I was looking up when “The Last Exorcism” is coming out on DVD and blue ray and I realized how excited I am to see it again. It really was a good movie. Some people are really not fans of this POV genre. I think it can be done right and when it is you can really be amazed with what you see. Some of the scariest moments I’ve seen in movies were in POV camera style but other times things will come off as fairly ridiculous. Let’s take a stroll down the movies I’ve seen with this style.
“Paranormal Activity” comes to mind as one of the best I’ve ever seen where the characters live in a nice suburban area Micah is such a puts about wanting to document the events that he will not quit no matter how it effects Katie and exacerbates the situation. The tension builds so well because the camera is there so it still gets high marks from me. The sequel was so-so. I just thought it was so much more of the same that it wasn’t all that scary. The dog stole the show though. I’ve seen PA2 a couple times and both times I’m impressed a great deal by the performance of the dog.
“The Blair Witch Project” was what I think made this style of filmmaking what it is now. It had an amazing backdrop and creeping settings leading to a chilling conclusion. It will always stand out for me as one of those movies that remind me that the woods are truly wild and foreboding. The one thing that makes it stink of bullshit more than anything for me is after a few days of being lost in the woods wouldn’t you ditch your camera and crap to carry only what’s essential to survive? I know recording wouldn’t be a priority.
On that same note we have “Cloverfield”. A modern giant monster movie told through the point of view of a camcorder. While most people would ditch the camera I think it was enjoyable and actually really well done. Plus the monster itself was pretty neat to look at. I really liked the way the footage of the camera kept switching between the day at Coney Island and the monster attack which was recording over it. It made it a lot more realistic in terms of home video.
The next on the list is the dual action of “Quarantine/ [REC]”. I have written a full review about what I thought about these movies compared to one another. “[REC]” is the superior version of the film by POV standards. The footage is held steady so it seems more believable that a professional is handling the camera. There is a lot to say about the fact that the camera man in Quarantine uses his camera, lens first to mouth fuck a zombie to death. It’s ridiculous, and stupid to imagine that the camera would function after that but all he does is wipes the bloody away and he’s good to go.
We also have George Romero’s Film “Diary of the Dead” Basically he is telling the events of Night of the Living Dead through some asshole kids with YouTube. It is pretty bad. There are two aspects that make it REALLY noticeably bad. For starters at the beginning the narrator tells you that music was added sometimes for dramatic purposes. Ok, so she’s acting like this horrific event (the dead are coming to life for crying out loud!) is being documented and she is adding music to it? That is really stupid. It would be like a documentary on 9-11 and someone feeling the need to add the song “Everybody Hurts” to it because the event itself wasn’t “dramatic enough”.
The end line really stuck in my craw too. Because basically you watched a movie where a bunch of kids fought to stay alive and suffered through a lot. The last line involves the narrator talking about some rednecks that she got footage of killing zombies. One is a girl tied by her hair in a tree and they shoot her with their shot guns. She closes with “Are we worth saving? You tell me.” Are you fucking kidding? These freaks are the walking dead. I know they want to make it out like man is super cruel but there is another way to do this.
Finally we have “The Last Exorcism” this was a damn good movie. People said there were some orchestral stings in it at times but I never really noticed. It’s got very likeable characters and a pretty clever script that was fairly creepy and dramatic. All in all it’s one I am excited to watch when it comes out. The biggest question for me though is who found the footage for that movie? Of all of these horror movies this last one seems to be the most unlikely to have footage not destroyed.
One thing is for sure. These movies are very popular. I’m sure many more will be down the pipe. They really let a person tell interesting stories with very little there. I just hope it doesn’t become over used. Like any spice, too much is just annoying.
Showing posts with label quarantine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quarantine. Show all posts
Monday, December 6, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
[REC] vs Quarantine
Last night I finally saw the Spanish movie “[Rec]”, the movie that “Quarantine” is based on. I had attempted once to see “[Rec]” before but I was exhausted from lack of sleep so I kept dozing. Needless to say now I got the full experience. So let’s compare a bit. “[Rec]” was a 2007 Spanish film about a late night program following some firemen into a building only to have it become invested with rage zombies and have it quarantined off by the government. The American version “Quarantine” was made in 2008 (and I gave “Let me in” crap for being made too soon). A sequel to “[Rec]” was just released in 2009.
We can start by talking about the posters of these movies. “[Rec]” featured the main actress looking sweaty and disheveled. It’s a scary and gritty image. Meanwhile in the “Quarantine” camp you have a huge spoiler poster. It actually shows the main actress being dragged off into the darkness. Why the hell would they make a poster like that? It would like having Bruce Willis wearing a sheet with holes over the eyes on the poster for “Sixth Sense”.
Anyway the movie themselves are almost shot for shot the same. There are some glaring differences though. For example, you can see a hell of a lot better in in the “[Rec]” version because the lighting is better and even though the movie is filmed in that “shaky cam” technique it still manages to not seem like it was held on a paint mixer. “Quarantine” is all over the place.
