Quarantine

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Horrorphile - November 2008

Quarantine

November 25th 2008 00:58

I’m gonna have to start eating my words, which for this movie has a tenuous element of irony to it. I’ve been raving on at semi-regular intervals about my disdain over the increasing rate of (horror) remakes that are spewing out of the Hollywood machine. 90% of them are crap, but there are exceptions, albeit far and few between.

Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead (2004), the re-envisioning of George Romero's cult classic was a darkly wonderful surprise (although apparently Romero isn’t too fond of it). I found Alejandre Aja’s The Hills Have Eyes (2006), the re-envisioning of Wes Craven’s cult shocker superior to the original (many others will beg to differ, I’m sure). That’s about as far as it goes. I could mention John Carpenter’s masterpiece The Thing (1982) which is a total overhaul of The Thing from Another World (1951), but that’s a different kettle of tentacled fish.

Jennifer Carpenter as Angela Vidal

Jay Hernandez as one of LA's bravest

Last year a Spanish movie, [REC], which didn’t get a theatrical release down under, hit the ground running. A sensational low-budget shock-fest that packed more simple, but utterly effective visual ingenuity and hysterical intensity into 80 minutes than a dozen straight-to-DVD releases, [REC] told the tale of a reality television presenter and her cameraman who are doing a piece on the graveyard shift of a fire department. They join the team on a routine call-out only to find themselves trapped in an old apartment block along with several very concerned residents having to deal with an outbreak of some kind of disease which turns victims into homicidal blood-thirsty maniacs.

Jonathon Schaech as cocky fireman George

Quarantine (2008) is the remake. As genuinely surprised as I am, this bigger-budgeted version set in downtown Los Angeles is as good, if not better than the Barcelona-set original. While it follows the original very closely, from the apartment block design to most of the scenes lifted straight from the original, it ups the ante in the hysteria stakes, utilises more impressive special effects, and has a more sympathetic lead (slightly less arrogant character, and a better acting performance in capturing the escalating emotional and psychological damage).

Directed by newcomer John Erick Dowdle and co-scripted with his brother Drew the Quarantine screenplay grounds the movie in realism by suggesting the disease is a progressive form of rabies, a kind of super-disease that infects its victims in a matter of minutes rather than days, whereas [REC] never properly explains what exactly is the disease, apart from visual during the movie’s final ten or so minutes, which doesn’t suggest rabies, but something more supernatural.

Lawrence (Greg Germann) applies his knowledge as a vet on humans

Although duplications from the original movie, there are numerous great scenes of suspense and shock as the situation gets more and more out of control. The very clever use of CGI and stunt-work/special effects make-up has enabled a few stunning sequences that have you saying “How’d they do that?!” The level of hysteria that is ratcheted up over the course of 80 minutes is superbly handled, which brings us to the movie’s final ten minutes as terrified Angela (Jennifer Carpenter) and Scott (Steve Harris), her cameraman (who has somehow managed to stay glued to his recording device despite the lethal chaos; the only real itch I have with both movies, but hey, we wouldn’t have a movie otherwise), find themselves in the building’s supposedly abandoned top apartment.

Kathy (Marin Hinkle) and her daughter Briana (Joey King)

Great support from the rest of the cast, especially Jay Hernandez and Jonathon Schaech (sporting one very impressive moustache) as Jake and George, the two firemen Angela and Scott accompany, and in a small, but effective role, Joey King as young Briana.

The first real sign that the situation is much worse than first anticipated

[REC] was a strong, effective movie, but Quarantine is scarier, and more visceral. It displays the intensity George Romero’s Diary of the Dead (2007) lacked, it captures a sense of real-time urgency that Cloverfield (2007) fumbled with, and it provides the kind of extended jeopardy and terror in the dark that hasn’t been experienced since The Blair Witch Project (1999). It’s the best horror movie since The Descent (2005). However if you’re sensitive to shaky-cam, you’ve been warned; the entire movie is viewed through the lens of Scott’s camera, so as the situation gets more hysterical, so does the camerawork.

