Movie: "Quarantine"
Year: 2008
Rated: R
Genre: Horror
Directed by: John Erick Dowdle
Writing credits: Jaume Balagueró, Luis Berdejo, Paco Plaza, Drew Dowdle, John Erick Dowdle
Reviewer: -RoG-
Posted: 10/15/2009
Plot: A remake of a 2007 Spanish horror film entitled "[Rec]". A reporter gets confined in an apartment complex that has been quarantined along with some other people. As she films a story about how they're not allowed to leave, some dark secrets about the place are revealed.
Review: Jennifer Carpenter is best known these days for her role as "Deb", Dexter Morgan's sister on "Dexter". Rather than playing a detective like she does on TV, she's playing an investigative reporter and she's basically stuck in the center of a story that's more than she can handle.
They're quarantined inside a building and there's absolutely no communication with the outside world. On top of that, there's very little light (of course) to make things extra nerve-wrecking for everybody involved. Some people have been getting sick, showing up with wounds and foaming at the mouth, and the people stuck inside believe it may be rabies. They quickly realize this isn't the case when some of the tenants infected with the virus are turning into bloodthirsty zombies.
The entire movie is shown from the perspective of the camera man, and while the quality of the footage is better than that of a typical handheld camera, it's still done in the same shaky nature of films such as "The Blair Witch Project" and "Cloverfield". Obviously, when anything horrific happens, it gets extra shaky. So if you're not into that kind of POV camera action, I'd recommend steering clear of the film. Considering all the shaky camera action and random flashes of light, this is definitely one movie that would destroy your average epileptic.
Jennifer Carpenter handles the role of an increasingly terrified reporter well, but what surprised me was the lack of screen time for Rade Serbedzija. Rade is a damned fine actor and I definitely would've liked to see more of him in it.
Having not seen the Spanish horror film "[Rec]" that this remake was based on, I can't really compare this one to it, but most people who seem to agree that the original version is superior (no big shocker there). Still, as a movie that I just happened to catch on TV late night, it held my attention enough to watch the whole thing, which is more than I can say about a lot of POV-style movies (and remakes for that matter). It's decent enough to catch late night if you're in the mood for a horror flick, but I wouldn't recommend actually spending money on purchasing or even renting it. If you're genuinely interested in seeing this story, you're probably better off watching "[Rec]" instead.
Overall rating:
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)
That said, I thought [Rec] was still better, since it was the original and the main actress was a lot more likeable.