REC (2007) Review

Now, I've seen the America remake of REC, Quarantine, twice, but it's been awhile.  I remember really liking Quarantine, but most people told me that REC was better.  So I finally caved and decided to check REC out.  Does REC got it going on as much as Quarantine does?  Let's find out.



Reporter Ángela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman, Pablo (Pablo Rosso), are doing a story about a typical night at a fire station.  The firemen get a call about an old woman trapped in her apartment, screaming her head off.  Ángela and Pablo join the firefighters and travel to the apartment building.  They, along with some police officers, go upstairs to check on the old woman, who is covered and blood and bites one of the police officers.  They go back downstairs and find they are unable to leave the building because it is now under quarantine.  Ángela, Pablo, and the others trapped in the building are forced to try and figure out what is going on and how to escape the building alive.


What Works:

Like Quarantine, REC is a legitimately scary movie.  It's one of the few found-footage movies I actually like.  The last twenty minutes or so of the movie are really intense and kept me on the edge of my seat.  Plus, there's just something about zombie children that really freak me out.

I also appreciate that this movie has an actual reason for the characters to be recording everything.  It makes sense that a news crew would want to capture everything on camera.  Plus, near the end of the movie, Ángela and Pablo actually use the camera as a tool to help them survive.  Most of the time I get irritated with found-footage movies because they don't really have a reason to hang on to the camera, but it works in REC.


What Sucks:

My biggest problem with the movie is our protagonist, Angela.  She is really annoying.  She never shuts up, even with Pablo constantly shushing her.  She loses her cool like crazy near the end of the movie and it's really annoying to listen to.  I like my protagonists confident and capable.  I don't enjoy it when they just fall to pieces.

This isn't really a complaint about REC, but I can't help but compare it to Quarantine, which has an additional scene or two added to the movie that I really think helps.  The scene where a man gets attacked by a dog in an elevator and one where a man is shot trying to escape the quarantine are very memorable scenes from Quarantine.  Neither scene is in REC.  It's not really REC's fault, but I do think Quarantine is an improvement.

Verdict:

REC is a really good movie and one of the better found-footage movies.  It's got some great scares and good reasons to be a found-footage movie, and I really respect that.  I do think Quarantine is the superior film, but we wouldn't have Quarantine if it wasn't for REC, and I do think REC has got it going on.

 8/10: Really Good 

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