| Author | Message | ||
     John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.163 |
Short review: Absolutely totally and utterly bloody brilliant. Longer review: I never thought I’d liken horror films to buses, but after years (literally) of sitting through sub-standard crap like 30 Days of Night my love of this genre of ours has been well and truly reignited in the last couple of weeks by THE ORPHANAGE (a superb ghost story), THE MIST (a superb monster movie) and now, just when I thought things couldn’t possibly get any better I’ve just seen [REC]. [REC] is a Spanish zombie movie. It’s also the most terrifying, nerve-shredding, thrill ride of a zombie picture I may have ever seen. Half an hour after it’s finished & I’m still shaking with terror and glee. It’s the ‘people trapped in a tenement building’ scenario with gradually more & more becoming infected. I lost count of the number of ‘stinger’ shots that had me jumping a mile. A couple of the zombie attacks are so brilliantly choreographed you forget to breath, and it even has one of those here’s-the-explanation-but-it-doesn’t-actually-make-much-sense-and-actually-make s-everything-scarier endings us fans of Euro-Horror know and love so well. It’s only about 80 minutes long but it’s so kinetic I could have sworn I’d only been in the cinema for half an hour. A tiny budgeted well acted brilliantly made kinetic bloodbath. Some of the members of this board are going to absolutely bloody love this. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.100 |
Is there a lot of shakycam, John? | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.100 |
(I ask as one who ended up queasy even from Diary of the Dead. | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.143.178.131 |
That's the thing with Shakycam. While I know there's a few good films made in the format I generally can't watch them as they make me feel horribly motion sick. It's very annoying for us sensitive to that. Especially seeing as Rec has got stormingly good reviews and I really really want to see it. I went to see Blair Witch twice as, I thought if second time I sat as far from the screen as possible, I wouldn't feel quite so bad. Didn't work. Still felt horrible at the end of the movie, shame because it was well done. | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.163 |
My one problem with the film was not the shakycam (which there is a lot of when things kick off & then it settles down) but that it's very difficult to read subtitles and follow what's going on on the screen when things get very shaky. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.83 |
I'll not be able to see this until it gets a DVD release. :-( God, it sounds good. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.53.80 |
If John says that - it is making me nervous about it. | ||
| Lincoln_brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 121.219.135.122 |
[Rec] has already been re-made by Hollywood. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.34.15 |
Glad to hear that you liked it, Lord P. I'm hoping I'll get the opportunity to see it on the big screen - I was lucky enough to see both THE ORPHANAGE and THE MIST at the cinema during the last month, so you never know. Seeing THE MIST in the theatre was a good experience. The sound system made it seem as though the monsters were coming into the theatre, and the people seemed to be screaming around me from all sides. The 'passing behemoth' (I believe Zed deserves the credit for that particular moniker) looked even more impressive on the big screen (although you do get to see it in lovely black and white on the DVD). | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.199.0.68 |
Well THE MIST has just been given a BBFC certificate for a planned theatrical release so if it comes out on the big screen here I'll go & see it | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.199.0.68 |
I also notice on the IMDB that there is a discussion thread suggesting that [Rec] could be a DEMONS sequel. In fact it's much, much better than that. Are you drooling now, Zed? Green stuff I hope  | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.101.203 |
Just seen Rec. The scenario and technique is a bit familiar now but the last act, with the penthouse, is among some of the scariest stuff ever. That thing that appears at the end is the most frightening thing/creature in cinema. Jeezuz, was it bad. That shadow... I'm still shivering. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.83 |
I watched a short documentary about the film over breakfast this morning, and there was a single shot that made me jump to hard I almost spilled my cornflakes. I must see this! | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.101.203 |
Honest Zed, that final person/thing will kill you. Pure Ramsey it is, too. God, that shadow. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.101.203 |
Oh, and it looks like Spain is the new Japan regarding horror, doesn't it? What next - Belgium? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.101.203 |
Thing is, it hasn't cut me to my core, hasn't done the Blair Witch thing of making me think of and dread the unimaginable, but it did come near, and got better as it went along. I liked the way tiny snippets of dialogue conjured up dread, lines like 'I always thought there something ab-' (line interrupted), things like that that made your brain become jelly. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.101.203 |
Lord P, have a big sigh at this; http://www.ugo.com/movies/quarantine/ | ||
| Lincoln_brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 124.180.52.131 |
The DVD is set for release on May 28. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.156.247 |
Interesting to note that, on the BBFC wesite, the video release is three minutes shorter than the theatrical version. | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.242 |
