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[Rec] (2007)

Director: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza

Time Out rating

Average user rating

24 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

The most effective of this year’s ‘Blair Witch’-style shaky-cam horror movies, ‘[Rec]’ is more focused and far scarier than either ‘Cloverfield’ or ‘Diary of the Dead’. In ‘Cloverfield’, the party-goers braved the streets and subways of a monster-torn Manhattan; in ‘Diary’, the film students roamed the back roads of Pennsylvania, avoiding a zombie plague. In ‘[Rec]’ – as in the record button on a camera – the action is confined to a Spanish apartment block, and the nature of the threat is unknown.

‘[Rec]’ softens us up with a gentle prologue in which the crew of a late-night ‘reality TV’ show called ‘While You’re Sleeping’ – invisible cameraman Pablo and presenter Angela (Manuela Velasco) – make a late-night visit to a fire station. Then comes a call about an old woman trapped in her apartment. When a policeman and two firemen, Manu (Ferran Terraza) and Alex (David Vert), break into the apartment, they are attacked by a shrieking, zombie-like woman in a blood-stained nightdress. Suddenly, the building is locked down by cops squawking something about a health threat. Trapped inside with the panicking neighbours, Angela keeps up a running commentary.

The less you know about what happens next the better. Suffice it to say that nothing in the previous work of joint directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza prepared us for the nerve-shredding intensity of the ensuing scenes. A brilliantly staged early scare signals that the safety rails are off and, despite an unexpected, last-minute swerve into the supernatural realm, the edge-of-the-seat tension is sustained to the very last second.

Author: Nigel Floyd

Time Out London Issue 1964: April 10 – 16, 2008

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User reviews of this film

Laura said...

Posted on Dec 22 2011 20:42 watched this film late at night with a mate, had no idea what it was about. practically s**t my pants, so so scary! i do get tense and jumpy in most horrors but i was completely absorbed by this. definite definite recommend, although couldnt sleep for a long time after... looking forward to watching the sequel soon!!

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Laura said...

Posted on Dec 22 2011 20:42 watched this film late at night with a mate, had no idea what it was about. practically s**t my pants, so so scary! i do get tense and jumpy in most horrors but i was completely absorbed by this. definite definite recommend, although couldnt sleep for a long time after... looking forward to watching the sequel soon!!

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Mark said...

Posted on Dec 11 2011 12:41 The reason why you switched it off 15 mins into the film was really because you were SCARED out your mind. This film would make anyone scared. If it didnt you're not human.

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Colleen16 said...

Posted on Jan 25 2011 02:18 Whoever goes off and calls somebody a retard is a retard!Accept people for who they are-Charlie!You're a retard for thinking that,and for calling them that!!!:)

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Rubadubadoobag said...

Posted on May 11 2010 10:18 Well, it was scary and enjoyable but I personally didnt find it as scary as people say. It didnt stick with me nearly as long as Ringu or Ju-on or even Thailand's Shutter; I would say it was on a par with maybe The Descent. It scared me about as much as Eden Lake or Inside but those two movies stayed with me much longer than [REC]. To give [REC] its due though, the latter half does have a lot of momentum; the quality of the scares may not be top-notch but they come in such quick succession as to almost leave you breathless.
Perhaps the relative lack of impact [REC] had on me is due mainly to my own idiosyncrasies: I find ghosts in general to be more scary than [semi-spoiler] zombies/ghouls/madmen, which after all exist on a corporal plane and can still be physically overcome or even killed again. But that aside, I think all of the main characters (actually, nearly all of the characters period) made some incredibly poor decisions (even allowing for pressure) that, while integral to the plot, really verged on unbelievable. Im not sure the amateur-camera viewpoint adds that much to the movie either, and it is doubtful that Pablo would have bothered to film so assiduously while all hell was breaking loose around him. There is also very little character development although the female lead does give a good performance of being terrified. I did really enjoy it, but for these and other reasons I will say that it was a very good horror movie but not a great one - not in my top 10.

