For once, I am so glad that none of my female friends can make it for this Spanish horror movie (to my best knowledge, none of my guy friends can take horror films). Hence, I just need to deal with my own nausea and headache for this extreme horror slash thriller slash shaky camera type of movie. And I thought I can take this genre well.
Only watch this if pass the following criteria (this part of the review remind me of an old review).
- You don’t faint when you see blood.
- You don’t faint when you see a lot of blood.
- You (think you) can take extreme shaky camera effect mostly throughout the film.
- You (think you) can take sustained suspense / horror throughout the film.
- You find most of the horror films are like comedies (I do indeed) and want something different, a challenge perhaps.
“[●REC]” is only a 80 minutes movie, thank God for that. If it was any longer I would have puked. My head was aching bad and when Cynthia met me outside, she was surprised at how cold my hands were. There were a few couples who left the theatre just when the action started. This is extreme stuff I am telling you.
Ponder upon this. You watch a comedy expecting a good laugh, yes? You watch a Korean drama expecting to cry, yes? And what do you expect when you watch a horror anyway? Without giving away spoilers (as always), “[●REC]” is a story told entirely from the perspective of a cameraman of a local TV station and an anchor – a lovely young girl by the way. This couple follows the firemen for an episode of “While You Were Asleep” and something went really wrong in an apartment they visits.
If there is one word to describe “[●REC]”, that would be realism. “[●REC]” dwarfs the rest of the horror films I have seen. And I couldn’t help but to have flashback to some of the computer games I have played such as Doom III and Bioshock. With that level of intensity, I am pretty sure that I would wake up screaming in the middle of the night (sorry Cynthia!).
I read that there is a sequel in the making. And strange to say, I look forward to watching that. Happy Halloween!
16 replies on “[●REC] – A Spanish Horror Film for the Halloween (My Head Still Aches)”
Yeah, you are right, ‘most horror films are like comedies’. Aptly-described.
Ok, based on your criteria, I will definitely give this a pass. No shaky movies for me. I don’t know why people start doing it after the Blaire Witch Project. If people like shaky movies, they can just turn off the vibration reduction features of their digicam and take their own freaky horror show in the shower.
Oh! So this is the horror movie you caught! I would definitely not watch this cos I do not meet all the criteria you listed out. I hate bloody shows with lotsa gore like Saw etc. Anyway, try catching The Coffin. It is the No. 1 Thai horror movie now! 😛 Let me know if it is as good as shutter.
CSC – At times I wonder why. Maybe the filmmakers overdo the sound and visual effect in most horror movies and make them comical.
Darkspore – I guess what they are trying to simulate here is “how would you film this had you been there carrying a camcorder”. I have used a camcorder to film holidays before and to stop it from shaking is virtually impossible. And yes, Blaire Witch Project is one of the films that popularize this shaky camera approach.
To give credit to the filmmaker of this film, to be able to make a horror movie out of very little computer generated graphics is pretty awesome. No wonder everything looks so real to me.
JT – The Coffin eh? Most likely I will have to catch that again alone!
Duh … lol.
any special mention to your buddy from argentina(you know, that one who recomended you this film and sent you a link to download it…)
lol
did they show the film on theatres there? awesome! theatres here are showing the spanish version as if it was a new movie…¬¬. the remake must be on its way. i can’t wait to see it!
about shaky movies… we’ll it was quite shaky indeed, but i liked this one better than others like blair witch.
i found blair witch boring. All those guys screaming and pointing things i could hardly see because they wouldn’t keep the frigging camera focused 😀 (can’t they scream and make a good take of the object of their fear for godsake?xD) the first time i heard the story i was so captivated by the mere idea of such a film… but then i saw it, and it was not that cool.
(i have to apologise for my english… i’m learning xD)
what a dork! look at the way i spelt “well” there hahahaha
Rodrigo – No special mention from my Argentina buddy yet! Lol. And yes, the film is showed on big screen here. Spanish version with English subtitle.
I have not watched Blair Witch. Now that I have got over the shaky camera sickness, I think REC is a pretty film … ha ha ha.
i have a question: there is an asian film about a psiquic girl (i don’t know if i spelt correctly) who worked for the police analyzing the scene of crime. i can’t find that movie 🙁 i think that its name was possession but i googled it and the results have nothing to do with that movie. do you know what is that movie? (i mean, if you know the name please tell me)
Rodrigo – Hmmm … off hand I cannot remember. Let me ask around for you.
well I am a girl and I love these movies, I’ve seen a trailer few minutes ago and I already like it, I plan to see it in two days and leave a comment
Xenia – Yes, please do so 🙂 I am eager to hear your view.
[…] gamers so we didn’t feel a thing. All I can say is … the Spanish horror movie [●REC] is ten times worst in terms of camera shake. I personally feel that the mild hand held simulated […]
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