But all films run faster on TV don't they? They lose one minute in every 25, (which of course was the basis for my story 'The Moving Image', which appeared in Supernatural Tales & is due to be seen again in my forthcoming 'Coffin Nails' - well it was about time I plugged something). A 78 minute film therefore loses three minutes. Or do they usually take that into account? | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.156.247 |
You're quite right of course, John - what's irritating is how many times I've pointed that out to friends over the years, and then I go and make the same mistake! | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.100.90 |
I described the thing at the end of the film to my kids, and THAT scared them so much one of them needed me to walk to the loo in the night with him! | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.156.247 |
You brute, Tony! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.83 |
Tony, you don't know how much you are making me want to see this film... Ya big tease!  | ||
| Griff (Griff) Username: Griff Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.100 |
Move over Dr Spock! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.83 |
Line long and prosper. ;-) | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.239 |
I let the kids watch Polergeist this week; they stopped watching and sat drawing about halfway. So hardened. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.83 |
It's amazig, isn't it, that they're never scared by the stuff you expect. I was watching Kwaidan one night and my son got out of bed and crept downstairs, then watched it from the doorway. he was there about 20 mins before I noticed. I thought he'd be terrified, but he just kept asking who the pretty lady in the long white dress was. Yet this week's Dr Who scared him so much he ran upstairs to get away from it. :-/ | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.147.52.75 |
I don't think kids like panic, and so lots of monsters coming after you bothers them. But then, bits of Poltergeist did bother mine, like the doll did Bill, and the tree. He also hated the music. | ||
| Griff (Griff) Username: Griff Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.100 |
"Move over Dr Spock!" Not the StarTrek Dr Spock, Zed. The OTHER one. | ||
| Grant (Grant) Username: Grant Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 131.156.226.96 |
I just watched the [Rec] trailer where it records the audience. They almost pooped themselves. I need to see this but I have to wait for the DVD. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.83 |
Griff - I know, mate. I was making fun. | ||
| Griff (Griff) Username: Griff Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.100 |
*weeps into hankey* | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.156.247 |
Zed - you have (snail) mail... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.249.146 |
Fuck me. I've Just watched [REC]. In the pitch dark. With headphones on. Big mistake. It's the absolute scariest thing I've seen since The Blair Witch project. During the last 10 minutes of this I sat there like a small, scared child, thinking "I don't like this" with my legs tucked up under my arse. The very end made me want to get up and immediately put the lights on, but I was rooted to my chair. And Tony was right: that thing at the end is utterly, utterly beyond terrifying. Man, this is one scary, scary film. To quote my good friend Lord Probert: Absolutely totally and utterly bloody brilliant. Hollywood will ruin it. This is a very well done film, perfectly judged in every way, but you can pinpoint exactly how and where the obscenely quick-off-the-mark remake will screw things up. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.161.253.183 |
I knew it'd get ya! The intimacy of watching at home might actually be scarier than at the cinema I think, this time. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 85.158.139.99 |
Quite agree, Tony - and that ending is superb, and there are so many other shocking moments. The guy falling from upstairs for one, and that little girl... | ||
| Lincoln_brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 58.168.191.172 |
Is this available on DVD? - if so, where from? | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.249.146 |
Not yet. The intimacy of watching at home might actually be scarier than at the cinema I think, this time. I agree completely. I had the same sense with CLOVERFIELD. This verite style is meant to be shot by a guy with a camera, and watching at home adds to the sense of intimacy. I watched CLOVERFIELD on my laptop, and it worked well. I doubt I would've enjoyed that big daft monster mash as much on the big screen. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.161.253.183 |
Yeah, at the cinema watching Rec felt a bit odd, like watching telly there. And another thing no-one's picked up on; that lass was lovely! | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.156.247 |
She was, wasn't she? | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.179.102 |
I'm still waiting for my [REC] DVD to arrive, but I got hold of another Jaume Balaguero film, FRAGILE, today. Also, DIARY OF THE DEAD starts on the cinemas here tomorrow... yay! | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.179.102 |
Zed - I'm expecting Hollywood to make the same kind of mess of [Rec] as they made of PULSE (originally KAIRO), and any number of other superior originals. They simply don't have a clue. It's like removing all signs of intelligence and imagination is a prerequisite for them. It's a joke. | ||
| Lincoln_brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 58.168.191.172 |
Hello Huw, I also picked up 'Fragile' today (rental) - hope to watch it tonight. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Let me know what FRAGILE is like, chaps! | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.65.204 |
