A new style of terror (Rec (DVD))

Member Name: l-m-n-o-p

Product:	Rec (DVD)
Date:	19/04/08 (211 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Absolutely terrifying, novel camera style

Disadvantages: Story/premise isn't anything special

Last night I watched [REC], a Spanish horror film which has garnered muchos critical buzz; Total Film calling it "gripping, unsettling and truly horrific", and one reviewer on the poster declaring it "the scariest movie ever". Just as cinemas are being flooded with lame, American horror movie remakes such as "The Eye" and "One Missed Call", this seemed like the real deal.

The title refers to its faux-documentary style, since it is filmed from the perspective of a camera man, Pablo, and his presenter, Angela, following a group of firemen for a TV show. Their night kicks off when they are called out to a block of flats, where neighbours have become worried about an elderly woman. On arrival, they find her covered in blood and acting strangely, and when they try to talk to her, she attacks and bites one of the firemen and a police officer.

Upon attempting to get an ambulance for the victims, they are informed by authorities outside that nobody is allowed to leave the building. It is being sealed off, and all people inside quarantined for fear of a virus escaping. Trapped inside the house with a group of scared, angry families, and refused explanation from the police outside, tension quickly mounts. Then the dead start returning to life...

This typical zombie premise is brought joltingly into the 21st century by the directors' use of the shaky handheld camera. Rather than just mimicking the current trend for verité camera work which was started by The Blair Witch Project almost ten years ago (Diary of the Dead and Cloverfield both did the same this year), [REC] progresses the technique and improves on its predecessors in several ways. For a start, the camera isn't actually terribly shaky. As you might expect from a supposedly professional cameraman, Pablo manages to keep the majority of the film nausea-free. Obviously as the violence, and the terror, builds, he begins to lose his professionalism and gets caught up in the moment, at which point the film becomes realistically disorientating.

Whilst The Blair Witch Project dealt on a premise of the unknown, and used a sense of unease to scare the audience, [REC] combines the stylistic realism with brutal violence and genuine shocks. The final thirty minutes is the most consistently scary, excruciatingly tense experience I've ever had with a film. With zombies on the rampage and survivors dwindling, there is absolutely no let-up from the action, the pace is furious and at 78 minutes, the film is short enough to ensure no excess baggage. There is also some nasty gore on show, aided rather than restricted by the film's low budget and incessant realism.

Before that, though, the film takes its time to build up the sense of dread. After the initial lock-down of the house, there is a period of waiting; waiting for answers from outside, and waiting to see what becomes of the infected. During this middle section, Angela interviews all the neighbours in turn, and their answers help fuel the mystery of the virus, as well as creating a genuine sense of bafflement and helplessness. Surprisingly, there's time for both dark humour (a man who cares about his appearance on TV more than the situation) and racial politics (the Spaniards all feel their Chinese neighbours are to blame).

This matters little by the end, though, for them and for the viewer. What little characterisation there was vanishes as the fear level rises. Just when you think it couldn't get much scarier, the lights go out, and we are left with the camera's torch, and finally just the night vision lense, in a scene reminiscent of Clarice Starling's in The Silence of the Lambs, but even more nerve-shredding, if that's possible.

I'm going to go out on a limb and declare this the single most frightening film I have ever seen. Others may have single scarier scenes (the ending of The Blair Witch Project probably still holds that title for me), but none can match [REC] for its perfect combination of creepy-house tension, gripping realism and violent shocks.

A blend of The Blair Witch, Dawn of the Dead and BBC's The Murder Game, this is definitely worth watching for those brave enough.

That's why I'm so annoyed the American remake, Quarantine, has already been made.
_________________________________________________ _____
It's only just been released in the UK, in a limited number of cinemas, and it doesn't have a US release at all. Word is that the DVD will be released after the remake comes out, which should be October 2008.

Directed by: Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza
Running time: 78 minutes

Certificate: 18 (strong bloody violence and sustained terror)
My rating: 9/10

Summary: A very gruesome, shocking and scary Spanish horror