Having seen [Rec] and its American remake Quarantine in reverse order I can now appreciate both of them for different reasons. The re-do, which followed a scant year after the original, is an intense time taken on its own and contained more graphic violence than most Hollywood products but I can also now praise it for not straying very far from its inspiration (though the final explanation for everything works better here). Obviously, though, it's this Spanish flick that is the better of the two as it's an adrenaline-fuelled, efficient rollercoaster ride that just builds and builds until kicking your ass in the last fifteen minutes.

Given my growing dislike of the POV/lost footage sub-genre of horror I wasn't sure what to expect. I also had to put my bias in check seeing as this came closer to the beginning of the flood of similar movies. The story here is pretty basic as it focuses on television reporter Angela (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman (and our eyes) who are on assignment doing a fluffy piece on the lives of the local firemen. It's an easy enough job as they just have to hang around, film various fluffy interviews, and see just how boring the nights can be. Angela even wishes there'd be a call to inject some excitement into the evening.

Well, she gets her wish, and off they go to what seems to be an innocuous call to a nearby apartment building where an elderly resident is having issues in her unit. What they didn't expect is that our tenant, who is definitely messed up, would attack one of the security guards thus kicking off an evening of terror when everyone gets quarantined in the building after the health authority locks everything down and won't let anyone leave. From here [Rec] steamrolls through various scenes of people being turned into slathering zombie-like creatures and attacking the uninfected while Angela and put upon hero Manu (Ferran Terraza) have to try and survive the night and figure out just what the Hell is going on. This all leads to the aforementioned finale which certainly packs a punch and will have your nerves a-jangling.

With a quick-paced 78 minute running time and lots of memorable set pieces, [Rec] delivers the goods. We share everyone's confusion as to just why they're all being placed in lockdown and marvel at the balls it must've taken co-directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza to stage some of the cringe-worthy stuff they do. Given the POV nature of the flick, we find ourselves drawn tighter into the action than we might've been if it was shot conventionally and it actually works to the flick's advantage when you consider a lot of this type that would follow later just aren't very convincing.

In the lead Velasco helps take Angela from feeling like your typical, selfish, young reporter to generally screaming through all the chaos around her. She does spend a lot of the time just being an observer and reacting to the crazy shit happening around her but pulls off fear perfectly in the finale. Terraza is also solid, as is the rest of the cast from the partially racist old grump (Carlos Lasarte) to the concerned mother (Maria Lanau), but the real star here is the camera. It's hard to capture emotion using the POV style so the fact we get so drawn in is a credit to the filmmakers.

Even if you're tired of all the POV horror that's out there (I personally have been avoiding stuff like Apollo 18 because of that fact) or if you liked the remake you're going to want to give [Rec] a spin. It's a lean, mean kick-ass flick well deserving of its reputation. The sequel, that followed two years later, would continue right where this ends and, as of this writing, they're about to go in production on the fourth entry. (Chris Hartley, 7/3/13)

Directed By: Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza.
Written By: Jaume Balaguero, Lusio Berdejo, Paco Plaza.

Starring: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano, Pablo Rosso.