Lyzsi SinclairMovie Review - "[Rec]"...
“[Rec]” is a 2007 Spanish horror film, co-written and directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza (also co-written by Luis A. Berdejo). It’s presented as footage filmed over the course of one night from a handheld video camera (a style copied by "Cloverfield"), and stars Manuela Velasco, Pablo Rosso (the cinematographer for the film) and Ferrán Terraza.
Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) is a late-night television reporter who is sent off to film a fluff piece on what happens during a typical night’s work at a local fire station. Along with her cameraman Pablo (Pablo Rosso), she soon finds herself hoping for an alarm call to come in to cure the boredom – and hopefully make for some exciting television. It’s not too long before her hopes are answered, and she and Pablo go off with firemen Manu (Ferrán Terraza) and Alex (David Vert) on a routine house call – for what appears to be an elderly woman trapped in her apartment. When they get there they find a couple of local police officers already present, after a neighbour in the apartment building had called reporting ‘bloodcurdling screams’. With Angela telling Pablo to record everything they find themselves (along with everyone else in the building) sealed off by health officials, and in the midst of a series of horrifying events. But when it’s revealed a terrifying infection is fast spreading – and with them all being held hostage inside the building by outside authorities – will any of them get out alive? All that’s left to do is [Rec]ord...
I think I should state first that this is a film I’ve wanted to see for ages – after I had found out that the less-than-impressive American film “Quarantine” was a remake of it, (I know, I watched them in the wrong order). After seeing “Quarantine” I felt it was a slightly glossed-over film, and nothing about it really made me scared or uncomfortable, or worry whenever there was a weird noise when I was alone in my house at night afterwards. I think however that I can confidently say that “[Rec]” was an immensely stronger, scarier, far greater and well-executed film. The action felt more realistic, and the pace kept with well-spaced scares that made me jump quite a few times.
Manuela Velasco’s character was one who started off as a little annoying for me, but that I felt was all part of the characterisation. As the film progresses and she’s put in a situation that she realises is more about survival than about great television, you start to see where her morality really lies. From ‘filming to get good television’ to ‘people need to know what went on here’, her character’s progression is natural and well performed. The little girl from the apartment building Jennifer (played by Claudia Silva) was good for her part – and the reveal of her turning into one of the infected was brilliant. I can’t remember if that happened in “Quarantine”; but the fact that I can pretty much remember every scene of “[Rec]” after only one viewing, proves to me that it was a good film that was worth watching.
The film is Spanish language with English subtitles, so if you’re not good at reading and taking in action (I mentioned this in my “Heartbreaker” review) then it’s maybe not a film for you. The fact that things were fast but not too fast at the end meant you could read and get a handle on what was going on, without missing anything. I personally think Spanish is a beautiful language, so I was perhaps indulging my own love for it and enjoying the speech a lot more than most. All performances were strong and realistic, some laced with humour which I find definitely helps in a horror setting. Carlos Lasarte played César, one of the residents of the apartment building – and his character was a funny elderly man who was slightly vain, and a little racist also; but it was brilliantly comical how when he realised the camera was on, he tried to act like he hadn’t said a word. There was also an elderly couple, who seemed like they’d been together forever and where just so used to each other’s company, that it felt quite endearing. Building up a host of different characters was interesting to watch, but nothing was built up too much that you focused on any one story outside of what was being recorded by Pablo and Angela.
The make-up and effects in this film aren’t overdone either. There’s no over-used CGI enhancement to the infected people, and it’s a better film for it. Zombies/Infection films are one of my favourites to watch, but for me all of the effects in the world don’t always help increase the terror-factor. George A. Romero’s “Night Of The Living Dead” will always be scarier to me than any nonsense that’s been put through a computer to increase gore-factor. “[Rec]” seemed to apply make-up effects where needed and when then did they really freaked me out; a part where a senior police officer (Vicente Gil) had his cheek bitten into by the infected elderly woman, was gory and a little stomach-churning for me - which added to the strength of the film. Also, the sets of the apartment building seem normal, but when the building is sealed off and things start to get scary, they take on an almost claustrophobic quality – and the film takes that same feeling on. Having nowhere to run to and that feeling of being trapped definitely helps me feel the terror a bit more.