“Quarantine” also just has a few scenes that are just arbitrary. For example, a rat runs right up to the camera man who just steps on it and kills it. It adds nothing to story. Then when being attacked by a horrible zombie the cameraman attacks the assailant with the camera. Oh, and I don’t mean just uses the camera like a bat like a smart person would. He uses the LENS and bashes her brains in with it and the camera continues to work perfectly after the fact. If the director intended to freak people out with this he FAILED because the audience was laughing their asses off watching this. “[Rec]” actually had more class.
I’m siding with “[Rec]” once again when it comes to the main actresses. While Manuela Velasco can sometimes come off childlike in appearance her portrayal of fear is still pretty genuine sounding and she doesn’t come off like a scenery chewing spaz. Unlike Jennifer Carpenter, Of “Dexter” fame who stutters, cries, and makes so much noise you’d think an ice truck killer was after her.
But the BIG thing that makes “[Rec]” superior is that it actually explains what the hell is going a little better, or at least attempts to. There is a scene where an old woman infected by the virus has somehow managed to subdue, bite and throw a full grow fireman over a railing. In “Quarantine” no one says anything about how odd that is. In “[Rec]” the medical intern at least finds it very hard to imagine an old woman doing this to an adult man. Way to ask the question that should be on our minds guys.
Finally there is the ultimate evil that lies in the penthouse. In “Quarantine” it’s a man who is part of a doomsday cult that had stolen a virus. Not much to say there. You don’t even find out if he experimented on himself or if this weird thing is the test that went awry. But “[Rec]” told us a different story. The penthouse was rented by a man that was an agent of the Vatican that found a virus believed to be the cause of demonic possession. The agent kidnapped a possessed girl bringing her to the penthouse to be experiment on. The virus mutated becoming contagious so he sealed her up in the room hoping she would die of dehydration and starvation while he left the city. So the girl was this emaciated ghoulish thing now. That is a COOL backstory and you find it all out by his notes and tape recordings.
Bottom line is “[Rec]” is a good movie. Seeing “Quarantine” first made me wonder what it could possibly bring to the table. But it impressed me greatly. I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen “Quarantine” and especially to anyone who thought “Quarantine” was watchable but lacking in some areas. If you want to see it for free there is a site I’m becoming a huge fan of, fearnet.com. Check it out.
We can start by talking about the posters of these movies. “[Rec]” featured the main actress looking sweaty and disheveled. It’s a scary and gritty image. Meanwhile in the “Quarantine” camp you have a huge spoiler poster. It actually shows the main actress being dragged off into the darkness. Why the hell would they make a poster like that? It would like having Bruce Willis wearing a sheet with holes over the eyes on the poster for “Sixth Sense”.
Anyway the movie themselves are almost shot for shot the same. There are some glaring differences though. For example, you can see a hell of a lot better in in the “[Rec]” version because the lighting is better and even though the movie is filmed in that “shaky cam” technique it still manages to not seem like it was held on a paint mixer. “Quarantine” is all over the place.
“Quarantine” also just has a few scenes that are just arbitrary. For example, a rat runs right up to the camera man who just steps on it and kills it. It adds nothing to story. Then when being attacked by a horrible zombie the cameraman attacks the assailant with the camera. Oh, and I don’t mean just uses the camera like a bat like a smart person would. He uses the LENS and bashes her brains in with it and the camera continues to work perfectly after the fact. If the director intended to freak people out with this he FAILED because the audience was laughing their asses off watching this. “[Rec]” actually had more class.
I’m siding with “[Rec]” once again when it comes to the main actresses. While Manuela Velasco can sometimes come off childlike in appearance her portrayal of fear is still pretty genuine sounding and she doesn’t come off like a scenery chewing spaz. Unlike Jennifer Carpenter, Of “Dexter” fame who stutters, cries, and makes so much noise you’d think an ice truck killer was after her.
But the BIG thing that makes “[Rec]” superior is that it actually explains what the hell is going a little better, or at least attempts to. There is a scene where an old woman infected by the virus has somehow managed to subdue, bite and throw a full grow fireman over a railing. In “Quarantine” no one says anything about how odd that is. In “[Rec]” the medical intern at least finds it very hard to imagine an old woman doing this to an adult man. Way to ask the question that should be on our minds guys.
Finally there is the ultimate evil that lies in the penthouse. In “Quarantine” it’s a man who is part of a doomsday cult that had stolen a virus. Not much to say there. You don’t even find out if he experimented on himself or if this weird thing is the test that went awry. But “[Rec]” told us a different story. The penthouse was rented by a man that was an agent of the Vatican that found a virus believed to be the cause of demonic possession. The agent kidnapped a possessed girl bringing her to the penthouse to be experiment on. The virus mutated becoming contagious so he sealed her up in the room hoping she would die of dehydration and starvation while he left the city. So the girl was this emaciated ghoulish thing now. That is a COOL backstory and you find it all out by his notes and tape recordings.
Bottom line is “[Rec]” is a good movie. Seeing “Quarantine” first made me wonder what it could possibly bring to the table. But it impressed me greatly. I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen “Quarantine” and especially to anyone who thought “Quarantine” was watchable but lacking in some areas. If you want to see it for free there is a site I’m becoming a huge fan of, fearnet.com. Check it out.
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