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REC
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Emma
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Feb 04, 2009 02:16PM
Just seen REC (the orig. version) & it was brilliant! I'm a sucker for zombie films but very fussy-this was great! If you haven't seen it yet you MUST!!!!
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I watched this several months ago and enjoyed it. I went and saw Quarantine as well, just for fun, even though the entire movie was blocked out exactly the same as the original.
I just ordered the DVD from Amazon UK (it's region 2, you need a region free player...or live in Europe) and can't wait. I've read some very good reviews and this has been on my radar along with LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. I'll post my review in a few days.
not so patiently waiting for this to come out on dvd...!!!!!
Don't read my review if SPOILERS bother you! But no need to watch this for the ending, watch it for the constant fright and encompasing dread that will haunt your dreams:) I have no desire to watch the American remake...this one will do nicely. [REC:] (Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza, 2007, Spain) Fear spreads like a deadly virus, as a reporter and her cameraman become possessed by an ungodly terror: while the world sleeps, the government quarantine leaves them little hope of survival. Ángela and Pablo are filming their assignment at a Barcelona fire station, going about the boring routine of interviews and introductions, hoping that something exciting will happen. It does. They race through the darkened streets, passengers with a group of veteran firemen who must rescue a person trapped in an apartment. The tension builds as what seems to be a simple emergency call soon degenerates into an orgy of violence and bloodshed, and the apartment becomes a steel cage, unattainable freedom seen through the ethereal curtain of plastic while commanding threats are shouted by military police. The film’s cinéma vérité style brings a frustrating realism to the events utilizing overlapping dialogue improvised chaos: the characters behave like people trapped, not actors spouting rigid dialogue. An obese bloody woman ravages the first victim as Hell breaks loose upon the world, and we see the new reality where nothing is believable unless it is seen through a camera’s digital iris, where the optic nerve connects to the hard drive. The narrative accelerates creating intense friction between characters and events but then slows down, letting us catch our breath before the tumultuous shadows cloud our perceptions once again. The cloying darkness becomes a living thing, embracing the victims in the primal fright as the human mind becomes reactionary, uncivilized, the repressed survival instinct taking control and instructing them to run, run…but where? Ángela and Pablo are the last survivors and reach the forgotten penthouse where they discover a mystery that reaches into the Vatican and the chasm of Catholic ideology itself. In the tremors of night vision, a demented creature stalks the gloom and their fate is sealed, the camera ever watchful as they disappear into that evil night. (B+)
dang! where did you get the dvd? i've been waiting for netflix to carry this, but from what i can tell it hasn't been released on dvd in the states yet.oh, now i see. i read in your earlier post that you it's a region 2 copy...curses!
Sorry Phillip, I just recieved my 2-disc UK version: I'm not sure when a US release is planned but you can always save it in your Netflix queue. One point I forgot to mention, the song at the end of the film brings the momentum to a screetching halt, it's overblown and out-of-place. WTF were they thinking? We're taken on a 70 minute ride through Hell to end on a stupid pop-rock song?!? Try to hit the mute button quickly:) Otherwise, as you can read, I thought it a very good horror film.
i've had it in my netflix queue for over a month. they don't list when it will be released...pop music inserted in cinema....usually a bad idea.
[REC:] (Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza, 2007)Warning: an entire plague of SPOILERS
Alex and a few other friends have been raving about this film for months, but it wasn't until just recently that the film has been widely distributed on DVD in the United States. Almost immediately after the film's release in Europe, an American remake entitled "Quarantine" was released. Apparently, there are miniscule differences between the Spanish version and the American remake. I'm going to focus on the original Spanish film, and don't really have an interest in seeing the remake, but if you like horror and don't like reading subtitles you might choose Quarantine. Since I haven't seen the remake, I can't comment on the similarity or quality of the remake.
[REC:] is the story of a young and enthusiastic televison crew whose weekly program presents portraits of everyday life "after dark" (ala reality TV). The team of cameraman and anchor-woman go on an assignment with a pair of firefighters who answer a distress call in a paramedic capacity. The film begins rather suddenly without titles or anything at all to draw your attention to the idea that you are watching a movie. From beginning to end, [REC :] maintains a live-TV broadcast feel, composed mainly in long shots with very little editing. The first few minutes of the film, where the directors are developing their characters in a natural way, presents a sense of the ordinary that puts the viewer at ease.
Once the crew and the paramedics arrive at their destination things begin to quickly fall apart. A woman in an upper floor unit is reported "in distress", and her screams are heard from above. The crew investigates and enters the apartment to find her clothed in a silk slip that is covered in blood.
From there until the end things go terribly bad, and this terminal tragedy ends with the camera crashing to the floor...and along with it our hope for a happy ending.
What is really startling about the film is the quality of the performances, which never feel like performances at all. Due to the lack of editing and the improvised feel of the "script", the audience feels it is privvy to a lost surviving document from a night in hell. In the making of documentary included on the disc, the filmmakers reveal that the cast was never privvy to what would happen from day to day. The actors were given an idea of what would unfold in a scene (but a few of the key players knew what they were to do). So a lot of emotional reaction to the scenes really play out naturally, with candid responses of fear and terror on the faces of the participants.
For all zombie flick fans and those that like tight-rope suspense, I highly recommend this one. I could hardly breathe throughout. The violence is fairly minimal, a lot is semi-hidden from the camera, but as Hitchcock proved again and again, whatever the audience concocts in it's own mind is usually more horrible that what can be seen in concrete images.
I was slightly saddened to find out that this is EXACTLY the same as Quarantine, I was SO excited to see it but didnt realize it was the same movie only in a different language... guess i shouldve read more into it first.
i think we made some comments about that on this thread.so, which one did you like best?
i haven't seen quarantine and i don't really see the point.
Quarantine seemed like a giant rip-off of REC. The original is far better!
Phillip wrote: "[REC:] (Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza, 2007)"I have to say I was kind of underwhelmed when I originally watched it on the small screen (I think I ended up giving it *** and laughing at the plot holes), but I got a chance to see it on the big screen two weekends ago, and it was a LOT more fun that way...
I've seen both films. They're almost identical, really. The creature effects, especially with the creature in the penthouse, were better in REC. I think REC was superior to Quarantine, despite their similarities. The performances seemed more natural in REC, probably due to the fact that the actors weren't aware of what was going to happen, which is nigh impossible with a remake. But I might be biased because I seriously don't like Jennifer Carpenter (Quarantine's lead female). She annoys the hell out of me.
jill - yeah, she was one of the big reasons why i avoided quarantine...
I watched the US version of REC after the Spanish version. the Spanish version is far superior. I just looked at IMDB - QUARANTINE is the US name for what was released in the UK as REC so it is the US remake. REC is far better - I fast forwarded through most of QUARANTINE.