Jonathan, it's not Shakycam, it's just a nervous [Rec]. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.38.120 |
Just watched [Rec} and thought it was an good little chiller - not quite as good as the hyperbole had led me to expect, but one of the better horror films I've seen in a while, definitely. It's interesting how (apparently) ultra low-budget, quickly made films like this and MAREBITO are often more effective than big budget films. It wasn't really a zombie film. I thought it was wise to leave it open to interpretation at the end - obviously there was some kind of infection involved, with the hint of a possibility of demonic possession. I really hope this is the last "infected" type movie for a while; it's all getting a tad repetitive now. The reporter was a bit annoying, and I thought the shaky-cam thing was overdone, but these are minor quibbles. I haven't watched the special features yet, but am hoping they're subtitled. Now to watch FRAGILE... | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.214.62 |
Huw I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sorry if my hyperbole perhaps meant it didn't live up to your expectations. I suppose there's always the problem with recommending a film. I for one can't wait to see it again. I think it helped that I saw it in an entirely empty cinema, and hopefully the home viewing experience will match Zed's | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.178.165 |
John, sorry, I didn't mean that as a criticism! I just find that, in general, when I watch a good film, I'm often slightly disappointed if I've read glowing reviews about it beforehand (these days I try my best not to read beyond the first couple of posts in threads until I've actually seen the film for myself, thereby lessening the chance of dissapointment and spoilers). I've read so many comments on various sites, claiming it to be absolutely the most terrifying thing in the last decade, that I'm bound to be disappointed when it fails to live up to such expectations. I certainly liked [Rec] but it didn't knock my socks off in the way that, say, KAIRO or A TALE OF TWO SISTERS did. I'd give it a good 8 out of 10, maybe an 8.5... I've just been inspecting my "region 2 special edition" DVD, and it looks suspiciously like a Chinese knock-off. The little paragraph tucked away at the bottom of the back of the cover, where part of a review of a Yul Bruyner film appears, is a bit of a giveaway... I'm going to watch this again (at least once), and something tells me I'll enjoy it even more the second time. I wasn't in a hugely receptive mood when I saw it earlier (health and work problems, not to mention a friend's death that's come as a real shock), and little things that probably wouldn't bother me normally bugged me at the time. The 'special features' consist of a few trailers and TV spots (including some amusing shots of audience reactions) and a roughly 20-minute making-of featurette. I expect there will be more on the official disc, when it appears. I'm going to watch Jaume Balaguero's other recent(ish) film FRAGILE next, and a Mexican horror film called KM31 which looks quite good. I've accumulated quite a few newish Asian horror films (THE MATRIMONY, RETRIBUTION, SOMEONE BEHIND YOU, 49 DAYS, etc.) too, so I'll report on those as I watch them. Have you seen the AZTEC MUMMY films, John? I watched the first in the trilogy box set recently, and it's quite enjoyable, in an Ed Wood sort of way. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.156.247 |
Sounds as if you and I have the same disc of [REC], Huw - does your 'making of...' have English subs? Mine doesn't, and that's a shame... I already have the film on order on R2 DVD, but it's not out for a couple of months yet, I believe. | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.214.62 |
Huw - Certainly the mood I'm in can affect my appreciation of a film, in fact if anything I was wound up for other reasons before I went into [Rec] and my state of anxiety might have helped me enjoy it! Very sorry to hear about your friend & I hope when you watch the movie again it works at least as well a second time. I've not seen the Aztec Mummy pictures. I'm still quite busy subjecting myself to the work of Paul Naschy, the most recent being 'Night of the Werewolf', so why don't I post a quick review of that: This time it’s Countess Dracula Meets the Wolf Man as Elizabeth Bathory gets brought back to life in a scene obviously cribbed by Eli Roth for Hostel II. All the requisite Euro-horror elements are here – a creaky plot that makes little sense, lots of blood, beautiful women, some genuine and quite terrific locations, and, in particular in this one, an unusually fine sense of the gothic. Naschy is director here under his real name and he obviously isn’t a hack, as there are some excellent visual compositions, with Bathory’s resurrection a standout. Naschy is his usual chubby self, with a pentagon on his chest that everyone calls a pentagram, and the music is an unbelievably cheesy library score that somehow adds to rather than detracts from the atmosphere. One of Naschy’s better efforts in a body of work than can quite often, for want of a better word, be described as ‘rubbish’. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.183.32 |
Lord P, I think I speak for us all when I say that I appreciate the dedication you're showing with your ongoing prospecting of the Naschy oeuvre - may you find at least some worthwhile nuggets of horror (or indeed comedy). I always confuse Naschy and Nasdy, for some reason... ;-) Mick, sounds like we've both got the same pirated edition. Yaaargh! | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.183.32 |
Oops - I meant Sasdy, not 'Nasdy'... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.161.253.183 |
