Eye Candy #225 - "[REC]"

[REC]:  The Spanish original that the American remake “Quarantine” was based on and directed by Jaume Balaguero (who also directed the half-realized “Darkness” in 2002), unsurprisingly, it follows the same premise - a TV reporter and her cameraman tag along with a fire department crew called out to an emergency, and soon find themselves trapped in a apartment building that is quarantined by the police, with a rising body count as a virulent disease turns its victims into bloodthirsty animals.  It’s also about 15 minutes shorter than the American version, which had some much needed exposition and a different “explanation“ for the outbreak (American film - doomsday cult; Spanish version - failed chemically-induced exorcism).  I preferred the American remake - it did a much better job establishing mood and had better production design.    The POV camerawork here can be unsettling and hard to follow, but is still effective.  Wish this had been released first in the US, instead of the remake so I could have seen it first.  Billed as a zombie picture, it’s not anymore a zombie picture than “28 Days Later”.  It’s a good film, I just preferred the remake more.   A sequel is in the works.  Woodchuck sez, “Check it out.”