[Rec]

 

 

Create your own review

Simply put, Rec is one of the greatest horror films of all time. I wanted to stand up and cheer when the end credits started to roll - it's that good. The fact that I never saw it coming probably adds to my excitement, but this is one of those rare treasures that keeps horror lovers like myself going. As we suffer through unnecessary remakes, disappointing sequels, and cookie-cutter plots, there's always that little voice deep inside our brains telling us that maybe the next film will set the cockles of our little black hearts on fire - my friends, Rec is that film. Naturally, the US had to go and create a remake (Quarantine), but I urge you to get your hands on this Spanish original before you even think about spoiling the whole story by watching its American clone.

I knew absolutely nothing about this film going in - not even the title. In fact, I wasn't even sure it was a horror film when I started watching it. It starts out as a documentary featuring journalist Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) filming a "while you were sleeping" segment at a local fire station. As we watch Angela try to figure out anything interesting to do as she interviews individual firemen and walks through the station, we join her in hoping that a call will come in and add some excitement to a pretty boring night. When the call does come down, it doesn't promise much in the way of action - someone needs help getting a door open - but that changes pretty quickly once the fire and television crews arrive at the scene. Neighbors recount hearing screams from the dwelling of a strange old lady upstairs. Chaos ensues once the firemen and a policeman make their way into the apartment, quickly necessitating a dire need for an ambulance (and not just for the old lady). The film maintains the feel of a documentary throughout, as Angela's cameraman Pablo scrambles to get the most revealing of shots (successfully capturing the goriest of injuries that looked pretty damned realistic to me). That unwavering, underlying thread of realism will be a staple for everything yet to come - and there is indeed so very, very much to come.

Cue the paranoia and mutual suspicion as authorities arrive outside and begin to seal up the entire building, forbidding even the gravely injured from leaving. No one inside knows what is going on, and the authorities aren't talking - not even to the security guy struggling to maintain even a semblance of control among the motley crew of frightened neighbors, frustrated fireman, and the TV news crew filming everything that is going on. Things only get worse after a health official finally arrives - let's just say that, in this sort of situation, knowledge is not power. What follows, in the film's final half hour, is some of the most realistic, chaotic, intense, and frightening action to ever grace the big screen. Viewing everything that happens through the lens of Pablo's camera, the viewer essentially becomes another character in the film, trying to make sense of everything he is seeing or not seeing, then finding himself swept up in every instance of mad panic that sends everyone running pell-mell from one dark room to another or fighting for their very lives from the most unexpected of threats. The only times the camera stops rolling is when Pablo briefly accedes to the request of authorities to stop filming. With Angela continually barking at him to keep shooting, though, these little breaks in the action never last more than 15-20 seconds.

The entire cast is superb up and down the line. I've heard that most of the actors and actresses weren't told exactly what to expect for each hair-raising scene, thereby adding to the intensity of their reactions, but all I know for sure is that I would have had no doubts whatsoever in believing that everything I had just seen was completely real if I hadn't known it was a movie.

Get your hands on this movie any way you can. It's a brilliantly conceived and even more brilliantly executed horror masterpiece that I now count among my favorite horror films of all time. Obviously, I can't guarantee that you will love the film as much as I do, but I can't begin to imagine how any horror fan could walk away from this film without having been deeply impressed.

REC is quite simply one of the best modern horror films of the last 20 years. The cinema verite docu-horror style has been done to death in unsuccessful ways (Diary of the Dead are Cloverfield are particularly weak attempts) but REC single-handedly renews faith in the effectiveness of this style.

Of note is the wonderfully intense performance by Manuela Velasco who plays Angela Vidal, the main character. She is amazingly natural and her performance elicits real tension in the viewer. Perhaps the greatest thing about REC is that it's actually frightening. Imagine that - a horror movie these days that is actually scary! I've watched REC several times and its effect has not dulled, even after seeing the ridiculous US remake, Quarantine. The REC/Quarantine comparison is exemplary of how even a shot-for-shot remake can ruin a concept when there is a lack of talent involved.

Buy this movie - it is a modern horror masterpiece.

This movie is simply scary, intense and wonderful! Try to think about the scariest movie you've seen... now watch REC! It will eat it alive! If a horror movie is supposed to scare the S-word out of you, make you nervous, feel akward, make you not want to sleep in total darkness, then REC is a Horror movie a capital H.

Plot: Some reporter has to make a report on what happens during the night in the local fire station. It gets a call, nothing big, domestic disturbance by some old lady living in an appartement. Nothing serious, until they get to the place and "meet" the old lady. From there... it's totally out of control, realistic and super scary! Everything happens from the point of view of the cameraman. The feeling you get from watching this thing is simply indescribable. You forget you're in a movie and can't help but feel so helpless and weak! Now that's a horror movie! You also always kind of have a slight idea of what's coming, but the movie gets you every time when you think you are off-guards. "I know what's going to happen"... maybe but you don't know how, when or why!

It makes Cloverfield, the Blair Witch Project or Diary of the Dead seem like Barney the Dinosaur or stuff your grandma would film on a sunny afternoon in Ohio. It gives goosebumps! The best first-person type of movie ever! When this movie got famous in every fantastic movie festivals around the world, Sony Pictures bought the rights to the movie, blocked it from entering the "domestic market" of North America and arranged to film a quick remake/ripoff before too many people could see it, gave it a cheap marketing strategy and threw it across the land so people could think Hollywood producers are creative geniuses... unfortunately for them, "Quarantine" was seen as a cheap joke of a movie compared to the original, even when reproduced exactly shot by shot to the original. That's how good it is! Finally, after failling to reproduce foreign genius, they are releasing REC so people can see what a masterpiece it is!

Watch it in darkness, with someone and with the sound jacked-off. Best horror movie since the "Exorcist" maybe so don't miss it! Will certainly make you believe in the power of horror movies again and feel like a child. Buy it, it's valuable stuff.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 7 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

4.0 out of 5 stars Overrated
You know i say this movie is overrated but that doesnt mean its not good. In fact it is quite good. The problem is that people rave about it being the best horror in years. Read more

Published 14 months ago by Corpse

3.0 out of 5 stars Not that scary
As soon as it became clear (early on) that it was a zombie film, the storyline was very predictable. Therefore, I didn't find the film scary at all. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Francis P. Perron

5.0 out of 5 stars BEST HORROR FILM OF THE DECADE
[REC] is bloody hands down the finest horror movie of the past ten years.
Like all of the best horror, it has a slow, almost leisurely beginning. Read more

Published on Nov 24 2009 by Wildpeckinpah

4.0 out of 5 stars Realistic Horror
The movie is about a journalist and her camera man who tail a fire-fighter crew. The get a distress call at their station in the middle of the night. Read more

Published on May 6 2009 by Cozy Evenings with a Book

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 7 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!