REC (film)

Infobox Film
name = REC


caption = Theatrical poster
director = Jaume Balagueró
Paco Plaza
producer = Julio Fernández
writer = Jaume Balagueró
starring = Manuela Velasco
Javier Botet
Manuel Bronchud
Martha Carbonell
Claudia Font
Vicente Gil
music =
cinematography = Pablo Rosso
editing = David Gallart
distributor = Filmax
released = Spain:
November 23, 2007
Italy:
February 29, 2008
United Kingdom:
April 11, 2008
Poland:
14 August 2008
runtime = 75 min.
country = flagicon|Spain Spain
language = Spanish
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://movies.filmax.com/rec/
amg_id = 1:379070
imdb_id = 1038988

"REC" (or " [●REC] ") is a 2007 horror film co-directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza. The film was released in Spain in November 2007. Balaguero and Plaza previously co-directed the 2002 documentary "OT, The Movie". "REC" was filmed using shaky camerawork, in this case, a Spanish TV cameraman's footage. The film name, derived from the blinking text showing that the camera is recording, underlines the idea.

The film's UK release began with limited screenings on April 8 2008, in London, then going nationwide on April 11 2008.

ynopsis

"REC" revolves around a television reporter, Ángela Vidal, and her cameraman, Pablo, who cover the night shift in one of Barcelona's local fire stations for the fictional documentary television series 'While You Sleep'. The firehouse receives a call from an apartment building about a woman who is trapped. When they arrive, the police break down the door, with Ángela and Pablo recording their actions. The woman becomes extraordinarily aggressive and bites one of the policemen. Meanwhile, the terrified residents gather in the entrance hall, and look on as the police and military seal off the building. The camera crew remain trapped inside the building with the residents, and continue recording in spite of police pressure. Ángela interviews a little girl named Jennifer who lives with her parents and dog in the building. Jennifer is ill with what her mother claims is tonsilitis. She says her dog, Max, is at the veterinarian because he appeared to be sick as well.

A health inspector wearing a hazmat suit arrives and attempts to treat the injured, who become fiercely violent despite their critical injuries. The health inspector explains that the time the disease takes to cause sickness depends on blood type. The health inspector also reveals that, sometime during the previous day, a dog with the illness was taken to the veterinarian; the dog became violent and attacked and killed other pets at the clinic. The dog was euthanized, and was traced back to the apartment building. Jennifer, the girl who owned the dog, then suddenly attacks her mother. The inspector tells the distraught residents that this unknown but virulent disease is infecting people, causing them to turn into bloodthirsty savages. More and more people in the building become infected, and Ángela and Pablo are forced to fight them off. Eventually they learn that there is a key to a door in the apartment building workshop, which leads to an exit via the sewer system. However, the key is located on the third floor in a resident's apartment.

After finding the key, Ángela and Pablo appear to be the only human survivors, everyone else is either dead or a infected. Rather than making their way to the workshop, they are forced upstairs to the penthouse by the remaining infected. They then search the penthouse, and discover that its former owner was an agent of the Vatican who was charged with researching and isolating a suspected virus believed to be the biological cause of demonic possession, which was later confirmed to exist in a young girl who was supposedly possessed. The agent kidnapped and brought the girl to the penthouse to conduct his research and to possibly cure her, unfortunately during the work the virus managed to mutate and become contagious. A door to the attic opens, and Pablo uses his camera to look inside. A boy jumps at the camera and breaks its light. Pablo turns on the night vision to see in the dark and discovers the sealed door referenced earlier by the agent on an audio tape. The agent abandoned his efforts to cure the girl after failing to engineer a vaccine and sealed her in the room before leaving. The girl, now a ghoulishly emaciated figure, begins searching the kitchen area, unaware of Ángela and Pablo's presence. Pablo tries to escape, but trips and is viciously attacked by the girl, making Pablo drop the camera. Ángela picks it up and runs, only to trip and drop the camera as well. She searches for it but is unable to find it. The camera continues to record as the screams of the infected girl are heard and Ángela is dragged into the darkness, screaming.

Reception

The film has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics so far. As of August 8 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 93% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 14 reviews. [cite web
url=http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/rec/
title=Funny Games Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes |accessdate=2008-04-4
publisher=Rotten Tomatoes] Reviewing the film for the BBC, Jamie Russell called it "A runaway rollercoaster of a fright flick", praising the "faux-docu handheld style", and the sense of claustrophobia and confusion, claiming " [Rec] " will definitely jangle the nerves", while criticising the lack of substance and "one-dimensional" supporting cast. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2008/04/07/rec_2008_review.shtml] ]

It also received a number of awards:
* Fantastic'Arts‎ festival of Gérardmer 2008: Jury Prize, Prize of the young Public, Prize of the Public
* Festival de Cine de Sitges 2007 : Prize of the Public, Critics Prize, Best Director Award, Best Actress Award for Manuela Velasco.

equel

A sequel to "REC" entitled "REC 2" has been announced in Spain. The announcement was made through a teaser poster. [ [http://www.aullidos.com/leer_noticias.asp?Id_Noticia=4713 REC2 teaser poster] ]

Remake

"REC" has been remade in the United States with the title "Quarantine" by director John Erick Dowdle. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1082868/ Quarantine (2008) ] ]

References

External links

* [http://movies.filmax.com/rec/ Official site]
*imdb title|id=1038988|title=REC
* [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rec/ REC] at Rotten Tomatoes
* [http://film.orange.co.uk/OrangeFilm/rec/_entry/90d52009c2b46b0b/jsps/fullReview Movie review on Orange Film]