His name always reminded me of werewolves; In my head it always looked like 'Gnashy', like the dog out of the Beano. Right; now to talk about piles, or funny aches, yer barstud  . | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.188.248 |
I remember Gnasher, Dennis the Menace's dog. Also, Walter, "Prince of the Softies". And Beryl the Peril, the Bash Street Kids, Faceache... it's all coming back to me now! | ||
| Lincoln_brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 124.180.126.124 |
Huw - have you watched 'Fragile' yet? - interested in what you thought of it. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.249.146 |
Cone on, "Fragile" reviews from both you chaps, please! | ||
| Lincoln_brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 144.131.162.76 |
I'm not much of a reviewer, so I'll leave the real review to Huw. I will say a few things - fairly straight forward genre plot(nothing wrong with that), very well made, solid performances. I'm no Calista Flockhart fan - in fact, I almost didn't rent it because she was in it - but she was quite good. Sounds like I thought it was just ok, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Has four or five superb scenes in it, and the ghost is brilliant, in fact I thought she was terrifying! The hospital is very creepy - I think you'll appreciate it Zed, right up your alley. The reason I'm not raving about it - might be a bit of a letdown, if you've already seen [REC]. Doesn't have all the bells & whistles of 1408(watched this the night before) but is much, much better. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.41.142 |
I haven't watched it yet, Lincoln, but I'm hoping to do so later tonight. I haven't read your post above properly yet, but will do so after I've seen the film... ;-) | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.48.125 |
I've just ordered FRAGILE for less than a fiver. As well as another Paul Naschy film (Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll if anyone's interested) | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.156.247 |
I've just ordered FRAGILE for less than a fiver. Me too, after checking with a mate that he didn't have it - he's a fan of Callista Flockhart, poor sod. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.182.120 |
I've put FRAGILE on hold for the moment (will probably watch it later today), as I've just started watching a Mexican horror film called KM31. I'm only about ten minutes in, but so far it looks quite promising. Anyone seen it? | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.67 |
KM31 did get a screening in Bristol but I missed it. Let us know what it's like Huw. Mick - I can't understand the appeal of Ms Flockhart either | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.147.50.90 |
Ha! We had a storm up here last night that blew out all the power in the village. It was just like a horror film. At one point I told Tris the Rec woman was coming up the stairs and he told me to fuck off. I quite like Callista; she looks like a doe. Some cruel folk might say her last film was Rec. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.156.247 |
Watched FRAGILE tonight. Dear me, what a disappointment. Flockhart drifted through the film as if just being on set would be enough. There's absolutely no emotion whatsoever, and the creepy scenes aren't. Still, when postie dropped FRAGILE off, he also delivered THE ORPHANAGE, and I have great confidence in John P's taste (and that of several others on here who liked it) - I know I'll love it! | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.109 |
Hey! I've just watched FRAGILE as well, but my viewing experience was slightly different from Mr Curtis. Here's what I thought: At the risk of starting to sound like a stuck record FRAGILE is yet another pretty decent Spanish horror movie. Doing what I do I’m always wary of pictures set in hospitals, especially when the plot involves medical conditions, but I have to say that Fragile does a very good job of getting all the important bits right. The first half of the film is beautifully made but is so slow I began to wonder if anything was going to happen. Thankfully once things start to kick off the wait is worth it, with a decent twist and a really nasty ghost lurking on that old closed off floor of the hospital. The cast are all pretty good, with Ms Flockhart doing a good job of not being Ally McSqueal and being far less irritating than usual. Richard Roxburgh does a good job of not being the sort of square-jawed doctor hero he would have to be if this was a Hollywood picture, and the kids are all excellent. The music’s good, the atmosphere doesn’t let up, and there are some lovely lines of dialogue. Another one that’s definitely worth a watch. I really liked it. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.156.247 |
We'll agree to disagree then! Just watched THE ORPHANAGE, however, and loved it. That business early on of the little boy leaving a trail of shells for his new 'friend' to follow him home, and the next day his adoptive mother finding the shells all piled up against the front door - brilliant stuff. | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.199.0.130 |
Ah well - we can't agree on everything. But needless to say Ms Flockhart can't hold a candle to Luan Peters. Interesting image, though  | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.156.247 |
:-D | ||
| marksamuels (Marksamuels) Username: Marksamuels Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 86.145.227.100 |
