Movie Review: [REC]

[REC]

Rating:  

Directed By: Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza

Starring: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza

Plot Synopsis:

A beautiful TV reporter (Manuela Velasco, Law of Desire) and her cameraman are doing a routine interview at a local fire station when an emergency call comes in.  Accompanying the firefighters to a nearby apartment, the news team begins recording the bloodcurdling screams coming from inside an elderly woman’s unit.  After authorities seal off the building to contain the threat, the news crew, firefighters and residents are trapped to face a lethal terror inside.  With the camera running, nothing may survive but the film itself. [Sony Pictures]

Review:

If you saw Quarantine first, you got ripped off.  Luckily, I purposefully delayed watching Quarantine until I viewed the original Spanish horror flick, [REC].  [REC] is a tight, edge of your seat scarefest that succeeds on the realism depicted.  Something Cloverfield or The Blair Witch Project couldn’t achieve.

[REC] is one of those movies that is hard to review without giving anything away.  Heck, the teaser trailer even feels like it’s giving too much away.  But there is much to really admire about this film, and it’s a shame that us Americans feel like we have to remake every good foreign film.  Skip Quarantine and see [REC].  It’s a much better movie.

Acting is always something that gets snubbed in horror films.  In [REC], I felt like I was viewing unedited footage.  The acting is so real, the reactions on film are so genuine that I was totally immersed in the story and situation.  I was on the edge of my seat most the film and had 2 genuine jumps.  I don’t normally jump while watching scary movies.

At a brisk 70 minutes, [REC] doesn’t overstay it’s welcome.  It’s a near perfect horror film and deserves to be recognized more than just “the movie that inspired the terror of Quarantine.”