[REC] Review

Having almost exhausted the extensive Western corridor of the horror film catalogue, I decided to try my hand at some foreign horror pieces. First on my list was [REC], a film I knew had received universal acclaim for its effective suffocating style of filmmaking, and the cleverly placed shots (provided by the trademark shakycam) which make it infamous, in the shadows of The Blair Witch Project.

With Manuela Velasco in the lead role as the excited reporter always looking for next big breakthrough newspiece, [REC] starts slowly, setting a gentle pace by examining the often mundane life of the fireman as they anticipate the warning sirens signalling a call-out.

Naturally, this sets the contrast for the rest of the film, which soon escalates as the audience learns of a troubled woman in a nearby apartment, who is heard screaming 'bloody murder'. As the film progresses, the cause of the 'flu' virus outbreak becomes more detailed, and more people mutate. The film continues in traditional zombie-film style, with the body count increasing and the environments becoming ever-more claustrophobic, as healthy inspectors close off the apartment block from the outside.

Where [REC] breaks the fairly predictable formula in its final third, as the Angela, the reporter, learns of the real secrets behind the outbreak and finds herself in the very apartment where the problems all began. Combining natural darkness, visceral diegetic sound effects from nearby zombies, and a constant state of panic from the on-screen characters, the film immerses the audience. The sense of panic, entrapment and a real lack of visual awareness - provided through the handycam's nightvision feature - really pushes home the feeling of terror encompassed by the doomed reporter.

Not even lousy CGI can dampen the quality of the film's closing moments, as any hope of escape is snatched away - quite literally - and the audience is left with the uncomfortable and surprisingly rare (in film history) sense of the never-ending nightmare.


8/10