REC (film)

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Movie
German title REC
Original title REC
Country of production Spain
original language Spanish
Publishing year 2007
length 78 minutes
Age rating FSK 18
Rod
Director Jaume Balagueró
Paco Plaza
script Jaume Balagueró
production Julio Fernández
camera Pablo Rosso
cut David Gallart
occupation
chronology

Successor  →
REC 2

REC (graphic: [● REC] ) is a Spanish horror film from 2007. Directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza . Manuela Velasco played the main role .

action

A two-person reporter team, consisting of presenter Ángela Vidal and cameraman Pablo, through whose camera lens the film is revealed, spends a night at a fire station in the Spanish city of Barcelona for the production of an episode of the television documentary “While You Sleep” . When the fire brigade team is called to a rescue operation in the city center, they are accompanied by Ángela and Pablo. Loud screams were heard from a woman in an apartment building. When the fire brigade team arrived there, they found an old woman covered in blood, who attacked one of the police officers who were also present and bleeding profusely with a bite in the throat. When the second police officer and a fireman want to bring their injured colleagues out of the building, they are informed by the other residents of the house in the entrance hall that the Spanish health authority has now completely cordoned off the entire house by the police and the military and has forbidden anyone to leaving or entering the house. While the policeman and the fireman Manu are trying to calm the residents down, the fireman who was staying with the sick woman suddenly rushes down the stairwell into the hall. Panic breaks out. The policeman, Manu and the reporter team Ángela and Pablo go back to the second floor, where they are attacked by the aggressively distraught old woman who is finally shot by the policeman in self-defense. Since they are not allowed to leave the house despite the injuries, Ángela and Pablo begin to interview the residents of the house one by one. A little girl named Jennifer tells about her dog Max, who had to see the vet the day before because of an illness, and that she herself suffers from angina and urgently needs medicine. Meanwhile, the injured are treated as well as possible in an adjoining room.

When an official from the health department in protective clothing enters the building to treat the injured and to take blood samples from everyone present for further examination, the situation begins to escalate. The two wounded officers in the next room suddenly turn into aggressive, bloodthirsty beings and attack the bystanders. Since they are initially still handcuffed, those present flee the room back into the entrance hall, but have to leave behind an allegedly bitten resident. In the entrance hall, the officer explains to them that it is an infection that makes people extremely aggressive and that it is transmitted through saliva when bitten . The length of the incubation period depends on the blood group . The expert also explains that the day before a dog was brought to a veterinary clinic, where an unknown infection turned it into a wild and aggressive animal that attacked all other animals in the clinic. The dog had to be anesthetized and eventually euthanized, but could be traced back to the house in question via a chip in the ear, whereupon the health authorities quarantined it.

At the moment when the residents realize that it is Jennifer's dog Max, the girl spits bloody sputum in her mother's face and runs to the second floor. For safety reasons, the mother is then handcuffed to the stairs and the remaining police officer, fireman Manu and cameraman Pablo follow Jennifer upstairs. In the old woman's apartment, they find out that her body has disappeared. When the policeman meets Jennifer, he tries to calm her down, but is bitten by her. Manu and Pablo then run back into the entrance hall, where the infected people who were previously locked in the next room are about to break open a roller shutter and are about to break into the entrance hall of the apartment building, where Jennifer's mother is chained. Since the police officer attacked by Jennifer had the keys to the handcuffs with which Jennifer's mother is tied to the stairs, they have to leave them behind on their escape upstairs. Ángela, Pablo, Manu and a resident of the house flee to one of the apartments, while the mother remains in the entrance hall and is attacked by the infected. Little by little, all residents of the apartment building were bitten and infected. In the apartment, the officer reveals that he was also injured and infected with it. He locks himself in the bathroom so as not to endanger anyone. Meanwhile, the last resident of the house, in whose apartment everyone has fled, says that there is a key to an exit in the basement of the building, which is probably not known to the health authorities and therefore should not be locked or locked. However, the key to this exit is in one of the apartments. Suddenly the officer breaks out of the bathroom and injures the last occupant of the house, so that Ángela, Pablo and Manu have to flee again. Although they find the key, they are attacked in the stairwell by the other infected people, whereby Manu is injured. Ángela and Pablo are now on their own. The path to the basement is cut off by the infected so that they can only escape to the upper floors.

The two flee into the last remaining and supposedly empty apartment under the roof. Meanwhile, the power goes out, so they're in the dark. In order to still be able to see, Pablo switches on the light on the camera. In the apartment they discover scattered newspaper articles, written records, medical records and a tape recording that shows that the abandoned apartment was home to a Vatican employee who was tasked with researching a virus that was suspected of being a biological cause of alleged possession . This virus was discovered in a young Portuguese girl who was kidnapped by a Vatican worker and taken to her apartment to be experimented with, developed a vaccine and cured. However, the virus mutated and became contagious, which is why the clergyman had to flee. But he left the girl in the attic, where she is still. When a hatch to the attic suddenly opens, Pablo tries carefully with the camera to shine into the attic to be able to see something, but suddenly a little boy jumps out and destroys the light on the camera. Finally, the monstrously deformed girl is in the apartment with Ángela and Pablo. This switches the camera to night vision mode so that something can be seen undetected. While they are quietly hiding in a corner, the deformed woman is in the kitchen, rummaging through cupboards and shelves without being aware of the presence of the two. When Pablo tries to flee and accidentally makes a noise, he is attacked and the camera falls to the ground. The last shot shows Ángela lying on the floor frightened and looking for the camera with her hands.

