If you were a fan of Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, Cloverfield, George A. Romero's 'Dead' series, you'll be on the edge of your seat with [Rec].
Finally, i'd like to adress the 2008 US remake, Quarantine and by extension my opinion of Americanized Remakes of foreign films: I HATE REMAKES. 90% of the time, they're inferior to their foreign cousin (excluding The Departed since i haven't yet seen Infernal Affairs, 12 Monkeys, A fistful of Dollars, ). If you have a choice between seeing [Rec] and a film that's only made to profit of the success of another movie by coping it, QUARANTINE, stick with the original.
Rating: * * * * 1/2 of 5
(Poster from http://www.wikipedia.org/)
Click here to buy [Rec]
