[Rec] (18)

Film

Horror films

rec.jpg

Time Out rating:

<strong>Rating: </strong>4/5

User ratings:

<strong>Rating: </strong>4/5
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Time Out says

Tue Apr 8 2008

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.
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Release details

Rated:

18

UK release:

Fri Apr 11, 2008

Duration:

78 mins

Cast and crew

Cast:

Manuela Velasco, Javier Botet, Manuel Bronchud

Director:

Paco Plaza, Jaume Balagueró

Screenwriter:

Jaume Balagueró

Cinematography:

Pablo Rosso

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 4/5 (21 ratings)
  • Eh..... Quarantine is a stupid American remake of REC! They just changed the name. Every horror fan knows that!

    Thomas Noctor Sun Dec 30 2012
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • Typical horror movie very much like QUARANTINE. With much more needless screaming! If you are bored with a little time to kill, it is worth watching if you can tolerate the whining from the reporter

    viewer Sun Dec 16 2012
    Rated as: 1/5
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  • If this moviews scares you, CONGRATS! Because it was boring! It has about 10 minutes of surprises and is very similar to other movies like Quarantine! But "to each his own" It can be ejoyable if, you can get past all the scrreaming from the reporter. If some reason you do not like or agree with my point of view; I could care less!! Because, I probably do not agree with yours.

    Viewer Sun Dec 16 2012
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  • 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!!

    Laura Thu Dec 22 2011
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • 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!!

    Laura Thu Dec 22 2011
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • 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.

    Mark Sun Dec 11 2011
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • 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!!!:)

    Colleen16 Tue Jan 25 2011
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  • 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.

    Rubadubadoobag Tue May 11 2010
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • 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

    Thomas Noctor Fri Aug 7 2009
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • 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)

    karl Sat Jul 4 2009
    Rated as: 5/5
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