Quarantine
Added 11/21/2009
I had the opportunity recently to catch Quarantine, the 2008 American "re-do" of 2007's [REC]. So I said to myself, "why not give the original a look to see if they were on par with each other." And [REC] was worth the look. But why do I call Quarantine a "re-do" instead of a "re-make", you ask? I'll get to that in a minute.
{REC} is a very well done Spanish film by Jaume Balagueró & Paco Plaza that kind of combines the idea of Rage virus infected maniacs from 28 Days Later with the notion that zombies and demonic possession are nothing more than a mutated virus strain. Oh don't worry, I'm not spoiling anything here!
I mean really...both movies ultimately offer no better explanation for the origin of what's going on than any of its predecessors. I'd say that Resident Evil & 28 Days Later make the best attempts to suggest origins for why "zombies" are walking the earth, but even those leave the door wide open to prequels or sequels that change the whole idea of "what started it all."
So enter [REC] with a somewhat unique explanation (a la videogame-esque recording device found by the characters late in the film) of why zombies haunt this story. But before that device is found, our characters go through a Hell of being trapped in a multi-level apartment building with some pretty ghastly creatures. 99% the same story for Quarantine.
The camera work in both movies is unfortunately in the same vein as some recent films that tried to present a more realistic environment with a single hand-held camera capturing all the action, a la Blair Witch, Cloverfield or Diary of the Dead. But all that the hand-held camera work really does is annoy the living dead out of ya.
Somewhere between 2007 & 2008, little known Director John Erick Dowdle basically stole [REC], inserted American actors and released [REC] as a "re-do" in America under the title Quarantine. Yes...I said "re-do" as opposed to "re-make". A re-make is when a director takes an older film, sometimes even a classic, and makes it better. A re-do is when a director takes a film and adds nothing to the original (and in most cases makes it worse). The 2008 version of Quarantine is clearly just a re-do.
I'd recommend catching one or the other for some good fun scares. There is no reason to see both.
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[Amazing]
Added 11/9/2009
I have to admit, I did watch the american version of this film first, Quarantine. I had heard of [REC] but couldnt get my hands on a copy. I liked Quarantine, didnt love it though.
I loved [REC]. There is something to be said about watching a horror movie in another language. This film is Spanish, so we get very quick dialogue, and when the situation becomes dire, we are given a frantic diatribe of pure horrific reaction. Its a simple set up really, which we should all be used to by now! The viewpoint of a camera, shaky and grainy at times, dark and barely lit at others, someone talking straight to it and sometimes behind, beside and around it. A reporter named Angela is on a show called "While Youre Asleep", its about what goes on the world while you are tucked up safely in your bed. Angela and her camera guy Pablo (who we never see, and I love that we never see him) go to a firehouse to interview the firemen, maybe get lucky and ride along on a call. Angela, despite the banality of the assignment, seems peppy and perky enough to hold your interest, I loved her pigtails. So a call comes in that a woman in an apartment building is injured, and they quickly jump into the firetrucks and go!
At the building, the rest of the tenants are in the downstairs lobby, and there are also two cops there as well. They go up to the ladies apartment on the first floor and find a woman who is covered in blood, and crazed out of her mind, she bites a cop and everything goes downhill from there. Apparantly she has a virus of some sort and its spread through biting, they arent zombies, they are "infected". I happen to love "infected" Horror, because they are so much more unpredictable and give the viewers a sense of total urgency, RUN, HIDE, RUN, FIGHT! its exhilirating.
I loved this original version alot more than its american sibling because they didnt feel the need to explain everything, the audience didnt need to know EVERYTHING about the virus, where it comes from, how its spread, etc. There has to be something left to mystery and that is what good horror is about. Its a short movie but it gets the job done, there isnt a need to make it longer.
The special effects were very well done, the camera work by "pablo" wasnt too shaky to be unwatchable and just enough to give us that sense of watching a true documentary. Anyone who loves these types of films should definitely watch this, buy it.
