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Well,
it seems there is one particular brand of schlock horror that seems to
be at the forefront - the cheap as chips "what you don't see, but
occasionally do see" hand held camera flick.
Based on the Spanish film [Rec], Quarantine
is the latest film to take a simple idea and effectively make some fun,
if not slightly disposable, on screen spooks that feel much more epic
than they really are.
Shot as if the audience has gained access to raw footage taken directly from a camera that has just been discovered, Quarantine follows television
reporter Angela Vidal (Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman (Steve
Harris) who are assigned to spend the night shift with a Los Angeles Fire
Station.
After a routine 911 call takes them to a small apartment
building, they find police officers already on the scene in response to
blood curdling screams coming from one of the apartment units.
They
soon learn that a woman living in the building has been infected by
something unknown.
That
said - surely the frothing mouth, blood drenched clothes and half eaten
dog on the floor would be dead give aways that things ain't right?
After a few more of the residents are viciously attacked,
the news crew and remaining survivors decide to make a run for it - only to find that the
Centre for Disease Control has quarantined the building.
Add
to that the fact that phones, internet, television
and mobile phone access have been cut off, as well as government
officials not relaying any
information to those locked inside (even to the cops and fire fighters
trapped inside with Mrs. Frothmouth, Freaky Diseased Young Girl &
Co).
The JJ Abram's produced Cloverfield paved the way here (taking over $170 million worldwide, from a budget of just $25 million) and Quarantine
seems to have enjoyed similar success (doubling it's budget at the US
Box Office earlier this year), and you really get the feeling there
will be slew of these hitting our screens well into the next decade.
The key to the new era of Blair Witch Project meets 28 Days Later
style of "unedited footage" film thrives due in large part to the fact
that they can elude to the events of a big budget Hollywood movie
occurring nearby without ever having to fork out the type of budget it
takes to actually bring King Kong to the big screen.
Same
level of fun, without the hassle of having to ring that kooky Andy
Serkis up - what a sweet deal for the penny pinching studios!
And while five more of these types of movies will well and truly out stay this genre's welcome, it is quite a fun little distraction at this point in time.
In fact, Quarantine is enjoyably frightening.
The movie plays out like, and feels scarily similar to, jumping on an old school "Spooky Coaster" ride at a carnival :
You
know the scares are coming, you know they are going to be cheap,
and you know you're going to feel like a total fool for jumping in
fright when something pops out in front of you... but that's what makes
it fun.
It's the anticipation of "when" that makes this addictively enjoyable viewing.
While
the hard nosed snobby critics may turn their nose up -
you just know that they secretly got a few joyful moments of this.
Quarantine is a good old fashioned spook. A total guilty, silly - slightly sadistic - but ultimately a harmless Friday night DVD pleasure. DVD EXTRAS
Considering the budget, this proved to be quite the money spinner
when it hit cinemas in 2008, so it's a little surprising to see how
little there is by way of extras here.
Included are Commentaries
with Writer/Director John Erick Dowdle and Writer/Producer Drew Dowdle,
as well as a couple of featurettes which look at the making of the
movie and the make-up of the infected!
Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 60%
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