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Thomas Noctor said...

Posted on Aug 07 2009 16:15 If you havnt seen a movie then how can you rate it dummy? This is my joint top horror film of all time along with The Blair Witch. Truely scary for REAL horror fans get this, its a must ignore the ignorant reviews please

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karl said...

Posted on Jul 04 2009 23:57 a true masterpiece, its sheer simplicity of sets, costumes and script combined with the gloomy lighting, earie sounds and the actors acting to perfection, creates an incredibly scary film.what strikes me the most is how amateur the film looks, and yet it was one of the scariest films i have ever seen
the last scene especially....couldnt have made it more scary (tip. read carefully what the radio says at the end, not going to give anything away, but it draws you in so well)

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Courtney; 13yrs. said...

Posted on Jul 04 2009 19:33 Well, I missed the beginning but it soon explained itself through the movie. This has got to be one of the best horror films I've ever seen; it combined gore & mind-tricks into one and left me terrified but amazed. Definitly a must-see for people who love a good horror flick.

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dave said...

Posted on May 31 2009 22:36 I watched the movie,turned it off. all the screaming gave me a head ache...please dont attack me on my opinion.

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Jane said...

Posted on Feb 21 2009 12:59 How do you prenounce the word Rec?

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sean said...

Posted on Jan 03 2009 00:18 truely scary. This film puts movie's like "saw" and "scream" in the kids section. the camera is done by "Pablo", who is a camera man for a television channel, so the camera is shaky enough to add to the atmoshpere, but stable enough so you can see what's going on, unlike in "Cloverfield" and "Blair witch" where it's anyone's guess. The camera angles show you enough to make you scared, but leave enough so you want to watch and know what it was. The scene at the end is the most chilling scene i've ever witnessed in a movie, and where other famously "scary" films left me in physical fits of laughter, [REC] succeeded in ruining atleast one night's worth of sleep, with an image of the emaciated girl firmly planted in my mind, haunting me til the very early hours of the morning. it's not perfect, no movie is, but it's the best horror film i've ever seen, because it is a genuine horror to watch.

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Sad said...

Posted on Nov 17 2008 05:51 I haven't seen this movie. And I never will. And that makes me sad. I am one of the unfortunate who, 15 minutes into this shaky cam stuff, I feel my body all of a sudden start sweating strangely, and all of a sudden I as sick as I've ever been. And the bad feel doesn't go away quickly. Can take hours.
So tell me this: does this movie really need the shakey cam? Would it have been diminished too far by keeping the camera steady? I am asking this honestly. I would like to know if this is needed, or will it stop once the fad gets old.
It really makes me so sad. I love movies like this, yet i really can't see it.

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zombie said...

Posted on Sep 29 2008 22:52 REC was awesome! I was totally amping when I left the cinema. Went to see it at the film festival, had no idea what it was about, it started pretty slow, first 20 minutes I'm thinking this is pretty average.... then Bam!, it just takes off! People in the cinema were squirming all over their seats and letting out involuntary screams and my heart was racing for about 20mins when it was over. The funniest thing was an elderly lady(65+) came in and sat down a couple of rows in front of me just before it started. When I went to leave at the end she wasnt moving and I actually had a moment when I thought, shit its killed her, but when I stopped to check on her, she was just sitting there grinning from ear to ear! IT WAS AWESOME!

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jake said...

Posted on Aug 25 2008 19:21 I have had some bad experiences with this type of film.Is it really as scary as they say it is?

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Chris said...

Posted on Jul 13 2008 17:58 What is it about American horror movies that make them so unscary. I dunno, all I know is that this Spanish beauty of a film is scary in every possible way. Subtitles don't ruin the experience and there are plenty of genuine moments in it. For those who get sick watching these shaky-cam style movies...you are missing out because this is the scariest one yet.

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