John’s Movie Musings

Horror movies and I don’t get along.  At all.  It has to do with the fact they make me jump in a very unmanly fashion.  Often. So I tend to avoid the genre.  I’ve never seen any of the Saws, or Hostels and I’m pretty sure I’m not missing a whole lot.

I will make exceptions for a few series like the 28 Days/Weeks Later movies.  Or if something gets a lot of talk on the blogs and turns into a “Must See.”  [Rec] is one of those.  Filmed in only two buildings and shot with only a single camera, the movie follows a news reporter doing a story on the local fire department.  A call comes in about a woman trapped in her apartment and everyone goes to check it out.

As you might expect, the only view you get is from the cameraman.  And since he and the reporter are journalists, the camera goes where the action is.  So simple, yet it works so well.  Because the action takes place within a single apartment building, there’s a limited cast.  This builds suspense as you can keep track of where everyone should be.  And when they’re not there… boo.

Since I heard so many good things about [Rec], I knew I needed to see it sometime.  Watching it alone wasn’t at the top of my list, so I saved it for a business trip coming up.  My plan was to watch it on my iPod Touch during the flight, thinking the small screen would lessen any frightening moments.  Ha.  Let’s just say I had to apologize to the man in the middle seat more than once.

[Rec] comes to us from Spain, so be prepared for subtitles.  If that annoys you, there is an American remake called Quarantine.  But like all American remakes, I hear it’s horrible. On the plus side, it stars the sister from Dexter.

Definitely give this one a rent.  It’s not perfect, so the horror snobs may scoff, but I enjoyed it.  It’s a smart, subtle indie film that’ll give you at least a few scares.

Grade: B+