May 7th, 2008 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Films |

[REC] (2007)

by Ghastly McNasty

[REC] is one of the recent batch of films to employ the use of first person storytelling, the others being Diary of The Dead and the smash hit Cloverfield. Some people may find the handheld shaky camera work to be annoying but in REC’s case it certainly ads to the tension that builds gradually throughout the film. This is a low budget Spanish horror movie that can easily hold its own when compared to the grand-mommy of the genre, The Blair Witch Project (1999).

Documenting the humdrum working lives of a local firecrew, reporter Angela Valesco and her cameraman Pablo are so bored the decide to join along with an emergency call out to help an old lady locked out of her apartment. The news team and firecrew then find themselves locked inside, unable to escape as the authorities have completely sealed the building as part of standard quarantine procedures. The chaos and terror then begins to escalate as each new attempt to escape is thwarted and the remaining tenants succumb to an unknown disease.

Opinion
[REC] is clearly influenced my many different types of horror movies and could be described as slightly unoriginal because of this. However REC’s influences are also its strengths. It’s taken only the scariest of horror movies as a guide to horror should be made. The result is, in places, absolutely petrifying!

The hand held style only adds to the movie in that you feel trapped inside the apartment with the cameraman and remaining survivors. You are seeing what the characters in the story are seeing and, like them, are powerless to control the unfolding events.

This is a zombie movie at heart, and using the turbo-zombie style from 28 Days Later (2002) in such a confined area only manages to crank up the sense of urgency and impending doom that make this film so scary. There are only so many places the survivors can hide and the infection is spreading fast.

Rating
A movie that uses the first person camera style to good effect and has some genuinely terrifying images. 8/10

by Ghastly McNasty

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1 Comments

• M.I.K., May 9, 2008:

  Looks interesting and the UK website is cool… http://www.recmovie.co.uk/

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