Ha! I found my review of [REC] from Shocklines! Warning, major spoilers ahead! I was pumped up for this, expecting the kind of terror I had experienced when seeing The Blair Witch project. By the end, unfortunately, I was chortling to myself and wondering what all the fuss is about. My problems with the film primarily centre around the fact that there is no way, and I mean absolutely no way, that the camera man Pablo would have kept shooting footage throughout all the non-stop carnage that took place. His life was in constant danger. On several occasions zombies jump out within feet of him, and he's running up stairwells being chased by dozens of the things. He's a news cameraman, sure, and would try and keep the film rolling to a degree, but the thing would have to strapped to his head for him to carry on filming what he did. The other elements that bugged me were the scenes in which the little zombie girl (who's just bitten her mother's face off in front of everyone) is gently coaxed into accepting an injection, when it was blindingly obvious that she was going to bite the crap out of the fools trying to reason with her. Similarly the scene with the infected on-his-way-to-being-a-zombie health inspector behind the grille, while the chap with the moustache conveniently loitering in front of it, chatting away and just waiting to have his head chewed off. Which he does. Telegraphed! Telegraphed! Telegraphed! The long-limbed ghoulie towards the end is pretty cool, but it's obviously a blatant CGI construction that really required the obscurity of the night vision footage. Under light it would have been another I am Legend type failure. And the camera just happens to be always in the right place at the right time, even when it's been dropped or left behind, so as to advance the plot and get the horror money shots (not least at the very end of the film when the female lead gets dragged off centre shot!) It's a real suspension of disbelief failure, imho ! Mark S. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.249.146 |
Mark, the creaure at the end was actually an actor. He must be the skinniest man alive. I was skimming his website last week. I hear you about the cameraman, though. I had a similar problem initially with Cloverfield, but with both of these films I managed to ignore it and simply enjoy the ride. | ||
| marksamuels (Marksamuels) Username: Marksamuels Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 86.145.227.100 |
Was he a combination of CGI and live action though, like Andy Serkis in LOTR? *Shuffles feet at being caught out* Mark S. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.249.146 |
Nope; unless there was some minor CGI fiddling in post production. There are photos on his website with the facial prosthetic effects in place. He's one odd-looking bloke... I must admit, I'll forgive a horror film most flaws if it succeeds in scarying me, and this one did. Big time. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.190.33 |
I liked both [Rec] and CLOVERFIELD, but I agree with Mark's point about the amazingly fortuitous camerawork. I try to put it out of my mind while watching such films... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.249.146 |
I just pretend the camera is tied to the camerman's head. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.20.239 |
Zed - who is he? | ||
| marksamuels (Marksamuels) Username: Marksamuels Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 86.135.182.100 |
I must admit, I'll forgive a horror film most flaws if it succeeds in scarying me, and this one did. Big time. Me and Mrs S were chortling by the end. Seriously. It's strange because we were both freaked by BLAIR WITCH. God knows what I'll make of DIARY OF THE DEAD. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.249.146 |
Horses for courses, me auld mucker. Both of the films you mention scared the sweet zombie jesus out of me... I'm soft, aren't I? :-) | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.48.97 |
It's interesting that some people can find things amusing that absolutely terrify me. My dad used to laugh at things on the TV I was petrified of and I couldn't for the life of me see where the joke was. BLAIR WITCH did nothing for me, though. | ||
| Griff (Griff) Username: Griff Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.100 |
"BLAIR WITCH did nothing for me, though." Scariest movie ever, JPL! What's yours? | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.244.30.148 |
> Nope; unless there was some minor CGI fiddling in post production. There are photos on his website with the facial prosthetic effects in place. He's one odd-looking bloke... I have not yet seen the movie but I read about this actor: the poor guy has some weird (&l uckily very rare) disease, that's why he looks peculiar. > "BLAIR WITCH did nothing for me, though." I remember that it didn't scare me that much either, but it was interesting. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.20.239 |
WHO IS HE!!! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Dunno. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.97.200.24 |
I really have to watch this... | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.197.202 |
Just passed by the cinema on my way home and noticed that [Rec] is on starting tomorrow night! I wonder if I'll be the only one in the theatre at the first showing? It's on late at night. Can't wait to see how this feels on the big screen! | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.197.202 |
Also, on a less impressive note, I noticed that Argento's MOTHER OF TEARS is playing as well. The old Argento-loyalist inside me is nudging me to go and see it, but then inner Hulk kicks in and reminds me how abyssmal that film was. Bizarrely, the Chinese title they've given it is MUMMY MUSEUM (!). The person responsible must've watched the first ten minutes and noticed that there was a 'mummy' of sorts, and that there was indeed an early scene in a museum... then they probably fell asleep. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
Well, I watched the DVD of Rec last night and definitely echo all the enthusiasm here. I thought it was Jaume's best since Los Sin Nombre, certainly in terms of conveying dread. I don't know if there's any influence here, but I did think there were affinities with my stuff, not least Thieving Fear - the progress through a building to the architectural limit, where the worst proves to have made its lair, and the shift from the (presumably) non-supernatural to the (presumably) supernatural. Very effective for sure! | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.97.17 |
