Insomniac
[REC] (2007)
directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza
rating: 2 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
Beyond the novel idea that the government is aware of the zombie outbreak early enough to contain it, do the scares in [REC] really come from a different place than in any other zombie movie? Aren't zombies all about choking off escape routes and overwhelming you by sheer numbers? Isn't the point that sentient wherewithal is worthless against the hungry hordes?
This was fun, but there's a pretty slow half hour once the quarantine begins and we "get to know" the generic personalities destined for an early undead grave. Tack on another twenty minutes of introductions to the likable protagonist and her cameraman, and there's barely a sitcom's fill of panicked screams and lunging monsters to take us to the bridge. The revelation (thankfully not a twist) at the end draws us back out into the larger world, and it was only then that I noticed the old familiar run of standing hairs on my spine.
Now, it's obvious to me that my rickety television is a far cry from seeing this movie in the theaters, and one of the reasons that The Blair Witch Project stuck with me, I know, is that I wasn't accustomed to watching scary movies at all in 1999. But each time a zombie attacked in [REC], and the diminishing group of survivors cursed and ran and yelled at each other, I couldn't help but think how much more unsettling the supernatural can seem when you're alone. Not isolated, with every emergency responder in Barcelona outside the door, but alone. In the woods without a compass and nothing but the creak of trees and the occasional, untraceable, inhuman scream.
directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza
rating: 2 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
Beyond the novel idea that the government is aware of the zombie outbreak early enough to contain it, do the scares in [REC] really come from a different place than in any other zombie movie? Aren't zombies all about choking off escape routes and overwhelming you by sheer numbers? Isn't the point that sentient wherewithal is worthless against the hungry hordes?
This was fun, but there's a pretty slow half hour once the quarantine begins and we "get to know" the generic personalities destined for an early undead grave. Tack on another twenty minutes of introductions to the likable protagonist and her cameraman, and there's barely a sitcom's fill of panicked screams and lunging monsters to take us to the bridge. The revelation (thankfully not a twist) at the end draws us back out into the larger world, and it was only then that I noticed the old familiar run of standing hairs on my spine.
Now, it's obvious to me that my rickety television is a far cry from seeing this movie in the theaters, and one of the reasons that The Blair Witch Project stuck with me, I know, is that I wasn't accustomed to watching scary movies at all in 1999. But each time a zombie attacked in [REC], and the diminishing group of survivors cursed and ran and yelled at each other, I couldn't help but think how much more unsettling the supernatural can seem when you're alone. Not isolated, with every emergency responder in Barcelona outside the door, but alone. In the woods without a compass and nothing but the creak of trees and the occasional, untraceable, inhuman scream.
posted by NPK at 12:01 AM
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