[REC]

Despite the fact that [REC] is easily one of the most entertaining and unrelentingly frightening horror movies in recent years, the film is only now getting an official North American release on a lacklustre DVD. Why? Because rather than buying the movie for theatrical distribution, some studio executive decided to simply remake it without those pesky subtitles instead. The Americanized version, Quarantine, came out this past Halloween, featuring many of the best scares from [REC] repeated verbatim, but with cheesier dialogue and downgraded acting. It's a shame because the direct-to-DVD release of the original has prevented audiences from enjoying one of the most intensely exciting theatrical horror experiences in recent memory. [REC] is about a Spanish student news crew following a local team of fire-fighters for a class assignment. However, when the team take the filmmakers on the first call of the night they find themselves in a mysterious building packed with zombies. Once the outside authorities discover what's going on they lock the poor residents and film crew inside the building to deal with the raging undead. Conceptually it's not particularly original. Both zombie movies and moc-documentary horror films have been done to death in recent years but rarely has a film of either subgenre been as effective as this contemporary classic. Make no mistake, [REC] is not an art horror film or a zombie movie with a message (check out George Romero's almost unwatachably bad Diary Of The Dead if you need some glaringly obvious social commentary with your home video zombies). No, this is a simple balls-to-the-wall scare-fest and the filmmakers aren't trying to do anything beyond making you stain your pants with fear. After 15 minutes of set-up the scares kick in and they don't let up until the credits roll. The acting and dialogue are minimal but handled well enough too keep either from being distracting. This movie is all about atmosphere and scares, and co-directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaze pull it off so well that I can't wait to see what they come up with next. So if you're in the mood for a horror film, grab [REC] and a pair of clean underwear, turn off the lights and prepare to squirm and scream like an eight-year-old girl up way past her bedtime.