Movie Review: [Rec] - Page 2

Surely, directors Balaguero and Plaza drive this for primal effect and I would not dream of giving away any of the numerous shocks that pervade throughout. Months, even years can go by before a jump scene really gets to me but this film has about three moments that are so unexpected and implacably timed that my jaw fell agape. They are all so effective because, unlike lesser horror films, they grow organically out of everything that we know (and fear) before and then spin the story into another terrifying direction.

Much credit must also go to the actors who deliver unadorned, unaffected performances that enhance the naturalistic feel the filmmakers are trying to create in order to underline the scares. The clever touch in the story’s premise is that since Angela is a reporter, it allows the opportunity for each actor/character to realistically talk about their doubts and suspicions (some of which is discriminatory, namely towards a Chinese family who lives inside the apartment) directly to the camera, without a hint of self-consciousness. Providing a sturdy anchor is Manuela Velasco with a wide-ranging performance that sustains our empathy by starting out as an adorably plucky and fearless personality and very slowly, believably becoming hopelessly aghast.

There has recently been a wave of accomplished, traditional horror movies in Spain with The Orphanage last year and this movie. While The Orphanage got a limited release last December thanks to producer Guillermo Del Toro, [Rec] at last has already been bought to be remade into Quarantine, which will be released in October this year (and is already too eager to reveal its “found footage” premise as its selling point). The fact that the studios are yet still reluctant to release subtitled foreign sensations may perhaps say more about some American audiences than the studios themselves (I still know people who sadly refuse to read subtitles) and that is a pity for all. Why should foreign filmmakers get repeatedly denied their due recognition for their original work in the United States while the mass American audiences are insulted with what so often is a carbon-copy hack job (which Quarantine seems just as well to be, as those who have seen the original will readily recognize that so many scenes are just shot-for-shot replicas)?

Article Author: moviejohn

Joo-Wang John Lee is a computer programmer at Binghamton University by day and a movie critic by hobby. Upon insistent suggestion from people around him, he finally decided to start critiquing movies in writing instead of just verbal form among his friends. …

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