Reviewed by Michael Edwards
Stars Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge Yamam, Carlos Lasarte, Pablo Rosso, David Vert, Vincente Gil,
Martha Carbonell, Carlos Vicente, Jorge Serrano | Written by Jaume Balaguero, Luis Berdejo & Paco Plaza
UK certification 18 | UK RRP £17.99 | Runtime 85 minutes | Directed by Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza
From Spanish directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, [REC] is a thoroughly entertaining scare-fest. A pretty news reporter (Valesco) and her cameraman (Terraza) begin the evening filming their documentary show about firemen on the nightshift. The firemen are called to an incident at a block of flats where it all kicks off. And by that I mean it turns into a microcosm of 28 Days Later. There's some form of crazy zombifying disease in this building, the government act promptly to quarantine the building to prevent its spread and the documentary crew spend their night fighting off zombie-type creatures.
The style is the now all-too-familiar handheld camera affair, but with the added bonus that the cameraman is a professional rather than a bloke at a party or a inexperienced student which will raise a cheer from the seasick-prone, as well as those of us who resent watching a movie with our heads tilted at a 10-degree angle. It also means our guide mainly captures the many gory scenes (enough to satisfy bloodthirsty horror fans) with decent clarity. Another plus is that the action mostly avoids the crass tools of the trade like unnecessarily loud noises, shapes flitting rapidly across the background and inexplicable sounds in the distance.
Frankly that's almost all you need to know about this movie ... almost. It's pretty much the opposite of the highly regarded The Orphanage. [REC] is totally lacking in suspense and a carefully crafted atmosphere, and it revels in its persistent and unrelenting gory scare-factor. But there remains one huge difference which is a massive selling point in my books, and that's it doesn't think the scariest bit of a horror movie is the build-up. I loved the tension, eeriness and sense of location in The Orphanage, but the ending was a let down. In contrast, I chuckled and squirmed and jumped as [REC] progressed, and when the ending came I leapt out of my seat. What starts as a decent but unoriginal format descends into the freakiest, most utterly unexpected ending in a long-time, and this at a time when films seem sorely lacking in good ideas on how to finish. I challenge you to watch [REC] without either soiling yourself or laughing with manic glee at the unexpected genius of the end.
EXTRAS *** A making-of featurette, plus behind-the-scenes footage; interviews with members of the crew; extended and deleted scenes; UK TV spots and the UK trailer.