Horrorthon'08: QUARANTINE (2008)
QUARANTINE is the inevitable remake of the acclaimed Spanish zombie flick [REC], a "found footage" take on the genre which came out around the same time as George Romero tried the same thing with DIARY OF THE DEAD. The gimmick is already getting old (CLOVERFIELD was great though) and the shaky-cam visuals of QUARANTINE aren't going to win over any new fans.
Having never seen the original (I know, shame on me) it's difficult to judge this one. I enjoyed it and since I guess most of the audience for it probably won't have seen the original (at least I guess that's the thinking behind the obsession with remaking every decent horror film that isn't shot in English) then maybe that should be taken as all the recommendation I need to give.
The problem however is this. The story is nothing special and even the film as a whole isn't likely to go down as a classic in the annals of horror. What makes it worth watching (if you like such things) are the entertaining gore effects, some wonderful action set-pieces (someone falling down a stairwell and death-by-camera are two favourites) - in short, a collection of moments rather than one stupendous whole.
That said, one thing which is new to the remake is obviously the cast and, considering the talentless nobodies that often show up in genre films QUARANTINE does okay. The star is lead actress Jennifer Carpenter (previously seen by horror fans in THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE), who doesn't just manage the girl-in-peril scream queen stuff but also delivers a wonderfully natural performance in the opening set-up scenes in which we are introduced to her character, a young reporter spending a night with a fire crew, all of whom end up trapped in a building with some nastily infected people.
Definitely give it a shot, but I take no responsibility if it turns out that the original is better.
Also screening with this film was the short film ALL THE LITTLE THINGS. It wasn't very good.
Having never seen the original (I know, shame on me) it's difficult to judge this one. I enjoyed it and since I guess most of the audience for it probably won't have seen the original (at least I guess that's the thinking behind the obsession with remaking every decent horror film that isn't shot in English) then maybe that should be taken as all the recommendation I need to give.
The problem however is this. The story is nothing special and even the film as a whole isn't likely to go down as a classic in the annals of horror. What makes it worth watching (if you like such things) are the entertaining gore effects, some wonderful action set-pieces (someone falling down a stairwell and death-by-camera are two favourites) - in short, a collection of moments rather than one stupendous whole.
That said, one thing which is new to the remake is obviously the cast and, considering the talentless nobodies that often show up in genre films QUARANTINE does okay. The star is lead actress Jennifer Carpenter (previously seen by horror fans in THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE), who doesn't just manage the girl-in-peril scream queen stuff but also delivers a wonderfully natural performance in the opening set-up scenes in which we are introduced to her character, a young reporter spending a night with a fire crew, all of whom end up trapped in a building with some nastily infected people.
Definitely give it a shot, but I take no responsibility if it turns out that the original is better.
Also screening with this film was the short film ALL THE LITTLE THINGS. It wasn't very good.
Labels: Film festivals, horror, Horrorthon, zombie movies
posted by Alan at 7:20 pm
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