Gruesome Twosome Day 24: REC
A Spanish import for Sunday night: REC. I saw the American remake, Quarantine, before I knew about REC. I'll try to keep the comparisons to a minimum.
REC is one of those POV movies that have been popular the last few years. The camera operator is observing what you're observing. This one is fairly well done. We join a news crew as they follow a firecrew for the night shift. When they enter an apartment building to rescue an injured old woman locked in her room, they free more than they anticipated. The old woman takes a bite out of a policeman helping the crew. Shortly after stabilizing him, one of the firemen falls from the third floor where he was also bitten. At this point the building is locked down by authorities. It seems they suspect some sort of contagion to be loose.
From here it's back and forth between the second policeman and the other fireman. The infighting between residents as they demand to know why they're locked inside the building. And the newswoman and her cameraman filming everything despite repeated warnings from the nervous policeman. There's finger pointing, resident hunting, and even a hazmat suited doctor to raise the tension. As more people become ill and still more become violent, we're left to follow a desperate team as they struggle to survive in a tiny building in the middle of a giant city.
The movie clocks in at a brief 78 minutes. The cast was unknown to me and handled their roles well. The camera work in REC was exactly the right mix of shaky and focused...not too perfect (Quarantine seemed too nice). There was one scene from the remake I kept hoping for and never received, but I'll live. I found REC's ending more satisfying than the remake's. Overall an excellent way to spend an evening.
See it. The jumps and scares are well balanced with the gross.
Read ManWithPez's reviews. Could he handle watching the through the end?
REC is one of those POV movies that have been popular the last few years. The camera operator is observing what you're observing. This one is fairly well done. We join a news crew as they follow a firecrew for the night shift. When they enter an apartment building to rescue an injured old woman locked in her room, they free more than they anticipated. The old woman takes a bite out of a policeman helping the crew. Shortly after stabilizing him, one of the firemen falls from the third floor where he was also bitten. At this point the building is locked down by authorities. It seems they suspect some sort of contagion to be loose.
Click to viewFrom here it's back and forth between the second policeman and the other fireman. The infighting between residents as they demand to know why they're locked inside the building. And the newswoman and her cameraman filming everything despite repeated warnings from the nervous policeman. There's finger pointing, resident hunting, and even a hazmat suited doctor to raise the tension. As more people become ill and still more become violent, we're left to follow a desperate team as they struggle to survive in a tiny building in the middle of a giant city.
The movie clocks in at a brief 78 minutes. The cast was unknown to me and handled their roles well. The camera work in REC was exactly the right mix of shaky and focused...not too perfect (Quarantine seemed too nice). There was one scene from the remake I kept hoping for and never received, but I'll live. I found REC's ending more satisfying than the remake's. Overall an excellent way to spend an evening.
See it. The jumps and scares are well balanced with the gross.
Read ManWithPez's reviews. Could he handle watching the through the end?