I wonder if I can get my little Penistone Paramount to put it on. http://www.penistoneparamount.co.uk/films.asp Actually I think that it is time to pop in and request some horror films. They have an audience stuck in the middle of nowhere, wanting something to go and see and they put on Sex and the City :>( | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.214.33 |
Ramsey I'm delighted you liked it! I can't wait to see it on DVD now and I would certainly agree that there are affinities with your work in there, either conscious (how much of your stuff has Balaguero read? Any idea?) or not. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
The ending struck me as particularly Campbellesque - the thing in the attic reminded me of the old woman in AGAIN. I knew you'd enjoy the film, Ramsey. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
Alas, in Sight and Sound it suffers a textbook example of the kind of review that besets the field. The reviewer seems determined to find cliches wherever she can - for example "the undead old lady from Psycho who opens the story". Has Hitchcock's film been remade again, then? The review is not just ignorant but inattentive: she describes the film as being set "in some unnamed Spanish city". The film and subscribers to the magazine deserve better. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.244.67 |
All these films are about the dark side of empathy. Probably. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.149.134.59 |
There's a new film out about the dark side of M people. It's called SEARCH FOR THE KILLER INSIDE YOURSELF. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.244.67 |
But...OH. You gagster you. Gagster rap. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.34.84 |
I haven't read the Sight and Sound review yet, but it sounds typical of the kind of lazy, condescending review that I often encounter in magazines these days. I've found that Sight and Sound usually offers more dependable, insightful reviews, so it's even more of a shame to hear about this one. I went to see [Rec] again the week before last, at the cinema this time (with around a dozen other people in a small, dark theatre), and enjoyed it just as much as I did when I watched the DVD. The ending is really very creepy, isn't it? I'm not usually a big fan of the shaky-cam technique, but I think it worked really well in [Rec], and also in Cloverfield. I wonder what the American remake Quarantined will be like? It's hard to imagine it retaining the brevity and intensity of Balaguero's film. I hear a Spanish sequel is in the works too. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.148.96.124 |
But Rec isn't that good! It really is familiar until that last sequence. It's essentially Cloverfield or Blair witch. It's like a baked potato compared with a new potato; it feels a bit different and that's it. But yes, the end was scary so I won't knock it for that. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
My point was that the Sight and Sound review was ignorant and inattentive. The film uses the documentary method. So did Poe and Lovecraft. That it uses a method others have used certainly doesn't invalidate it. Unless I'm very much mistaken, Rec preceded Cloverfield. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
I beg to differ, Tony - I thought Rec was marvellous. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.184.211 |
I actually enjoyed it more the second time, on the big screen. Nail-bitingly tense stuff, especially the final ten minutes or so. | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.214.33 |
I can't wait to see [Rec] again, this time in the darkened comfort of my lounge. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.168.57.219 |
'tis a great way to see it - I first watched it some months back the Zed way - late at night, all the lights out and wearing headphones - great experience! | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.148.96.124 |
I wasn't really talking about the technique but more the content; i.e. people get close to something otherworldly and it gets them. But yes, the style is also undeniably part of it, trying to 'be' real. I did like the film, you know, I've just been affected by and scared by other things more. (Also yes, I knew Rec was released first, but not to my eyeballs!) Sight and Sound I've often found to be very even handed with regards genre; it's one of the reasons I've always admired and respected it. Maybe they just didn't like this particular film so much (and maybe I need to read the review before saying anything more). | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
I haven't seen the film...but somehow...SOMEHOW...I know it's about me.  | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.148.96.124 |
Yes; they break into a geek's bedroom and piss him off. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.244.67 |
I knew it! I'll smack 'em! | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.83.68 |
Got the latest Sight & Sound through the post today and a Spanish reader defends [REC] on the letters page, hurrah! | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 204.104.55.244 |
Finally caught REC as it came out on DVD here in DK. I liked it alot and agree with what has been said above. And yes there were a couple of very well choreographed scares- in the framing of the shots- they were the most powerful for me. The old woman... The ending reminded me of some of Chris Cunningham's creature designs. A frightening picture. And great to see filmmakers still pushing work with the DV aesthetic in interesting ways, even after Blair Witch. | ||