If I have one qualm with this film, it’s the ending. Electrically terrifying as it was (I do believe I jumped 5 feet in the air at a certain attic scene), it left me with so many unanswered questions. The subtitles didn’t always help me understand the story, or what the news articles on the wall all talked about. The aforementioned attic scene seemed to contain a young boy of which hadn’t been mentioned as living in the apartment, or being in there at all. There’s no explanation really (unless I missed something) here of how the virus got out, especially from an apartment that had been locked for months and months. I did have a look on wikipedia afterwards for some answers, but I still don’t quite get it. It could just be me here, so I’d be interested if anyone else didn’t get it – or had to look it up. It's possible that things are answered in the sequel (which I unfortunately haven't seen as of yet), so I have some hopes there. At the end of it all however, it didn’t really matter since the film still did what I wanted it to; shake me up and leave me scared.
So overall, this is a brilliant film in my opinion. Scary, realistic and claustrophobic – it’s got all you need in for a night in hidden under the covers. The shaky camerawork doesn’t leave you feeling queasy, and the infected give you bad dreams, who could ask for more…? The ending may leave you a little confused so “[Rec]” gets an 8/10 from me. Flix Out.
P.s. My apologies for a slight absense of late, normal review service should now be resumed...
Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) is a late-night television reporter who is sent off to film a fluff piece on what happens during a typical night’s work at a local fire station. Along with her cameraman Pablo (Pablo Rosso), she soon finds herself hoping for an alarm call to come in to cure the boredom – and hopefully make for some exciting television. It’s not too long before her hopes are answered, and she and Pablo go off with firemen Manu (Ferrán Terraza) and Alex (David Vert) on a routine house call – for what appears to be an elderly woman trapped in her apartment. When they get there they find a couple of local police officers already present, after a neighbour in the apartment building had called reporting ‘bloodcurdling screams’. With Angela telling Pablo to record everything they find themselves (along with everyone else in the building) sealed off by health officials, and in the midst of a series of horrifying events. But when it’s revealed a terrifying infection is fast spreading – and with them all being held hostage inside the building by outside authorities – will any of them get out alive? All that’s left to do is [Rec]ord...
Angela's television segment is going to go in a whole other direction...
I think I should state first that this is a film I’ve wanted to see for ages – after I had found out that the less-than-impressive American film “Quarantine” was a remake of it, (I know, I watched them in the wrong order). After seeing “Quarantine” I felt it was a slightly glossed-over film, and nothing about it really made me scared or uncomfortable, or worry whenever there was a weird noise when I was alone in my house at night afterwards. I think however that I can confidently say that “[Rec]” was an immensely stronger, scarier, far greater and well-executed film. The action felt more realistic, and the pace kept with well-spaced scares that made me jump quite a few times.
Manuela Velasco’s character was one who started off as a little annoying for me, but that I felt was all part of the characterisation. As the film progresses and she’s put in a situation that she realises is more about survival than about great television, you start to see where her morality really lies. From ‘filming to get good television’ to ‘people need to know what went on here’, her character’s progression is natural and well performed. The little girl from the apartment building Jennifer (played by Claudia Silva) was good for her part – and the reveal of her turning into one of the infected was brilliant. I can’t remember if that happened in “Quarantine”; but the fact that I can pretty much remember every scene of “[Rec]” after only one viewing, proves to me that it was a good film that was worth watching.
Looks like it's someone's bedtime...
The film is Spanish language with English subtitles, so if you’re not good at reading and taking in action (I mentioned this in my “Heartbreaker” review) then it’s maybe not a film for you. The fact that things were fast but not too fast at the end meant you could read and get a handle on what was going on, without missing anything. I personally think Spanish is a beautiful language, so I was perhaps indulging my own love for it and enjoying the speech a lot more than most. All performances were strong and realistic, some laced with humour which I find definitely helps in a horror setting. Carlos Lasarte played César, one of the residents of the apartment building – and his character was a funny elderly man who was slightly vain, and a little racist also; but it was brilliantly comical how when he realised the camera was on, he tried to act like he hadn’t said a word. There was also an elderly couple, who seemed like they’d been together forever and where just so used to each other’s company, that it felt quite endearing. Building up a host of different characters was interesting to watch, but nothing was built up too much that you focused on any one story outside of what was being recorded by Pablo and Angela.
