Halloween Horror Movie Marathon: Film 10

So last night I watched what is easily my favorite found-footage film to date.

In case it's not obvious, the title is "Record" abbreviated.

Right from the start "[Rec]" succeeds where so many other found-footage films have failed; we are introduced to characters we actually like. No, really, think about it. How many found-footage, horror films have you seen where you kept thinking, "will they just get to the scary part because these people are pissing me off." "Cloverfield" immediately comes to mind.

Anyway, the set-up is this; a reporter - a delightfully perky, young woman - is doing a fluff piece for a late-night news show. Basically, hanging out with firefighters for the evening to give her audience a taste of what day-to-day life is like for them. Things start off rather humdrum as she tours the station house, watches them eat dinner, even peeks in on them while they're sleeping.

But then the alarm bell rings.

A seemingly innocuous call; a woman is stuck in her apartment. Two firefighters are dispatched along with our plucky reporter and her camera man. They arrive to find a group of residents in the lobby who begin telling them about hearing the woman screaming in her apartment. Moments later the firefighters break down the door and, as is often the case in these films, all hell breaks loose. At that point everyone attempts to leave the apartment building only to find an army of police and government officials blocking the doors. The entire building has been quarantined, trapping the residents inside along with our reporter and firemen. From there I'll say no more of the plot and leave it for you to discover the horrors that await.

Coming in at a lean 70-plus minutes, "[Rec]" wastes not a moment. It is a tense little affair, packed with scares. Everything about it just worked for me, and most importantly the filmmakers easily clear the "why don't they just put down the camera and run away" hurtle that trips up so many found-footage films. It also holds up well on repeat viewings, which is why it has worked it's way onto my "must watch" list for the past few Halloween seasons.

"[Rec]" is a Spanish-language film, but please don't let that put you off. It's a wonderfully scary film and I can't recommend it strongly enough.  However, if you just can't stand the idea of reading subtitles there's this:

"Quarantine" is the English-language remake of "[Rec]" and it's pretty solid itself. I had a few problems with it, though. It's run-time is padded out to 89 minutes, so it doesn't feel as lean and tense as the original. Also there's a slight change to the idea concerning the source of the madness taking place in the apartment building that I didn't care for. But these are just quibbles. It's a good film. I just happen to prefer the original.