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[Rec] (2007)

Director: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza

Time Out rating

Average user rating

20 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 2008-04-08 10:44:07

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

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User reviews of this film

Ehsanul Choudhury said...

Posted on Apr 16 2008 02:29 I went along to see [Rec] not knowing anything about it except that it was spanish and may have subtitles.
I have to admit, that during the opening i sat there annoyed that i was going to have to "read" some artsy spanish rubbish, but the directors do well to capture that uneasy sense of foreboding that anyone who's found themselves alone in a large, empty and rather spooky building can relate with. The tension builds well, and the irate spanish screaming and raving only punctuates the sense of fear and anticipation.
while it doesn't live up to the hype of "scariest film you'll ever see" It does boast some very impressive close up gore, and what i can only describe as frankly the most terrifying anorexic girl ever!
Whilst the scares may be a tad on the predicitable side, they are no less effective, you are really thrown into the action as if your there along side the lovely "Angelica" and invisible "Pablo" so much to the point that you will hear the entire theatre urging Pablo not to enter the darkly lit loft.
This clever take on the hand-held genre, is one of the first to give a plausible reason for the protagonists to continue filming rather than dropping the camera and running, a point the directors choose to hammer home at the end.
Aside from the random segue into what i suppose is spanish biblical superstition and the lack of any real explanation, [Rec] delivers a truly tense and heart stopping experience with a couple of moments that even the hardest of horror film fans will soil themselves at.
Well worth going to see, for the blood and intensity alone.

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usman khawaja said...

Posted on Apr 14 2008 14:32 WRECK OF A REC -BALGUERO S BLUNDER
the ability to make nauseating trashy horror -thrillers is not unique to hollywood,but european cinema can outdo the yanks too as this infection is becoming rampant globally-
THE INFAMOUS CLOVERFELD was about some silly dialogues and a movie cam that was unbreakable ,at least it had some production design and some special effects ,this awful spanish WITCH PROJECT only has one qualification -closeup shots of facial human bite wounds and old woman running around in undies ,its vulgar profanity is made worse by its screaming characters ,who will induce a raging headache of unknown origin in your bursting craniums ,just like the mysterious ,bewilderingly silly curse which grips an apartment building in barcelona ,it is sealed and quarentined as the possible curse is viral-this is not the first time for the cannibalistic zombies who are like zombie -vampires ,and look uglier then aliens - for the infestation/infection can only stop if we the audience stop watching these truly vulgar blood orgies ,the fact that it is in spanish doesnt make it any better than an american or brit slasher and the predictable plot actually makes you sick,
but it does keep you sitting as the television reporter is attractive and you keep hoping she will show more then her teeth ,but you get to see the bare bosom of the haggard old witch instead -this is cheating -just like the fact the building is sealed by the spanish govt.to contain the disater -so we really dont get to see all the great GAUDI architecture in barcelona ,at least even if they had shot it in a gaudi designed building there might have been some redemption for the artistically bankrupt bangluero
but as it is ,this ends up as bad as the broken camera towards the dreadful ending ,i wish the camera had broken earlier so REC ....had paused and we could have given this noisy bloody mess a miss
usman khawaja

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Keith GEORGE said...

Posted on Apr 14 2008 08:27 I have rather over-dosed on shaky handheld cameras of late with "Cloverfield" "Diary Of The Dead" et al. This film was one of the better ones from this genre with genuine scares and good acting from all. The scariest child since Linda Blair in "The Exorcist".
Well worth seeing !

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mac said...

Posted on Apr 13 2008 17:29 I've just came back from cinema. And if you really want to get scared go for it. This movie must be seen in cinema, with all that screaming,chaos, and violence...u will never reach it at home.

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tim said...

Posted on Apr 09 2008 13:33 Saw this a few weeks back - and yes, it is mostly terriying. Sillyness is totally absent, no winks or nudges, although the intensity did get a bit too much...I felt a little sick at one point. All the screaming and blood reminded me of The Descent, but this is a better movie.

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