REC (film)

REC
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jaume Balagueró Paco Plaza
Produced by	Julio Fernández
Written by	Jaume Balagueró Luis A. Berdejo Paco Plaza
Starring	Manuela Velasco Ferrán Terraza Jorge-Yamam Serrano Pablo Rosso David Vert Vicente Gil Martha Carbonell Carlos Vicente
Cinematography	Pablo Rosso
Edited by	David Gallart
Production company	Filmax International Castelao Productions
Distributed by	Filmax International
Release dates	23 November 2007 (2007-11-23)
Running time	78 minutes[1]
Country	Spain
Language	Spanish
Budget	$2 million[2]
Box office	$32.5 million[3]

REC (stylized as [REC]) is a 2007 Spanish horror film, co-written and directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza.^[4] The film was shot in Barcelona, Spain and the title is an abbreviation of the word "record", as it appears on a video camera.

Balaguero and Plaza previously directed the 2002 documentary OT: la película.^[5] REC was filmed as a found footage film and used a "shaky camera" technique. The film was remade in the US as the 2008 film Quarantine.

As the first installment of the REC series, it was followed by three sequels; REC 2 in 2009, REC 3: Genesis in 2012, and REC 4 in 2014 as the final installment in the franchise.^[6] Spanish company Filmax International is responsible for the production of the REC franchise and released all four installments.^[7][8]

Plot

REC follows a television reporter, Ángela Vidal (Manuela Velasco), and her cameraman, Pablo, who cover the night shift in one of Barcelona's local fire stations for the fictional documentary television series While You're Sleeping. While they are recording, the firehouse receives a call about an old woman who is trapped in her apartment. When they arrive, Ángela and Pablo film the police breaking down the door. As they approach the old woman, she becomes aggressive and attacks one of the police officers, biting him.

The building's residents gather in the lobby and look on as the police and military seal off the building. Firefighters Alex and Manu, the camera crew, and policeman Sergio remain trapped inside. The crew is attacked, forcing the officer to shoot the old woman. They continue recording as Ángela interviews a little girl named Jennifer who lives in the building. Jennifer is ill with what her mother claims is tonsillitis. She says her dog, Max, is at the vet because he appeared sick as well.

A health inspector wearing a hazmat suit arrives and attempts to treat the injured, who become aggressive, biting who they can, and are locked inside the building's textile warehouse. The health inspector explains that they are infected with a virus similar to rabies, and the time in which the disease takes effect varies by blood type. Some time ago, a dog with the virus was taken to a local vet; the dog became violent and attacked several other pets at the clinic. The dog was euthanized, and traced back to the apartment building. Ángela realizes that it's Jennifer's dog. The other residents surround Jennifer and her mother Mari Carmen when Jennifer suddenly vomits blood all over her mother's face, and runs upstairs screaming.

The policeman handcuffs Maria Carmen to the stairs and proceeds upstairs with Manu. They find Jennifer but she bites the officer, and he tells the others to leave him as he is now infected. Manu and Pablo run outside where they find that the infected are trying to break into the main hallway through the textile warehouse. They are forced to leave the handcuffed Mari Carmen to be attacked, and run into an apartment. More and more people in the building become infected, and Ángela, Manu and Pablo are forced to fight them off. Eventually, they learn that there is a key to a door which leads to an exit via the sewer system. However, the key is located on the fifth floor in the manager's apartment.

After finding the key, Ángela and Pablo appear to be the only human survivors, everyone else being dead or infected. They are forced upstairs to the penthouse by the remaining infected. They discover that its owner was an agent of the Vatican who was charged with researching and isolating an enzyme believed to be the biological cause of demonic possession, which was later confirmed to exist in a young girl named Tristana Medeiros, who was raped by a group of priests. The agent kidnapped and brought the girl to the penthouse to conduct his research and possibly cure her; during this time the enzyme mutated and became viral. The agent, having no other options, decided to seal her off, presumably to let her die of starvation.

Pablo reaches up with his camera to record around inside the attic. An infected boy swipes at the camera and breaks its light. Pablo turns on the night vision and discovers the sealed door. Tristana, now a blind and horribly emaciated figure, emerges and begins searching the penthouse, holding a hammer. Ángela and Pablo try to escape, but Pablo is viciously attacked by Tristana, causing him to drop the camera. Ángela picks it up and runs, only to fall and drop the camera as well. She searches for it in the dark but is unable to find it. The camera continues to record as Ángela is dragged into the darkness, screaming.