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A FANTASTIC ZOMBIE FILM 9.25 OUT OF 10
Added 10/17/2009
For those of you who don't know, this is the film that inspired last year's zombie film Quarantine. While critics were mixed about the American remake, they raved about the Spanish original which is really good (Though I also really loved Quarantine as well because I'm a nut for zombie films). If you haven't seen this phenomenal zombie film, then it's a definite must-see.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: The story is about a news crew; reporter Angela Vidal and her cameraman Pablo; for the show While You're Asleep in which they spend their time with the fire department, recording and showing what it's like in the every day life of the firemen. At first they're bored and waiting for a call to spice up some excitement. Then they finally get a call that reports that an old woman is trapped in her apartment, so the firefighters, along with Angela and Pablo, go to investigate. When they get to the scene, the old woman is acting strange, and attacks a police officer. So as the group is rushing downstairs to get help, the group finds out that they are trapped inside the building and are not allowed to leave. Now everyone in the building is trapped with vicious zombies infected with a mysterious new form of rabies, and there is no escape, and they can only record the events that happen. The story is pretty much the same as Quarantine's, so if you've already seen that film, there isn't much new.
MUSIC: I wish these cam corder films had music, but sadly they do not, and this film is no exception.
ACTION: This film is very intense, in fact it's more intense than Quarantine and more believable. Picture a cross between 28 Days Later and Cloverfield, and you've got this film. This film is also pretty damn scary too, and serves as a perfect late night horror flick. This area is extremely well-done and will definitely satisfy rabid horror fans.
ACTING: Although I liked the acting in Quarantine, I would have to say REC's actors are better and more believable. These actors definitely give you the impression of fear, especially the main actress Manuela Velasco. Her performance is one of the few good performances in horror films. The other actors also did a superb job and I find no flaws in their performances.
OVERALL: The only real problem in this film is the fact that there is no music. However, I do see people popping up and saying that this film makes them sick because of the camera shake, so be warned if you get motion sickness. If you're a rabid horror fan looking for a great horror film, then this is a must. DO NOT WATCH THIS DUBBED, WATCH IT IN ITS ORIGINAL FORM WHICH IS IN SPANISH.
THE GOOD: It's scary, it's gory, it feels realistic, the actors are great, and it's never boring.
THE BAD: No music and it might give people motion sickness.
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Not worth the time.
Added 10/13/2009
I rented this from Amazon and felt that I wasted my time and money for the following reasons:
1. The whole thing felt staged (forced acting, bad directing, shallow and predictable story).
2. Barely over an hour long (you need to do better than an hour in my opinion if you expect me to pay full movie prices).
3. Not scary in the slightest bit. In fact you could call this boring. I found myself on the verge of nodding off at points!
4. Absolutely God awful English dub!!! I would have rather Amazon had the original with English subtitles because this dubbing was plain garbage!
Save yourself the money unless you want to have a good laugh at a poorly done "horror" movie.
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it's ok if you are bored...
Added 10/13/2009
After hearing this movie's title come up over and over again, often in the same breath as "Let the Right One In," i expected A LOT more out of this.
Let's start with the dub-overs...
The choices in voice actors for this were absolutely atrocious. At no point in time are you able to believe the voice is coming out of the person you are seeing. An old woman seems voiced-over by some woman in her forties, a twenty-year old the same. Granted, it kills the illusion while their mouth completely doesn't match the words either and keeps moving silently, but I'd have given some allowance for that. It would certainly be better if you spoke Spanish and could watch it in its original form, but even then, I don't see my rating going above 3 stars.
As for the movie content itself, it is absolutely nowhere remotely close to the caliber of "Let the Right One In" - not at all. I suppose if you also enjoyed Blair Witch or other extremely low-quality movies that are not at all scary then perhaps this movie might be for you, but for anyone seeking a quality horror film that is not "out of the box," not predictable or about a subject that has more than run its course, find something else. This movie does try with its Grudge-type "boo! it's a freaky little kid face" moments, but that is about the only time you might jump or anything (if you had been dozing off). The biggest suspense for me was waiting for the cute little girl "star" of the movie to get her white tank top wet so guys could see some "omg boobies!" (Yes, that's indicative of my perceptions of the quality of this film).
The story idea was maybe alright, but could have been a million times better. The story part seemed an afterthought to the aforementioned "boo!" scenes.
Honestly, I've seen better youtube video shorts.
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