[REC]

REC

I just watched [REC] not realizing it was the original version of Quarantine which I saw last year in the theater. Hard to believe this zombie/sickness genre is still so popular. Since the plot is the same for both movies this is a double review. A young female reporter is shadowing some firefighters for a news documentary. She and her cameraman follow them to an apartment building in response to a call about a sick person. Sick is an understatement. When the alleged infirmed start rabidly biting people we know somethings up. The police quarantine everyone to the building to prevent the infected from escaping. Lucky for us, the cameraman films everything and we soon learn survival is looking bleak. There is a big reference to Romero’s Night of the Living Dead when an adorable little girl with “tonsillitis” suddenly turns zombie and starts attacking. Filmed in a documentary style with a shaky handheld camera, this is face paced and engaging. You feel their isolation and hope someone comes out of of this alive. the last 10-15 minutes are the most intense so wait for it. I happen to think the Spanish version is better but if you can’t deal with dubbing or subtitles just watch Quarantine. Same effect.