There came a point during [REC] where I was so scared, I was forced to get up from my seat and push it back a few more feet away. By the end of the movie I was practically in the next room because I really couldn’t bear the sights and sounds I was witnessing in what I can safely describe as one of the scariest horror movies I’ve ever seen. Everything you hate about found footage films, everything you think you’ve seen is redefined and the bar is raised in this urban chemical disaster horror film known only as [REC] to the horror folks desperate for a glance. [REC] can be too real at times and whether that’s a plus or a negative is really debatable for the fans of the film; the directing team can capture the life of living in a run down tenement with insane accuracy thus creating a sheer sense of realism that keeps [REC] on a constantly blurred line of reality and fiction.

This is possible, it’s entirely possible an animal can contract an unknown disease, and if dire enough people would be locked in their apartment buildings until they were snuffed out or discovered a solution. Manuela Velasco gives an enormous performance as struggling news reporter Angela who is forced to do an overnight segment no one watches called “While You’re Sleeping.” Approaching the job with a sense of boredom, she spends the night learning about the local firefighters, and all seems normal up until they’re called to a local residence where the tenants have begun attacking each other. Velasco absolutely carries the film with her excellent reactionary performance as this reporter who feels compelled at first to grab a great story but then realizes she has to capture everything that’s happened for the sake of clarity should it become an epidemic.

Most importantly, the directors raise the issue that perhaps this infection really has a higher conscious than either of them really know, and pose this film as only the first half of a bigger epic that may take place since there’s an unexpected twist in the climax that explores the possibility that the people outside the building are just as clueless and in effect helpless as the people locked up in the tenement. [REC] relies on utterly gritty guerilla filmmaking that’s absolutely fantastic in the way of effectiveness and delivery of scares; the monsters look horrifying and possess an agility to them that could only occur due to the speed of the infection which varies from person to person.

This possible disease is an prevalent mystery among the story with a starting source that always seems unclear, but the writers ensure that the audience will not be looking or waiting for answers, only wondering if our characters have a method of escape and what will lay beyond the closing credits for a world who are still unsure what is happening in the confines of the apartment building, and may likely experience the infection regardless of how well the walls are sealed. The last ten minutes are quite possibly some of the most horrifying and nightmarish images ever produced in horror cinema, and will keep viewers pushing back and hoping for the end. It’s a great day when a horror movie can leave you jittery and disturbed hours after viewing and unable to walk around your house without the lights on, but [REC] succeeds in this feat, and it’s a horror film that has to be seen before the US chokes it out with their own version, “Quarantine.”

You'd be better off tracking this down at local horror film festivals or through other sources, because America is presenting their own version before finally premiering this in our neck of the woods. Until then, [REC] is a fantastic, scary, and incredible horror film with a formula concept that succeeds in every single beat possible.

[   Link to Us   |   FAQ   |   Top^   ]
All written reviews material and content are a copyright of Felix Vasquez Jr. and Cinema Crazed.
Content borrowed without written permission will not be permitted.

¤ ¤ ¤