Then you can see Ángela being pulled backwards. The movie ends.

background

The film was shot in Barcelona. The budget of the film is at 1.5 million US dollars estimated. Production began on September 10, 2006 and ended on May 27, 2007. Shooting took place from October 23, 2006 to November 12, 2006 in chronological order of the scenes. The film celebrated its world premiere on August 29, 2007 at the Venice International Film Festival . The film grossed just under 32.5 million US dollars worldwide. This was followed by other film screenings at various international film festivals , including the Fantasy Filmfest Nights in Munich on March 29, 2008. The cinema release in Spain was on November 23, 2007, in Germany it followed on May 8, 2008, in Austria on May 30, 2008. May 2008 and in Switzerland on July 9, 2008. On October 22, 2009 the film was released by 3L in Germany on DVD with an FSK-18 rating.

The film is the directorial debut of Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza . Manuela Velasco , who can be seen as a TV reporter in the film, actually works as a TV reporter in Spain. Her film partner Pablo Rosso , who acts as a cameraman in the film, is not seen once during the film, although he can be heard and his shadow can be seen in the film. The film was shot in hand-held camera style, similar to the film Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity , thus making use of the concept of the so-called mockumentary , in which the recipient reveals fictional content through an apparently documentary camera. The camera is part of fictional reality. Furthermore, the film is characterized by the lack of any film music, which underlines its intentionally documentary style.

No film sets were set up for the shooting of the film . Before the shooting of the scene in which the fireman had a fatal accident in the stairwell, the actors involved were not informed that the said fall would occur. Thus, the reactions captured are the actors' actual shock from the unexpected impact. The actors were also not given the complete script, so that they were always only clear about whether their character would survive or end up infected shortly before the next scenes were shot. This consciously increased the nervousness and hectic on the film set in order to preserve the authenticity of the plot. The last scenes of the film were actually shot in complete darkness using infrared cameras in order to capture the actors' reactions as authentically as possible.

Remake

In 2008, an American remake was released under the title Quarantine , which was released in Germany on December 4, 2008 - just seven months after the publication of [● REC] -. The main role was played by Jennifer Carpenter . In the US, [● REC] was not released in theaters and was only released on DVD in 2009.

Trivia

  • Pablo Rosso, Ángela's cameraman, also operates the camera in the second part as a member of a special unit.
  • There is another ending that the protagonist was not informed about during the shoot. As the last survivor of the apartment building, she is supposed to leave the building, but is bitten by an infected old lady. Manuela Velasco was very disappointed with this version, as it was her first leading role and she wanted to shoot with a gun in a sequel (which was also shot later).

Sequels

In 2009, a sequel called REC 2 was released. The directors were again Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza. The sequel is in the same style as the first work by the two directors. The sequel was premiered at the 66th Venice International Film Festival . However, the film was released directly on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in many European countries ; in Germany this happened in August 2010.

In 2012 the third part REC 3: Genesis was shown for the first time at the Fantasy Filmfest Nights in Germany. It's set at the same time as the first two films, across town. The last part of the series with the title REC 4: Apocalypse was published in 2014. The production company published a motion poster showing the protagonist Ángela Vidal.

reception

Jonas Reinartz von Filmstarts says: “The last ten minutes, in which the final turn takes its course, will certainly not please everyone. [...] But finally these last, excitingly different moments unfold once again an irrepressible, comfortably scary power. […] Conclusion: Despite the many praise from the advance, »[Rec]« is not the big hit. The seated shock effects and the successful final punch can only cushion the uninspired arsenal of figures to a certain extent. "

The verdict of the Cinema editorial team is: "[...] the Spanish directors' team also resorted to long-serving horror effects in their first film together: In addition to the threat that slowly increases to the unbearable, the perfect interplay of ominous music, light and shadow effects and the actors' fearful facial expressions for claustrophobic anxiety. And the nightmarish finale in a rotten attic, filmed in almost total darkness, proves that blood can truly freeze in your veins. Conclusion: The shocker staged with the simplest means for horror specialists is convincing despite its length. "

The lexicon of international films wrote: "The effectively staged film serves different subgenres of horror film equally and with rapid changes of mood, while at the same time criticizing trivial television infotainment in a black and humorous way."

Awards

The film, its actors and the film crew won several film awards and were nominated for various film awards.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Internet Movie Database : Filming Locations
  2. ↑ a b c d Internet Movie Database : Budget and Box Office Results
  3. ↑ a b c d Internet Movie Database : Start Dates
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Internet Movie Database : Background information
  5. ↑ Cinema : Horror Remakes Quarantine (2008) vs. Rec. (2007)
  6. ^ Film starts : film review , Jonas Reinartz
  7. ^ Cinema : film review
  8. ^ REC in the Lexicon of International Films Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used
  9. ↑ Internet Movie Database : Nominations and Awards