[REC] (2007): **

[REC] centres on Angela (Manuela Velasco), a journalist for a documentary series, While You’re Sleeping, and her unseen cameraman Pablo (Pablo Rosso) who provides the shaky hand-cam footage. For this episode, Angela and Pablo are covering the night shift with the local fire station, following two firefighters Alex (David Vert) and Manu (Ferran Terraza) as they play basketball and wait for the alarm. Alex and Manu, along with the police, are called to an apartment block to free the trapped elderly lady Mrs Izquierdo (Martha Carbonell), with Angela and Pablo catching a lift with them to see some action. They get more than they bargained for when Mrs Izquierdo starts to attack and bite the servicemen. Soon, Angela, Pablo and the residents are trapped in the building, with a disease that appears to be spreading and causing the infected to become extremely violent.   

Before we continue, I should disclose that found-footage films are really not my cup of tea, with the exceptions of Chronicle and Cloverfield. With that out of the way, let’s continue with the review. [REC] utilises the space of the apartment block well. It’s a great location with a speckled marble spiralling stairwell, guarded by a forged iron stair-rail, which the characters can look straight up to the top of the building. And fall down to the lobby below. It’s a spooky space, where the light doesn’t quite drive back the darkness. It becomes creepy when the lights are out and our characters can hear screams. It’s a pity we don’t see much of it because of the shaky camera movement and the frantic action that usually occupies the screen. The film might have benefitted from using more conventional shots, to create a more frightening atmosphere. To [REC]’s credit, at least the directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza, along with Pablo Rosso as the actor/cinematographer, put some thought into the film’s composition whilst trying to keep it realistic. Although, it is amusing to think about how many times Pablo runs backwards, so he can keep recording the grisly deaths of the residents. Considering the limited budget, the practical gory effects are executed well, as stringy flesh and sinew are teared out of people’s throats and heads splatter. 

Unfortunately, [REC] is short on the scares. There are plenty of jump scares but you can see them coming a mile away, when it does eventually arrive it’s just a character hurling itself towards the camera. Plot-wise, it is fairly predictable apart from the ‘twist’ end. Apparently the filmmakers couldn’t decide if they wanted the virus’s origin to be purely biological or a religious plague, then shrugged and said, ‘Why not both? Call it ambiguous.’ Except it is not ambiguous, it’s needlessly convoluted. The ending is anticlimactic and the final enemy is a bit of a let down. The cast do their best with their broadly drawn out roles, but there are still moments of stupidity to be had. Pablo, the most relatable character, keeps talking even though he knows sound attracts the monster. Cesar (Carlos Lasarte), whose key defining trait is preening his hair, announces a possible escape whilst in easy reach of someone he knows to be infected. Thank you for the exposition, now die. Angela seems to be likeable and resourceful until the second half, where she is demoted to screaming for the rest of the film’s otherwise snappy 80 minute running time. 

[REC] clearly was made with love but unfortunately it was possessed by a poor script, turning it into an ungainly and unfrightening monster.