[ REC ]
Review: Hop on the “thank god I’m wearing dark pants” express, this is one scary ass movie. Ostensibly it’s another in a long line of “found footage” or fake documentary films (think Blair Witch, Man Bites dog etc ), this time with a zombie twist and Spanish accent. "it’s nice to see a horror film that isn’t mixed with lame attempts at blending horror and humour or smugly congratulating itself on how clever it is" Angela (the luscious Manuela Velasco) is the roving reporter for a TV show called “While you were sleeping” which documents things that happen in the city while people sleep, in this case the nocturnal lives of a local fire station crew. She’s accompanied to her latest assignment by cameraman Pablo (Pablo Rosso) and while everything seems disappointingly mundane and routine to begin with, things soon take horrifying and confronting turns when Angela and crew leave the firehouse and investigate the happenings in a local apartment building. They are at first met by a crazed old lady then have to deal with increasing levels of paranoia and fear amongst the tenants. Soon claustrophobia and fear are the order of the day as the reality of their situation in the form of quarantine and isolation sets in. It’s a safe bet that many reviews of this film feature the line “to give away too much more would spoil the film”, usually a cop-out for uncreative and lazy reviewers (I’ve used it many times), but in this case it’s perfectly valid. It really is a film that needs to be seen without too much foreknowledge. "A well-executed simple idea that grips you from the very start" And I dare speculate that every reviewer of the film cite the ending as being one of the most terrifying of all time. I heartily agree. Those last ten minutes or so would have to rank right up there with anything from The Exorcist, Jaws or any other groundbreaking horror film you care to cite. I only wish I had the opportunity to experience it on the big screen and not on dvd, that would have been one hell of a rollercoaster ride. The characters are all uniformly believable and you genuinely grow to like Angela and feel for her plight. The gore is fleeting but shocking and believable and it’s nice to see a horror film that isn’t mixed with lame attempts at blending horror and humour or smugly congratulating itself on how clever it is. This is just a well-executed simple idea that grips you from the very start. Directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza have done an amazing job and all of the DVD Holocaust community who haven’t seen this film already are urged to do so at their earliest convenience.
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