[Rec] A Movie Review of Spain's Latest Venture into the Horror Genre

"[Rec]," is a movie about exploring fears and enjoying the campiness of the horror genre. A young, female reporter (Manuela Velasco) is one of the leads in this bizarre infection style movie, who covers most of the action first hand. This is more than a horror film as the hand held camera work adds a realism to the film, which is somewhat similar to other films like; "Cloverfield," and "The Blair Witch Project." As well, "[Rec] is totally devoid of music and the story relies moer on the characters, dialogue, and frantic pacing to entertain viewers. There is a continuous increase in pace during the film as a routine alarm turns into a full-blown emergency in downtown Barcelona.

Most of the film takes place within a grubby apartment building, which gives "[Rec]," a claustrophobic feeling, while heightening the panic in the characters. After a film crew enters the apartment with a rescue crew and encounters a woman with blood coating her clothes the fear in the characters is noticeable and believable. The first tenant is in a rage and it becomes clear that, yes this is going to be an intense horror film, especially, when the tenant is shot three times while charging the film crew. The set is somewhat mazelike and is useful in increasing the delivery of the story; later, in the movie residents clamber after the film crew, up stair cases, through halls, and into attics. This film offers some good scares at inopportune moments.

The frantic dialogue adds to the overall intensity of the picture, while the lack of music increases the focus on sound effects and visual stimulation. Because the film is entirely shown through a hand-held camera it makes sense that there would be no music, however, "[Rec]" makes up for the lack of music by ratcheting up the use of make-up and stunts. In one scene, when a health inspector enters the apartments there is a hint of faint eerie music in the background but this is done subtly and does not take away from the flow of the film. In addition, the dialogue in "[Rec]" is almost non-stop as the residents begin to realize the dangers of a spreading infection that seems virulent and out of control. Residents mutter on about finding an exit, but none can be found. The film, despite being fiction uses well-written dialogue to heighten realism, while providing both excellent camera work and dramatic character interaction.

"[Rec],' definitely falls into the horror genre but for those with queasy stomachs the film can be seen with a comedic eye (an infection where the primary carrier is a five-year old girl, come on this is fun). The use of horror clichés is not over done i.e. one character standing with a prone neck right beside a newly-infected zombie, is cause for laughter. This is campy cinema at its finest. Only in the last few moments of the film does "[Rec]" amp up the fear notch to unsettling degrees with the use of a night setting on the reporter's video camera. An infected character that looms in the distance slowly closes in on a terrified reporter and her cameraman. The final few frames of the film appear to use CGI or some type of special effects as the character is completely emaciated, either way the character is effective in closing out the film with a final scare.

If you are a horror fan this is a must see; if you are not a horror fan this is a must see. For a low-budget film, surprisingly there are a number of scares in this film. Although, "[Rec]" is not built of many layers, it effectively works on the viewer's fears of contamination, infection, and claustrophobia. Any fans of the horror genre must add this film to their collection. As Roosevelt's saying goes "The only thing to fear is fear itself," yes that and maybe a 200lb infectious, bald, man running at your computer screen or big screen television.

A trailer from dailymotion.com:

[REC] trailer
Uploaded by Lyricis

Sources:

Internet Movie Database "[Rec]" Homepage

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