[REC]: Two Disc Special Edition

Introduction

In recent years there's been something of an influx of horror films from continental Europe: France with films like Switchblade Romance and Them, Austria with Funny Games and Spain with The Orphanage and now [REC].

In a Barcelona fire station, Ángela Vidal is presenting the TV show 'While You're Asleep' with her cameraman Pablo, interviewing the firemen, trying on their uniforms and visiting them in the canteen. She doesn't want there to be an emergency but it would make the show more interesting if there were to be one. The alarm goes and the crew, together with Ángela and Pablo set off for an apartment block where an elderly woman has been heard screaming and is locked in. They arrive to find the police already there and proceed up the stairs and break the door in.

The woman is standing in the corner and, when they go to help, she attacks and bites one of them. They soon realise that something is drastically wrong and their fears are confirmed when the building is sealed off by the authorities who employ an emergency measure designed for chemical, nuclear or biological attack.

With the zombie outbreak spreading and seemingly no exit or communication with the outside world, Pablo keeps the camera rolling whilst Ángela tries desperately to keep this as a testimony to what really happened inside on that day.

Video

Shot entirely from Pablo's camera, this has the 'shaky cam' look that is prevalent in first person horror films and is probably not one to watch if you suffer from motion sickness! Considering this is shot mostly at night and sometimes at high speed, the picture is excellent and, considering the modest budget and non-professional actors, the special effects make-up is terrific with the cast completely convincing.

Audio

One of the things I didn't even consider until I watched the extra features was the sound design as I was so immersed in the film that I just didn't think about the sound recording and it's incredible that the sound designers followed the action with boom mics careful not to get in the way. They produced both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks, both of which are excellent and give the surrounds a thorough workout with noises, both loud and subtle, emanating from all corners of the room and doing their best to unsettle and unnerve.

This is a Spanish-language film and there are excellent optional subtitles for those who don't speak the language.

Extra Features

Unfortunately the commentary on the Spanish releases wasn't carried over to this disc and subtitled as I would like to have 'listened' to it but fortunately there are quite a lot of extras (including an exclusive interview with the directors) which are all in Spanish with optional subtitles.

First up is the forty minute The Making of Rec which is a fairly comprehensive and enjoyable piece consisting of interviews and behind the scenes footage. Unlike a big budget blockbuster, it's not a film that has a great deal that needs explaining but it is a revealing and interesting featurette.

Under the Promotional Gallery heading is the UK Theatrical Trailer, the UK TV Spot and some artwork which shows how cleverly the film was marketed.

Next up is the Interview Gallery with lengthy interviews with cinematographer Pablo Rosso,
sound designer Oriol Tarrago, sound director Xavi Mas and directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza. Rosso discusses his dual role as an actor, playing Pablo, and working on the lighting and blocking in his role of director of photography; Tarrago and Mas give different viewpoints on the sound design of the film, from recording to mixing and Balagueró and Plaza talk about how they came up with the idea and executed it.

The Cutting Room features seven lots of deleted scenes, totalling about 35 minutes, the bulk of which are scenes from the fire station. These are interesting to see but it's hard to imagine with them back in as it works perfectly well in a stripped-down form.

The Production Notes section features a fourteen minute behind the scenes section hosted by lead actress Manuela Velasco, another fourteen minutes of casting with some interesting rehearsal footage, especially from young actress Claudia Font. Finally there are 'production secrets' which are twelve minutes of interview footage with Manuela Velasco which could have been a puff piece but is actually quite informative and very watchable.

Conclusion

After The Blair Witch Project established the 'found footage' horror subgenre (The Last Broadcast was arguably the first but was too far below the radar to make an impression), there have been many films with a similar ethos, latterly Cloverfield and Diary of the Dead. Of all of the first person horror films, [REC] is, in my opinion, the most terrifying. The Blair Witch Project was unsettling but this Spanish movie sucks you in, grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go until the credits roll.

It's unusual for a film to have two directors but Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza work very well together and have set out to make a horror film by horror fans for horror fans. They succeeded with a tightly edited and superbly acted gem of a film with a star turn by Manuela Velasco - a real Spanish TV presenter.

It's hard to describe just how good this is without coming across as a quote whore. It really is a nerve shredding white-knuckle rollercoaster ride of a film which doesn't let up once the horror begins. There are moments of fast paced action and others of extreme tension, especially at the end where nightvision is used.

I hope that the upcoming American remake Quarantine lives up to this, but Balagueró and Plaza have set the bar so high that I doubt it. This is a must see for any horror fan, preferably before the remake.