[REC] (2007) with trailer

A Spanish horror flick filled with numerous heart pounding scares and shocks. A film that needs to be seen on a big screen (either in the cinema or a massive plasma flat screen tv), sat in the dark, on your own with the volume turned up loud. It's a nerve shattering and terrifying experience.

The film starts off with a tv crew of two who are out on location reporting on the life of the local fire station during their night shift. Interviews are taken by our reporter Angela Vidal (played by Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman Pablo (played by the film's cinematographer Pablo Rosso) but boredom soon sets in. Luckily (for us the viewers) an emergency call comes through and the reporters follow the firemen to the location of the call to investigate and help with the reported emergency.

They arrive at an apartment block where all the residents have been woken by screams coming from an elderly woman's room. The police are on the scene and with the fire crew and the two reporters they go and seek out the commotion. What they find is the old woman (who is obviously not well) who proceeds to attack and bite one of the policemen. Here begins the start of events that spiral out of control. They find themselves quarantined and trapped in a building. Bodies start to pile up and an infection soon spreads throughout the residents and it becomes a race against time to find a way out.....

What I found utterly compelling about the whole film is the way it is set up. Everything is shown through one perspective (through the lens of the cameraman) and the action is unrelenting and extremely claustrophobic. Shaky camerawork adds tension, atmosphere and some dizziness. The idea is not new of course, it follows on from what Blair Witch Project first set out to achieve. A film where it tries to disguise itself as a documentary/reality tv.

The film succeeds on so many levels. We can only see what is right in front of the camera which can be so unsettling but you just can't take your eyes off the screen. You're left wondering what is lurking around the corner or what is behind them. With the right amount of lighting and sound effects it becomes so nerve wrecking and physically draining. The sound effects are superb as screams come flying towards you and the heavy breathing from behind and in front of the camera, building up more and more apprehension.

There are so many frightening moments within the film but it's the last 10 minutes which are the most terrifying where it becomes such a ferocious beast of a film. Night vision employed, the overall lack of awareness of surroundings and the incomplete visual and audio ratchets up the atmosphere to such unbearable heights you'll feel worn out by the time the credits roll. A rollicking ride which builds and builds and never lets up.

5/5 Technical merit

3/5 Acting

3.5/5 Story

5/5 Entertainment

16.5/20