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Amazon.co.uk Review
Rec starts with a good, solid, straightforward idea. Its plan? To focus us on TV reporters, who are following a group of firemen as they go about their shift. Said shift, however, doesn’t quite go to plan, as what starts as a seemingly standard rescue mission soon takes a disturbing, chilling turn, and this sets the scene for a very effective horror film.
One of the reasons why Rec works so well is the manner in which it’s shot. It’s not the first film to adopt the handheld shooting style, and indeed there have been many clichéd attempts to follow the success of The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield. Yet the style suits Rec well, with the photography less a gimmick, and more a legitimate storytelling device.
It’s fair to say that Rec is a dish best served cold, so it’d be unfair to expand on the plot. However, be in no doubt that the mix of psychological creepiness and outright horror is very good, making the most of the claustrophobic surroundings, and wisely sidestepping many of the pitfalls of the genre. It has one or two problems, but it’s hard to quibble too much when the main feature works as well as this low-key, yet ultra-effective film does. --Jon Foster
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This one's a bit of a curate's egg for me to be honest.
I've been searching for a really scary horror film that creeps me out the same way classic Asian horror films and "Blair Witch" did. I've been true-fright-free now for a couple of years and the current celluloid trend for questionable torture-porn/gore-no is something I deliberately choose to avoid.
Anyway, after several recommendations I arrived at "Rec"
Yes, admittedly the PoV thing is generally overdone. Personally I can never see any reason for a character continuing to film in situations of fear and terror and as we see more films using this technique the more tenuous it becomes as a device. Surely it would be the last thing on your mind but finally here we have a film where the continuation of filming is 90% believable. "Rec" starts as a documentary until things start to go downhill. The inclusion of real TV presenter Manuela Velasco as the main character (Angela) is clever but obviously means little to those of us who don't watch Spanish television.
As events take a turn for the worse, Angela's insistent demands (for the unseen Pablo) to "keep filming" are reason enough to keep the PoV going. Later on several static, accidental and incidental shots reinforce this illusion effectively and later still the camera becomes a tool rather than just our surrogate eye.
So having effectively conquered the "keep filming" issue Rec is free to indulge itself and to crank up the tension. Sadly (for me) after an intial peak I found the survival horror element slightly less than original and in danger of becoming "same old, same old". I actually caught myself thinking "oh no..not xxxxxxx again".
It's probably all my fault for being too old and having seen far too many films of this genre already.
At one point the film became a hybrid of that genre and the brilliant "Right At Your Door" and I was immersed again until the inevitable "ten little indians" structure restablished itself and proceeded to whittle down the remaining cast members.
Now..... having said all this I must add...it's carried off with style, great ensemble (re)acting from an almost unknown cast and more importantly all done at a cracking pace. This pace is the film's trump card as far as I'm concerned. Yes I did experience deja-vu but the speed of events catapaults you past all this, without pause for breath, into the brilliant last 15-20 minutes where......
......finally the film began to properly scare me.
Growing trepidation, piecing together of plot elements and discovered clues you realize the horrid truth of the situation and then all of a sudden you catch a glimpse of....................well that would be telling.
The final section saved the film for me and is the major reason for four stars. Yet again proof that thinking for yourself and not-seeing is much better than the reliance upon blood and gore of the film's middle section.
So as I said earlier, a curate's egg.... good in parts...........and actually very, very good in some of them.
I've been searching for a really scary horror film that creeps me out the same way classic Asian horror films and "Blair Witch" did. I've been true-fright-free now for a couple of years and the current celluloid trend for questionable torture-porn/gore-no is something I deliberately choose to avoid.
Anyway, after several recommendations I arrived at "Rec"
Yes, admittedly the PoV thing is generally overdone. Personally I can never see any reason for a character continuing to film in situations of fear and terror and as we see more films using this technique the more tenuous it becomes as a device. Surely it would be the last thing on your mind but finally here we have a film where the continuation of filming is 90% believable. "Rec" starts as a documentary until things start to go downhill. The inclusion of real TV presenter Manuela Velasco as the main character (Angela) is clever but obviously means little to those of us who don't watch Spanish television.
