You have seen shaky POV cam before and the horror elements within are not unfamiliar. But the Spanish horror film [Rec] reinvents the exercise by combining the elements into a very frightening package that feels simultaneously fresher and more classical. Many of the classic horror films work just like haunted houses in which the filmmakers just want to shout out “boo” as many times and as effectively as possible and this film almost always knows how to stay a step ahead of the audience.

One of the reasons the movie’s directors, Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza, and their co-writer, Luis Berdejo, are so successful at this is because it is patient. Horror films are often too eager to start with a literal bang or at least make sure the audience knows the setup early on (such as in Cloverfield, which was good but perhaps still a little too keen on informing what kind of footage is being presented). This film’s opening is simply of the main heroine, Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) stumbling in her reporting that she will shadow a group of firemen for a TV show. In order to respect the movie’s patience, I will suggest you save this review until later if you know nothing about this film.

The night first starts out pleasantly, if a little boringly for Angela, as she is filmed and followed by her cameraman, Pablo (Pep Sais) and learns that a fireman’s routine is not what she imagined of running through burning buildings but of waiting quietly on duty and resting up for an emergency. However, a distress call comes in reporting a noise disturbance at an apartment building and Angela and Pablo’s camera follow a fireman, Manu (Ferran Terraza), and a group of policemen into the room. There, they find a disturbed old lady whom they attempt to calm down, until she suddenly and aggressively lunges and bites a policeman in the neck.

This is the point when the zombie elements come into play (e.g. you get bitten, you also get virally infected and turn into a zombie) and the government officials, as is their usual procedure in the movies, abandon and lock all the residents, firemen, Angela, and Pablo inside so as to prevent further spread of infection. The fresh, clever twist here though is that because they are locked in an apartment building and the camera thus also stays entirely inside, it builds a perfect setting to turn the complex into a full, traditional haunted house, all captured by Pablo’s news camera. No one can get out and the claustrophobic terror thus can only build and build as the number of infected start to grow in number, all while Angela insists that Pablo film everything that goes on.