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Time to throw on your night-vision-green party lamps and shake it like a handheld camera, because this week Rotten Horror Picture Show takes its first dive into the found footage genre with the classic Spanish zombie (or zombie-adjacent) film, 2007’s REC! It’s got outbreaks, it’s got rabid children, it’s got shadowy government hazmat guys, it’s got people acting like morons in the face of a deadly disease – perfect late-2020 viewing…or is it?
Late-night TV host Angela and her cinematographer are following the fire service on a call to an apartment building, but the Spanish police seal off the building after an old woman is infected by a virus which gives her inhuman strength. What this very misleading summary leaves out, though, is that this is a full-on zombie movie. Low-budget horror done very well, and is a fan-favorite of the genre.
Join Clay, and Amanda as they get into the finer points of the first recorded “Karen” video, a truly nightmarish condo board, an extraordinarily unhelpful cameraman, unnaturally strong old women, kids that bite, firefighters that bite, borderline racist voice dubbing, unexpected catholicism, and questionable parenting!
Released in the United States after its English language remake, Quarantine, REC continues to top many peoples’ lists of both greatest zombie films as well as greatest found footage films. It’s a simple story, done very effectively, and once Amanda and Clay both realized they had seen Quarantine but not REC, they managed to settle in and discuss both the film, and the found footage genre as a whole. A movie about a hastily handled outbreak either works for you in this current climate or it doesn’t, and they definitely get into that as well. So charge your camcorder, don’t trust the government, get your white tank top all bloody, and catch this one…if you DARE!