A host of characters, means a host of deaths...
The make-up and effects in this film aren’t overdone either. There’s no over-used CGI enhancement to the infected people, and it’s a better film for it. Zombies/Infection films are one of my favourites to watch, but for me all of the effects in the world don’t always help increase the terror-factor. George A. Romero’s “Night Of The Living Dead” will always be scarier to me than any nonsense that’s been put through a computer to increase gore-factor. “[Rec]” seemed to apply make-up effects where needed and when then did they really freaked me out; a part where a senior police officer (Vicente Gil) had his cheek bitten into by the infected elderly woman, was gory and a little stomach-churning for me - which added to the strength of the film. Also, the sets of the apartment building seem normal, but when the building is sealed off and things start to get scary, they take on an almost claustrophobic quality – and the film takes that same feeling on. Having nowhere to run to and that feeling of being trapped definitely helps me feel the terror a bit more.
Make-up effects were scary and really well-done.
If I have one qualm with this film, it’s the ending. Electrically terrifying as it was (I do believe I jumped 5 feet in the air at a certain attic scene), it left me with so many unanswered questions. The subtitles didn’t always help me understand the story, or what the news articles on the wall all talked about. The aforementioned attic scene seemed to contain a young boy of which hadn’t been mentioned as living in the apartment, or being in there at all. There’s no explanation really (unless I missed something) here of how the virus got out, especially from an apartment that had been locked for months and months. I did have a look on wikipedia afterwards for some answers, but I still don’t quite get it. It could just be me here, so I’d be interested if anyone else didn’t get it – or had to look it up. It's possible that things are answered in the sequel (which I unfortunately haven't seen as of yet), so I have some hopes there. At the end of it all however, it didn’t really matter since the film still did what I wanted it to; shake me up and leave me scared.
So overall, this is a brilliant film in my opinion. Scary, realistic and claustrophobic – it’s got all you need in for a night in hidden under the covers. The shaky camerawork doesn’t leave you feeling queasy, and the infected give you bad dreams, who could ask for more…? The ending may leave you a little confused so “[Rec]” gets an 8/10 from me. Flix Out.
P.s. My apologies for a slight absense of late, normal review service should now be resumed...
Film & TV on DVD
I was really impressed with Rec too. Quite fresh and sustained the fright well...We differ though on Quarantine, which I thought was possibly the only remake of a foreign horror that I have seen to stay true to the essence of the source while massaging the mythology.
From my own review of Quarantine:
"Director John Erick Dowdle (The Poughkeepsie Tapes) is savvy enough to keep what worked about REC and for the most part adds only subtle polishes. Where a redundant shot for shot cover version would have only added an English language rip off, what sets this above are the extension of ideas and refinement of plot detail. The trick is that none of the new moments swallow up the raw atmosphere.
Taking a syringe that mirrors most of the source, the screenplay manages to expand on the mythology of the disease. Unlike many US remakes that do this to dumb down or remove ambiguity, in this case it actually injects a verisimilitude that infers inhumane conspiracy."
Cinema Nut
Film News and Reviews...
I missed out on seeing "[Rec] 2" at the cinema which annoys me a little since I now have to wait til September for the DVD. I know that it follows on from the events of the first one so I look forward to that. I'm not keen on the "Quarantine" sequel however which is supposedly taking place in an airport...? That doesn't sound like it's going to be any good really, and it disappoints me because Hollywood are capable of good horror films - they just don't pull them out of the bag too often. Will you go see it when it's out?
Film & TV on DVD
I will certainly be seeing Rec 2!
Quarantine 2, is a maybe.
Cinema Nut
Film News and Reviews...
We shall have to compare our thoughts when we've both seen "Rec 2"...
Horrorphile
[REC] 2 hasn't been given a theatrical down under which is a shame.
Quarantine 2 probably will.
Good review Lyzsi. I agree there was an element of confusion during the top apartment sequence, but I liked that it confusing, it made it more nightmarish.