Mooney Does Movies: "Quarantine"

When "The Blair Witch Project" came out with its shaky camera work and in-your-face reality, it broke new ground. I liked it because it was a fresh approach, and although there was zilch blood-letting, the movie scared the beejeebers out of me.

Then there was "Cloverfield", which I LOVED. Again, the basis of the movie was one lone person videotaping a "real" event as it was happening. In this case, a Godzilla-type monster destroying New York City. Like BWP, the only thing I had to oversome per se was slight dizziness brought on by the constant camera movement.

Now, here's "Quarantine". Based on the Spanish film "REC" (which hasn't been released in the US yet), it's the story of a woman reporter and her lone videographer following a bunch of firemen as they answer calls around town.

One call sends them to an apartment building where they find some of the tenants foaming at the mouth and attacking others like mad dogs, chewing through necks and arms. Unfortunately, while these firemen and police, and the newslady with her tag-along camera man, are trying to figure out what's going on, the building is battened down tighter than Fort Knox. And anyone who tries to escape is, well, shot.

This movie slapped me in the face with improbabilities. Like, if someone's shut off the power, how is the elevator able to work? And how long IS the battery life for one video camera?

At first I wasn't impressed. Well, not until I found myself waking up in the middle of the night, thinking about it. Now I want to see it again because the damn movie has gotten under my skin. I also want to see it in another theater because the one I was in had the film way too dark (you could barely make out the characters when the camera was using its night vision.)

I also want to the see the original Spanish version when its released in the US.

Will this movie scare you? Hell, yeah. Worse if you're in a theater with a bunch of scream-happy teenagers.

Initially I planned to give this movie a half moon. After a restless night, I'm changing my vote to a 3-quarter moon.

Initially, I didn't think I would be interested in getting a copy of this movie once it was released on DVD. I'm re-evaluating THAT thought as well!