Quarantine Steve Harris and Jennifer Carpenter

Scott (Steve Harris) tries to calm an hysterical Angela

Curiously Quarantine was not screened for U.S. critics, for whatever reason. It’s definitely the best Hollywood remake in several years, so the bar’s been raised, and if this level of excellency continues I will have to eat my words. Did you hear that Marcus Nispel (Friday the 13th remake), Patrick Lussier (My Bloody Valentine remake) and David Gordon Green (Suspiria remake) …?

Here's the movie trailer:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

12 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Jason King

November 25th 2008 07:57

Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness

I have been looking forward to this since I saw the trailer a few months ago. FYI - starts this Thursday and maybe hidden underneath Australia and Bond session times. Cool post!~!~

Comment by Bryn

November 26th 2008 01:31

Horrorphile

Hey Jason, yeah, I saw the advance screening (wow, a coupla days! lol) ... I really liked the trailer too, so had secret hopes the movie would follow through. And it did. Cheers!

Comment by David O'Connell

November 26th 2008 02:56

Screen Fanatic

Even better than [REC]?
Very pleasantly surprised to read your positive review Bryn. Will most likely go and see this one now, thanks for the tantalising preview mate.

Comment by Bryn

November 26th 2008 03:43

Horrorphile

David,
[REC] is very good, don't get me wrong. Perhaps because we're seeing a remake so closely released after the original, that it's easier to compare them (ie [REC] doesn't have the advantage of a shelf-life that could've enhanced its cult appeal).
[REC]'s last ten or so minutes are more intense, but then again this is probably due to having seen it first, and not knowing what was going to happen.
I will probably purchase both movies on DVD eventually.
Glad you liked the (p)review.
The curious double-edged question I find myself asking is: If a remake is going to be made I wish they all were as good as this ... but do I want a remake??

Comment by Damo

November 26th 2008 11:15

This looks smashing;y good.

Holidays are coming.

Comment by Bryn

November 26th 2008 22:06

Horrorphile

Damo, it is. It's The Blair Witch Project meets Cloverfield meets The Descent meets Dairy of the Dead meets 28 Days Later. Sounds like a mess, but it works a treat.

Comment by A PUP

December 2nd 2008 16:29

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE TONIGHT AND HOLLY SHIT I HAVENT SEEN A GOOD HORROR MOVIE IN TOO LONG! THIS MOVIE HAD GOOD JUMPS IN IT AND WAS INTERESTING ALL TOGETHER. IT NEVER HAD A DULL MOMENT!!

THIS MOVIE I THINK RATES 10/10!

ITS FUCKIN BRILIANT! GO WATCH IT!!!! =D

XX

Comment by Bryn

December 3rd 2008 00:54

Horrorphile

A Pup, down boy, good doggie! Don't get too excited!

Glad you liked the movie, it was definitely the best Hollywood remake since Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead.

Comment by Anonymous

September 28th 2009 00:10

"Quarantine" was extremely well done. And Jennifer Carpenter deserves a VERY BIG award.

Comment by Bryn

September 28th 2009 02:36

Horrorphile

Anon,
yes, one of the very rare examples of a remake being as good - and in some parts even better - than the original. Although I do think the original's last 15 or so minutes were better than the Hollywood version, but perhaps that's because I knew what was going to happen in the remake.

Comment by Anonymous

November 1st 2009 07:39

This movie sucks. Camera work blows. If this guy was a camera man for a network his ass would of been fired the first 5 mins. the constant zooming in and out was bull shit. 10/10 more like -10/10

Comment by Bryn

November 1st 2009 21:51

Horrorphile

Anon, you seem to have missed the point. The cameraman and everyone else are in a state of panic, of course the camerawork is going to be messy. The real conceit is simply would anyone really continue filming for so long as the danger intensifies (just as the conceit for Paranormal Activity is the same). I presume you had trouble with Cloverfield for much of the same reason?

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