[Rec]

[Rec] (2007)

90% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 21 reviews)

Runtime: 78 minutes

Directed by: Jaume Balaguero/Paco Plaza

Starring: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano, Pablo Rosso

From: Filmax

For some reviews the next few months, I hope to review a few different horror films from foreign countries. It’s been a hot place for that genre of films for awhile, whether it be those ghost movies from Japan/Far East Asia (although that trend that died down even in that region, let alone it being used for a few movies here, and besides The Ring and The Grudge being a minor success, it didn’t do too much), Argento/Fulci movies from Italy, British faire, or even some recent films from France, of all places. I reviewed a great drama from Sweden with horror elements, known as Let The Right One In.

Here, though, this movie is from Spain. The only Spanish movies I know are the horror ones, so yes, it’s Paul Naschy and films like The Orphanage and The Devil’s Backbone, although I haven’t seen any of those movies yet.

However, you may be familiar with this, even if you don’t know it. If you have seen the late 2008 horror film Quarantine, then that film is a remake of this, and from what I remember of Quarantine (I saw it once on the big screen; it was at a drive-in in Tampa, believe it or not) it was almost identical, except for some minor stuff… and one major plot point, which of course I won’t spoil here. Interestingly enough, not only is there a [Rec 2] that was released on the big screen over in Europe late last year (with at least two sequels to come after that), but there is a Quarantine 2 that will start filming soon.

Anyhow, if you’re not familiar with the movie Quarantine, I’ll tell you the plot of [Rec]. It’s a “found footage” movie (you know, it started with The Blair Witch Project. A person films something and later on, someone else finds the footage and views what happened) where a reporter, Angela Vidal (Velasco), and her cameraman pal Pablo (Rosso) are filming a segment for a local TV show in Barcelona. It’s at a fire station and they show what firemen typically do during an average night. After seeing them do some standard stuff at the firehouse, though, things heat up as they are called out to an apartment building as there was a call of a woman in an apartment who screamed bloody murder about something, and the other residents there can’t get the door to her apartment open. What sounds routine soon proves to be something extraordinary, as the residents of the apartment, Angela, Pablo, two firemen, and a cop all get locked in the building and they are unable to leave, even after some serious injuries happen. That’s when the fit hits the shan, so to speak, and that’s when the pace becomes very quick and you have a lot of stuff happening, some of it absolutely terrifying, and other stuff being some horrific images.

Like I said, I haven’t seen Quarantine in more than a year and a half but I do remember that and this being very similar in many ways, although there’s one big difference and some minor ones. One notable thing (and I remember hearing this at the time Quarantine came out) was that its final 5 or 10 minutes paled in comparison to the ending of [Rec], and I discovered that was exactly the case. Of course I won’t spoil anything, but some of the content was stuff that I’ll never forget.

Overall, this is a short yet effective horror film that is especially unnerving due to the “real” feel it has. I mean, you get to see brief snippets of Angela talking to the residents of the building, so you get to learn about them, and when what happens in the building happens… it’s pretty intense stuff.

Now, eventually I’ll have to watch Quarantine again, but at the time I thought that it was fine-enough. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it was just there. It wasn’t a bad try at all (Lord knows, there’s been some American remakes of foreign horror films that I hear are absolutely atrocious)… it’s just that the original was better, as is almost always the case. At least the remake allowed for the original to be released on DVD in the United States, and I’m glad I was able to see it finally. It’s a pretty great horror film and if you are a fan of the genre and are looking for something new and/or you haven’t been enthralled by the big budget horror movies of the past few years, you really need to check out this well-acted and simple yet effective movie.

Still check back here by Monday night, where I'll post at least one new review.