Monday 14th April 2008
Rec - (Spain)
Director - Juame Balaguero and Luis Bardejo
Cast - Manuela Velasco, Javier Botet, Manuel Bronchurd...





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Spanish horror and fantasy is really flavour of the month at present. While Rec doesn't evolve or add anything new to this statement, it is an example of a solidly made genre piece.



Rec uses the same 'real footage' aesthetic that first rose to prominence in The Blair Witch Project and has been more recently reinvented in J.J Abrams Cloverfield and George A. Romero's The Diary of the Dead. The immediacy and plausibility of the footage works well in Rec (as apposed to Cloverfield), however it can at times become nauseating and more than a little frustrating. This is a major flaw that this type of shooting style needs to address and overcome.



Rec plays to its strengths though. All the action takes place in one setting, which creates great immediacy and dread, as well as enabling the narrative to progress quickly and anarchically.



Important for a horror film, Rec does have a number of scares. Although these are a little cliched, they are still executed to great effect. The movie is ultimately a faithful recreation of the feeling people may get from computer games such as House of the Dead or Resident Evil. Such a statement pre-empts the conclusion that Rec will not be everyone's cup of tea and is certainly not a must see. This should be filed under a 'Horror Fans Guilty Pleasure'.