| Lincoln_brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 121.219.157.75 |
Just watched [rec]. Outstanding, even better than I hoped it would be. Had planned to watch 'Darkness' or 'The Orphanage' tonight, but I don't know if I can resist watching [rec] again! | ||
| John (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.4.67 |
I gave this a watch last night. Not too bad at all - the middle sagged a bit; too much running, screaming and faces lurching at the camera (and let's face it, zombies just aren't all that scary). But it finished strongly, as long as you can put that Aphex Twin video out of your mind for its duration... | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.8.13 |
I've been looking forward to this for ages and really need to get hold of it through my DVD club. | ||
| Simon_b (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Just watched this today (lazing on a two-week holiday with nothing better to do) and I have to admit it scared the living crap out of me. (Then again, I am one of the easiest people in the world to spook- when I saw THE DESCENT at the pictures I must have leapt out of my seat so many times I resembled Zebedee, much to the amusement of my friend who thought as a horror writer I'd be much more blase about it. Um, nope.) I know what Mark and others mean about the camerawork with these 'verite' style films, but if I get pulled into the story it's usually forgiveable. To me anyway- but fear's a highly personal thing. Ultimately, a triumph. Watching the 'Quarantine' trailer just makes me shake my head because they've basically made one long spoiler. That thing at the end, though... like Marilyn Manson after a particularly heavy night and a botched sex-change... eek. And yes, the reporter was very cute. Yes, I know, I need a life...  } | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.114.136 |
If the camera is shakey in crap films you notice it, but if it happens in good films you don't give a damn. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.11.239 |
An example of that Tony: THE STRANGERS. I like that this film - here we go with some "templature" again - upended horror conventions quite nicely, in tiny ways. A small example: in one scene, where the masked guy appears in the house, the camera doesn't go out of its way to single him out - you have to become aware of him; also, it doesn't cue you with scary music. It just happens. That kind of tiny tweaking with established conventions, being unexpected, being not-the-norm, and yet very much so... made it just unfamiliar enough to be almost totally frightening. Yeah, I changed the subject to a whole other movie - so sue me. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Craig - that's been done so often it's almost become a cliche. Carpenter used the effect brilliantly in HALLOWEEN, and its been copied ever since. I thought THE STRANGERS was okay, though, for a combined remake of ILS and FUNNY GAMES. :-) The trailer showed all the best parts; a common occurance these days. | ||
| Alansjf (Alansjf) Username: Alansjf Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 93.97.93.216 |
Sort of off topic, what's the opinion on this modern trend of near instantaneous Hollywood remakes of Asian, and now European, horror films? Strangers (Ils) Quarantine (Rec) being two recent examples; I hear there's already a remake of Let the Right One In in the works ... Personally I'd rather Hollywood left 'em alone - none of the remakes I've seen were a patch on the originals. Is it simply a case of these remakes being so quick and cheap to make (everything's basically there, they only have to recast and reshoot), it's standard procedure to churn them out rather than make something, well, original? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.114.136 |
Hammer bought the rights to Let the right One In, Alan. Sadly they now seem crap, so I'm not excited. This sort of reminds me of the fact Spain made their own Dracula on the set of the Browning version (Ha!), shooting when the US crew weren't there. I've seen it and don't agree that it's a better version; it's too flashy, has none of the sedate eeriness of the Browning, and the guy playing Dracula is like your Dad. Mind you I've not seen it all so mustn't judge (hey - we could make that our next film club watch...). | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
This trend boils my piss. QUARANTINE was being made even as REC opened in the UK. Hollywood has clearly run out of ideas - or, worse still, they can't be arsed to look for new ones. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.114.136 |
I think yes, they're lazy. The best that can come of it will be that folk will find out about the originals. However I would mind it less if the remakes were good and added something to the stories, or really played around with them. | ||
| Simon_b (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
I guess the thinking is that most US viewers won't have watched the original version as a) limited release and b) subtitles. To the studios, to all intents and purposes, it's a brand new film. They just have to buy the rights and, most likely, neuter the script of any real bite by having the scriptwriters sand away any sharp edges and inject the requisite amounts of schmaltz. I never understand why so many people run a mile as soon as they see a subtitle. An ex-girlfriend of mine was like that. She had the same problem, more unusually, with black and white films. I sometimes think the reason we broke up was because I'd made her promise to watch Seven Samurai with me. Subtitled, black and white... and over three hours long. Typical dialogue with subtitle-hater: "Subtitles are just a bit of writing at the bottom of the screen! You can read, can't you?" "But I don't like doing that and trying to watch the film at the same time." And they say men can't multitask. It's a depressing trend, the whole remakes and sequels thing. It's like cover versions... as far as I'm concerned, anyone wanting to do a remake or cover version should be forced to justify it before a jury of their peers. Or someone. Anything to spare us Sylvester Stallone in Get fucking Carter.  | ||