As events take a turn for the worse, Angela's insistent demands (for the unseen Pablo) to "keep filming" are reason enough to keep the PoV going. Later on several static, accidental and incidental shots reinforce this illusion effectively and later still the camera becomes a tool rather than just our surrogate eye.
So having effectively conquered the "keep filming" issue Rec is free to indulge itself and to crank up the tension. Sadly (for me) after an intial peak I found the survival horror element slightly less than original and in danger of becoming "same old, same old". I actually caught myself thinking "oh no..not xxxxxxx again".
It's probably all my fault for being too old and having seen far too many films of this genre already.
At one point the film became a hybrid of that genre and the brilliant "Right At Your Door" and I was immersed again until the inevitable "ten little indians" structure restablished itself and proceeded to whittle down the remaining cast members.
Now..... having said all this I must add...it's carried off with style, great ensemble (re)acting from an almost unknown cast and more importantly all done at a cracking pace. This pace is the film's trump card as far as I'm concerned. Yes I did experience deja-vu but the speed of events catapaults you past all this, without pause for breath, into the brilliant last 15-20 minutes where......
......finally the film began to properly scare me.
Growing trepidation, piecing together of plot elements and discovered clues you realize the horrid truth of the situation and then all of a sudden you catch a glimpse of....................well that would be telling.
The final section saved the film for me and is the major reason for four stars. Yet again proof that thinking for yourself and not-seeing is much better than the reliance upon blood and gore of the film's middle section.
So as I said earlier, a curate's egg.... good in parts...........and actually very, very good in some of them.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Don't think about buying this film anymore, just do it! Although a slow start this film builds and builds to an intense climax that will leave you behind the sofa. I think this is probably the first spanish film I have seen but I will be looking for more now. Don't be put off by the subtitles, the acting is great and the charaters very watchable - especially the lovely Manuela Velasco who is very convincing in her role. This film will appeal to wide range of horror and suspense fans and not just those of the zombie genre.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
REC in general is a good horror movie with parts that make you jump and some tense moments and I really like the POV camera movements, however for me it just takes too long before the real action starts and the plot moves forward. The one to one interviews, although perhaps used to allow the audience to get to know the characters better dragged on more than it should. All this said REC is deserving in the 4 stars i give it and no one should be put off by the language barrier and should definitely give it a chance.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
great horror
great dvd if you like zombie horror not a bad dvd for the price hope you like it i give it 7 out of 10
Published 1 month ago by irish2
Heart stopping!
This is possibly THE scariest film I've ever seen, and I have seen a lot of horror movies. The claustrophobia, the hand-held camera, everything just comes together to create a film... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Greginator
The pain in Spain stays... SCARY and not plain
Seen on Sky. A genre piece, yes its a horror film but what type? Not zombie, not medical disaster, not psycho but all of them... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Man from poundstretcher
Which came first?
When the film started I thought, "Uh-oh, this looks awfully familiar" and that's because it is practically the same as "Quarantine". Read more
Published 2 months ago by cat crazy
Desperately Bad
Like many others I bought this movie expecting something great. It is as bad as other reviewers say, it's true.
A lot of screaming and running about maniacally. Read more
A lot of screaming and running about maniacally. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Stink Finger
Great Horror Movie
Very good horror movie from sunny Spain. Not a very complicated plot but some great scenes. A must for zombie and horror fans
Published 7 months ago by N. Blaney
Intresting...
Having just watched this film with my partner, I can safely say never again!
Yes, its a good film, very scary but worth the thrill. Read more
Yes, its a good film, very scary but worth the thrill. Read more
Published 7 months ago by F_wise
Absolute Rubbish
I read the reviews and thought this sounds good, my type of film, well I was wrong what a load of rubbish, save your money and don't buy this film.
Published 9 months ago by Harleysar
CALM DOWN!!!
I must say, the only part of this film I found particularly scary was the ending. The rest of it was just to darned frantic. It never allowed any tension to build. Read more
Published 9 months ago by oldbillie
Actually very scary
Don't be put off by the subtitles. What is on the screen is what counts (actually, the lack of it, since it gets literally dark). Read more
Published 10 months ago by D. Diep
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