Just Keep Recording (Media Blog #5)

In light of it being almost Halloween weekend, I thought I would comment on one of my favorite Halloween experiences- watching horror movies!

A scene from [REC], courtesy of thecja.com

I have watched many-a horror movie in my day, and I find time and time again that I really love foreign horror. This is not only because I am a foreign movie junky, but also because the films are generally much, much scarier. One of my favorite scary flicks, [REC], is a Spanish film that completely scared the pants off of me when I first saw it about a year ago. I am willing to say that I do not get scared easily, but this movie made me jump and want to hide under layers and layers of blankets. My 20-year-old brother could not even watch it without proper headgear (a pillow) to block his sight from most of the events that occur in the film.

The film is a first-person account of a virus gone horribly wrong. A young woman news reporter is at a firehouse with her cameraman when the firehouse receives a call from a woman who is trapped in her apartment. Once the crew reaches the building, the firemen, the young woman, and the cameraman find that they have been quarantined inside of the building, for a deadly virus has struck the apartment and gone completely airborne. No one realizes the extent of the virus until the normal apartment-goers begin turning into raging, flesh-eating zombies, and there is no escape. All the while, the woman believes the whole thing will make a fantastic news story, so she orders her cameraman to just keep filming.

Image of zombie-woman from [REC], courtesy of indiegeniusprod.com

I find this movie terrifying for a couple of reasons. First off, fast-moving infected people are extremely scary to look at, especially when they run unexpectedly at the screen at random moments in the film. I know that many American movies have taken to making this the new "it" thing to do with horror films, but often times, the American movies are still not scary. For whatever reason, the cinematography, images, and chaotic atmosphere make the film completely insane, and of course, completely scary.

The American's attempted to remake this movie in 2009 under the name Quarantine, but unfortunately, it was not nearly as good as the original. I was trying to figure out why the original was so much better when the remake is a shot-for-shot copy of what the Spanish already made. Then I realized something- the acting is much more authentic in [REC] than Quarantine. After looking into the films a little, I read that the actors and actresses in [REC] were told very little about what was actually going to happen on set. They were basically told to walk through a building and say their lines at certain times, but in terms of knowing when and where certain zombified actors will jump out, the actors were left in the dark. Their reactions are much more authentic this way, and it in turn makes the movie much more believable and scary. The American remake did not use this tactic, making the film appear hokey and laughable.

Trailer for [REC]




Though I love a lot of horror movies, I am a big fan of this one in particular. I would love for American's to try and match the beauty and wonderful aspects of foreign horror, but it seems that thus far, I have yet to see an American movie nearly as scary as anything other countries have produced. However, I do have faith in you, America! Keep plugging.