Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2.5/4
"[Rec]" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 02/29/2012
[Rec] is a Spanish horror in which a camera crew following the local fire department stumble on an outbreak of a lethal virus and find themselves quarantined in an apartment building with the resulting flesh eating victims. It actually manages to side step many of the usual flaws of this kind of camcorder style horror film in that it has decent actors speaking real dialogue within a well engineered, structured plot line. It even uses the format to interesting effect, the cameraman often being brushed aside and forced away from the action, leaving us to hear and imagine what is going on off-sceen which is actually quite effective and adds to a genuine documentary-style experience. The effects are convincing without getting too gratuitously gory and technically, it is very accomplished. …
Rating of
4/4
[REC].
TrifibianTerror - wrote on 12/02/2009
[REC].
Now, I know this was spawned from the loins of The Blair Witch Project, and that there amny other films in this vein, such as Cloverfield and the ass sucking Diary of the Dead (that couldn't have sounded good in the Romero's head...), but this Spanish horror actually does well to bde freaky-deaky.
A news caster and camera man are sent out woith some firemen to document a daily routine. When the firemen are called out to an apartment block, they all find something more terrifying than a fire or accident. 90% of the residents in the block are now Rage style zombies! Chewing and screaming and being beastly! What gets me is that whenever the undead are enoucntered in a film, they are never eferred to as zombies, which whatt hey obviously are. They're alwyas 'them' or for some …
Rating of
3/4
Catch the Fever!
Chris Kavan - wrote on 07/17/2009
Finally saw this original version. As I had seen Quarantine first, I wasn't sure how this would hold up, but it was surprisingly good despite almost the exact same story. This one felt a little more raw and unpolished, but it helped rather than hindered. If you're a fan of horror, this should be seen, even if you've already watched Quarantine.
The pace goes a little faster, there is still plenty of gotcha! moments, mixed in with an overall feeling of helplessness and dread. If there's one complaint, it's that the characters are pretty flat - there's not much in the way of development beyond some pretty general strokes.
The ending is also a bit different, but I think it worked just as well, even if it had a more religious bent. Though it falls in the realm of a 28 days later - …
Rating of
3/4
Rawr.
FZero - wrote on 05/14/2008
Enter a cool idea, have a midnight news show go on a ride with firefighters, get stuck in a building with zombies. Much in the spirit of Diary Of The Dead with the exception of the allusions and social commentary being explained in a running voice over. Instead, take Dawn Of The Dead and instead of a mall put it in a small apartment building. This is what ultimately pushes the movie from mediocrity into memorability. The claustrophobic environment elevates the tension up a notch and believable characters another. I have always maintained how much I like movies filmed with one hand held camera, but in this instance at times it seemed to get away from the director. In some of the faster paced action scenes you could see a little stiffness from the actors as they waited to be hit or …
