[●REC] DVD Review!
[●REC] DVD Review!
[●REC] will wreck your mind. Ouch.
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Why doesn't Dramamine get some product placement in [●REC]? At least there should be free samples of their product with every DVD sold. I take a lot of bullets when it comes to reviewing horror movies (much as I really do love the genre… and thank gawd I don't write for Rom-Com dot com), and usually I can withstand any and all punishment. But I must, in the interest of full disclosure, admit right now that [●REC] was stronger than I. My eyes just couldn't take the shake.
[●REC] is kind of like The Shakiest Gun in the West as directed by the love-child of J.J. Abrams and John Cassavetes, using The Blair Witch Project as its blue print. I hasten to add that I did see the remake of [●REC], Quarantine, and I liked that. Read my review of Quarantine here
Actually, I didn't not like [●REC]… I just couldn't watch it. I got really, really dizzy and sick. But I did check out enough to know that if you don't mind the shaky-cam, it's a good movie. Using naturalistic actors and employing excellent horror effects, directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza really know how to draw the viewer in and then ratchet up the tension. Bloodier, more brutal and scarier than the remake, [●REC] tells the story of reporter Ángela (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman Pablo (Pablo Rosso), getting caught in the right story at the wrong time.
Extras on the DVD include English language dubbing (not very good on the mouth-to-word matching, but the spoken dialogue makes more sense than the captions, which are quite abbreviated), and a making-of featurette. It's interesting to learn how the movie was cast, especially when you can compare Quarantine to it — Manuela Velasco and her North American counterpart, Jennifer Carpenter, both have the same kind of gangly, goofy sexiness and affability. The movie was shot in sequence, and the players were only allowed to see script pages one day at a time.
There's also a very in-depth look at the special makeup effects, which hold up beautifully under close scrutiny (seeing them in the final film, you might think the jittery picture keeps you from seeing everything because it's shoddy, which isn't the case at all). Great extras, but a word of caution: there are MAJOR spoilers!
So, even though I wimped out and couldn't watch the whole spinning spectacle — I do recommend it to horror fans with strong stomachs and an ample supply of motion sickness tablets.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
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