| Alansjf (Alansjf) Username: Alansjf Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 93.97.93.216 |
Oh yeah, I'd forgotten the Hammer connection ... still, it's another case of an English language remake of a foreign language film that doesn't need to be remade in the first place. Zed - yeah, I think it's lazy film making more than anything else. Why go to the effort of thinking up new ideas when you can just reshoot someone else's! And that's when they're not remaking their own stuff. Minimum effort for maximum profit seems to be the dictum. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.114.136 |
Maybe it's to make money quick. If it funds more worthy films, or other good films, maybe we mustn't grumble; they are, to an extent, a business as well as a creative thing, and need to get cash like the rest of us... Or pay Johnny Depp for the next Pirates film. | ||
| Alansjf (Alansjf) Username: Alansjf Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 93.97.93.216 |
But it's the sheer lack of creativity involved that gets me - it is, absolutely, all about the money. As to profits from foreign language remakes being put towards worthier projects - well, making something fresh, new, and different instead of a remake sounds like a worthy cause to me. But sadly I don't work for Hollywood. Actually, no, that's probably a good thing ... | ||
| Alansjf (Alansjf) Username: Alansjf Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 93.97.93.216 |
... cos they'd eat my naive ass for breakfast. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.238.117 |
Just to set things straight: ILS is from 2006, but note the sale date on the original listing of THE STRANGERS. This was a big spec sale at the time, a "hot" script that got passed all around Hollywood, written by a former production assistant. Both are based on the same events, but STRANGERS is not a remake of ILS.... ---------- THE STRANGERS Horror Returning from a wedding, a young couple is terrorized by three mysterious strangers. (11/15/2004) [Spec ] Buyer(s): Studio: Universal Executives: Damien Saccani ,Drew Crevello Production Company: Vertigo Entertainment Producers: Roy Lee, Doug Davison, Sonny Mallhi Seller(s): Writer: Byran Bertino (*) Agency: Paradigm Representatives: Valarie Phillips, Michael Connolly Comments: Spec script was a Nicholl Fellowship semifinalist. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.238.117 |
Craig - that's been done so often it's almost become a cliche. Carpenter used the effect brilliantly in HALLOWEEN, and its been copied ever since.... It felt - re-visioned, to me, Zed. A slight tweaking, that made it "new." This was very subtlely done. I don't know what movies you've been seeing lately, but the horror movies I've seen...? Are about as subtle as getting hit in the head with a brick. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
[REC] is very good, beautifully worked out, making up in cinematic flair and weird imagery what it lacks in thematic and stylistic originality. I'm sure its possible to see this film as a metaphor for the way in which Spanish fascism concentrated the worst aspects of religious and military culture in a politically isolated environment. Certainly the film is keenly aware of economic and social control issues in a way that THE EVIL DEAD, er, wasn't. But essentially it's one of those films that succeeds because it doesn't either go for self-conscious irony or for protracted gore. It has a kind of cold, nervous intensity that probably owes more to THE X FILES than to Lucio Fulci. | ||
| Richard_gavin (Richard_gavin) Username: Richard_gavin Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 65.110.174.71 |
I'm late in chiming in here. I viewed the DVD of [REC] last week and thought it was glorious. The last few minutes reminded me of just powerful horror films can be. This will be one of those movies that I rarely watch in order to preserve its potency for as long as possible. Ramsey: I didn't realize until I read this thread that the film's director also did Los Sin Nombre. I enjoyed that film very much as well, even though it deviated from your novel. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.121.214.11 |
There's a strange thing with Los sin nombres - if you watch the English dubbed version they change the last lines of the film from the english subtitles and actually change the meaning of the ending. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.0.114.254 |
Well, at last I get to see this film . . . and it was astonishingly good. Terrifying in places. The image of all those zombies looking up simultaneously from the stairwell will stay with me forever. As will the last sequence in that apartment - that voiceover from the tape was perfectly timed. I don't buy into the problem of the cameraman fortuitously capturing everything: if that's a flaw, why not complain about how everything happened in a linear timescale, rather than, say, a few events simultaneously. That's just the nature of this kind of fiction (first person perspective). With a single point of view, it has to occur that way. I loved everything about this film: its relentlessness and brevity, its perfectly orchestrated set-pieces, the way it moved - Ghostwatch-like - from comic casualness to utter dread. Brilliant. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.177.181.73 |
Glad you liked it Gary - just don't watch the remake... | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.0.114.254 |
I caught snippets of this in a hotel room in Stockholm. It looked quite good, actually, but having tried to watch the remake of Dawn of the Dead last night I don't think I'll bother. |