[Rec] (2007)

[Rec] (2007)
Directors: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
Writers: Jaume Balagueró, Luis Berdejo
Cast: Javier Botet, Manuel Bronchud, Martha Carbonell, Claudia Font
While covering the night shift at a small-town fire department, an ambitious young television reporter (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman follow the crew on a call to rescue an elderly woman unable to escape the inferno that is consuming her home. Upon their arrival at the scene, the calm midnight air is pierced by the sound of horrific screams, and the television report takes an unexpectedly dark turn.

'Unnerving, Stark, Relentless, Gloomy all words that get thrown around so many films, only in this case they really fit. Spain’s best horror export Jaume (Nameless, Darkness, Fragile) Balagueró returns with a film that’s set to rip horror a new rectum (maybe that’s what the title means). Only messing the title [Rec] is really short for Recording, it’s about a small time television news reporter Angela along with her cameraman Pablo whom are shooting a feature on a fire stations nightshift. Not long into filming their feature they're called to an apartment block and a incident involving a old lady biting her neighbours. After visiting the apartment and seeing the old now crazy lady gunned down, they find out she had some infection. On trying to exit the block they can’t leave as they’ve been locked in to stop the contagious virus getting out onto the streets. It's not long before the infection starts spreading throughout the building. Can Angela, Pablo and the fire crew manage to survive?. It really is so well done from the real people documentary feel of the acting right down to swirling first person camera work. Other than the fact it’s got zombies in its nothing like any of Romero's or other zombie films it’s a new breed of Zombie Veretie. Sure people are going to say Blair Witch did it first, but the tone is more in keeping with horror video games like Resident Evil or Silent Hill. One of the things though it was like Romero's zombies, was that there's very little concrete evidence on why the outbreak happened just a few threads near the end that hint at maybe .... or.... (Yeah like I’d wanna ruin it for anyone). On a final note heard with this doing so well in European country’s the Hollywood U.S. remake committee have been sharpening their pencils and its in production and going to be called Quarantined, least the direction is interesting as it’s by Poughkeepsie Tapes John Erick Dowdle. Please though for the love of the genre watch this version first as it’s the most stylish fully realized horror since Neil Marshals Descent need I say more.'

(8 out of 10)