Even if the remake steals scenes wholesale from this film, I doubt that they will be able to fully reproduce the effect of innovative restraint and skill with which the filmmakers utilize their POV handheld camerawork. Staying true to its illusion to the point that the TV cameraman Pablo is only heard and not seen, the camera is often dropped during unexpected frights or when Pablo himself must take action and it never goes for lingering kill or gore shots unless the story sensibly takes it there (and the only time the gore is prolonged is during an impromptu treatment of bite wounds). There is also one detail I particularly enjoyed where the unguarded camera starts rolling while it is on its side on the floor after a little girl comes over and curiously turns it on.
The only small flaw that keeps this movie from being perfect is in the final act in which certain characters towards the end unfortunately fall into the horror movie cliché of never doing the most logical thing before running around through dark rooms, which is to first look for and turn on the light switch (even if there is the camera light that illuminates just enough to see). But without the pitch-darkness in the end, we would not have had the final payoff that leaps so heedlessly into a pure, unadulterated nightmare. Just like a good haunted house, the filmmakers have saved the biggest scare for last.
Bottom line: Pretty close to brilliance.
Article comments
1 - Chris Beaumont
Not sure if it's true or not, but I had read that the producers of the remake paid these guys not to release in the US in any format until after Quarantine was released...
2 - Ross Miller
I agree almost completely. It's the first film in literally YEARS to scare the hell out of me (the last before that being The Descent). Terrifically frightening in every way, [REC] is for sure one of the most refreshing horror films in recent memory.
Great review, by the way.