Quarantine

Remade from the Spanish film [REC], Quarantine follows in the tradition of shaky, first-person scare-'em-ups like The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield. Horror fans won't find too much nightmare material in this zombie horror tale but the palatable tension and mouth-foaming creatures are entertaining nonetheless. Edutainment reporter Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman Scott (Steve Harris) are on assignment following the nightshift at a Los Angeles fire station. When the fire-fighters are called out on a rescue call nobody is prepared for the blood-soaked, homicidally ill old lady they find locked in her apartment. Soon after, the Centre for Disease Control arrives and quarantines the building, locking the rescue workers and residents inside with murderous, rabid zombie creatures. Fight-or-flight instincts are kicked into overdrive as more people start becoming infected and everyone wants to escape. Quarantine reverses the traditional zombie movie narrative, which typically has people barricading themselves in a building rather than trying to escape from one. People looking for a big action zombie movie like the remake of Dawn of the Dead or a high concept zombie movie like 28 Days Later may want to look elsewhere, as most of the tension comes from the claustrophobia of the environment and not the creatures themselves, though they are creepy in their own right. Jennifer Carpenter's (Dexter) fear in the final act of the film is particularly well acted, as she displays a panicked incoherence that doesn't descend into the stereotypical "screaming horror movie chick" role you would expect from a mid-budget horror movie. Also, people who've found themselves dizzied by the first-person perspective of Cloverfield and Blair Witch will want to give Quarantine a pass. The handheld gimmick does work well for this story, adding to the panic and claustrophobic nature, but it can induce motion sickness in those who are susceptible. Hardcore fans of the genre will probably want to go straight to the source and rent the movie Quarantine was based on but casual fans looking for a bit of scare won't be too disappointed with the Americanized remake.