Review – REC (2007)

Zombie movies and “found footage” have overrun the horror genre like a bad case of herpes. It seems like one film from each of these sub-genres is popping out from Mother Horror every day. Most of them are rubbish. But once in a blue moon you’ll stumble upon one that’s worth your time. REC is one of them. 

Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) is the host of While You’re Sleeping, a television show that takes the viewer inside the city’s nightlife. While doing an episode on firefighters, a call sends them to an apartment complex. Once there, the building is quarantined off as a deadly virus has broken loose. Now, Angela, her cameraman, the residents, the firefighters and the police have to wait out the night and hope they don’t fall victim to this strange virus. Could it have something to do with the locked apartment at the top of the complex?

For those who don’t know, REC was remade as Quarantine here in the States. I’ve yet to see that one, so I won’t bother comparing them.

But I can say that REC is a hell of a ride. Sure, it starts off slow and might even have you wondering if you really aren’t watching some mundane TV show. But once the thrills kick in, it’s a steady climb to an excellent climax that delivers solid chills and scares. A scene involving a child is definitely an “Aw, shit…” moment. The last 20-minutes of the movie had me on the edge of my seat. And you’ll be there too.

The effects in REC are all practical, as they should be. And they are wonderful to behold. Bite marks and blood splatter grace your TV screen like royalty. REC isn’t over-the-top gory or anything, but it’ll definitely satiate gorehounds.

About the only gripe I have is that all the characters are flat. Thus, we don’t really care what happens to them. Also, Angela is annoying as all hell. She spends most of the film screaming and screaming and screaming and, for a change of pace, screaming some more. By the end, I was ready to shove a sock in her mouth just for a few moments of peace and quiet. And she’s one of those who screams and makes noise when told to shut the hell up.

Final Thoughts:

REC is an all-around good time at the movies. “Found footage” and zombies might be done to death, but REC proves there is still some life to be had in the formulas. The film is available to view on VUDU and Amazon Instant. Go watch it.