Cast

• Manuela Velasco as Ángela Vidal
• Ferrán Terraza as Manu
• Jorge-Yaman Serrano as Young policeman
• Pablo Rosso as Pablo
• David Vert as Álex
• Vicente Gil as Adult policemen
• Martha Carbonell as Mrs. Izquierdo
• Carlos Vicente as Guillem Marimón
• María Teresa Ortega as Grandmother
• Manuel Bronchud as Grandfather
• Akemi Goto as Japanese woman
• Chen Min Kao as Chinese man
• María Lanau as Mari Carmen, Jennifer's mother
• Claudia Silva as Jennifer
• Carlos Lasarte as César
• Javier Botet as Tristana Medeiros
• Ben Temple as Doctor
• Ana Velasquez as Colombian girl
• Daniel Trinh as Chinese children
• Marita Borrego as Operadoras Cuartel Bomberos
• Jana Prats - Operadoras Cuartel Bomberos (as Ana Prats)
• Víctor Massagué as Child in attic
• Javier Coromina as Voice of Pablo

Release

The film premiered in August 2007 at the 64th Venice International Film Festival, out of competition, in the opening and closing films sessions.^[9] It was also shown in October 2007 at the Sitges Film Festival^[10] and the Málaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema in November 2007, before going on general release in Spain later that month.

The film was also shown in February 2008 at the Glasgow Film Festival and the co-directors participated in a corresponding interview in which they revealed their influences during the creation of the cinema work: "Our main reference was TV; was not other films, or a tradition of previous features. I think the main influence for us was TV. What we wanted was to build a classic horror story, but, ahh, telling it in the way of a TV show."^[11] REC was then released in the United Kingdom in April 2008 and a North American DVD release occurred in 2009.

Reception

The film received critical acclaim. As of July 30, 2012, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that, based on 23 reviews, the film has a 96% approval rating. The site's consensus reads: "Plunging viewers into the nightmarish hellscape of an apartment complex under siege, [Rec] proves that found footage can still be used as an effective delivery mechanism for sparse, economic horror."^[12]

Reviewing the film for the BBC, Jamie Russell called it "A runaway rollercoaster of a fright flick", praising the "faux-docu handheld style", and the sense of claustrophobia and confusion, claiming that "[Rec] will definitely jangle the nerves"; however, Russell criticised the lack of substance and a "one-dimensional" supporting cast.^[13] Bloody Disgusting awarded the film four-and-a-half stars out of five, with the reviewer writing, "[REC] has it all and is probably one of the best Spanish horror films in recent memory."^[14] Bloody Disgusting later ranked the film eleventh in their list of the 'Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade', with the article stating: "Out of all the 'shaky-cam' films... this one is arguably the best."^[15] In the early 2010s, Time Out conducted a poll with several authors, directors, actors and critics who have worked within the horror genre to vote for their top horror films.^[16] Rec placed at number 54 on their top 100 list.^[17]

Accolades

• Reaper Award 2009
  • Won: Best Indie/Foreign production^[18]
• 2008 Goya Awards (22nd edition)
  • Won: Goya Best New Actress (Manuela Velasco), Goya Best Editing (David Gallart)
  • Nomination: Goya Best Special Effects (David Ambid, Enric Masip and Álex Villagrasa)^[19][20]
• Fantasporto 2008
  • Won: Grand Prix Fantasporto, Audience Jury Award^[20][21]
• Fantastic'Arts 2008
  • Won: Special Jury Prize, Youth Jury Grand Prize, Audience Award^[19][22]
• Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival 2008
  • Won: Silver Scream Award^[20]
• Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain 2008
  • Nominated: CEC Award Best Editing, CEC Award Best New Artist^[20]
• European Film Awards 2008
  • Nominated: Audience Award Best Film^[20]
• Fant-Asia Film Festival 2008
  • 2nd place: Best European/North - South American Film Best Film, Fantasia Ground-Breaker Award Best Film^[20]
• Festival de Cine de Sitges 2007
  • Won: Best Director Award, Best Actress Award (Manuela Velasco), Audience Award El Periódico de Catalunya - Best Motion Picture, Jose Luis Guarner Critic Award, Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Silver - Special Mention^[20][23]

Sequels and Prequel

The sequel REC 2 premiered in September 2009 at the 66th Venice International Film Festival,^[24] and was commercially released in Spain in October of the same year. The second installment portrays the events that immediately follow the end of the first film. Actress Manuela Velasco's role of Ángela Vidal, returned in the sequels REC 2 and REC 4: Apocalypse.^[25]

REC 3: Génesis is the third installment of the series and was released in Spanish theaters on March 30, 2012.^[26] The conclusion of the franchise REC 4 was released in 2014. First being screened at the Toronto Film Festival and later in Spain at the Sitges film Festival 3 October before being released in cinemas 31 October.^[27]

An adaptation of the prequel comics has been rumoured. It's meant to go in much further detail than the comics. It will focus on some of Tristana Medeiros past life before being possessed and leading up until her possession and after that. It will also physically introduce the agent for the first time that took Tristana in his apartment and left her there hoping she would starve to death.

Remake

Released in the US in October 2008, Quarantine is an American remake of the film, starring Jennifer Carpenter, that generally follows a similar storyline with several major differences which include changing the demonic possession into mutated rabies.

References

External links

• REC at the Internet Movie Database
• REC at AllMovie
• REC at Rotten Tomatoes

REC & Quarantine films Spanish franchise REC (2007) REC 2 (2009) REC 3: Génesis (2012) REC 4: Apocalypse (2014) American remake franchise Quarantine (2008) Quarantine 2: Terminal (2011)