Since I reviewed Quarantine (2008) week before last, I thought it only appropriate to do the same for the original, the 2007 Spanish found footage film, [.REC]. So today, I dug up a copy and settled in for a rewatch. As far as zombie movies go, it does some interesting things with the concept – the pseudo-mystical origins of the zombie virus, for instance.

Found footage has never been my favourite sort of film – it often requires a supreme effort of suspension of disbelief on my part to buy that some fool is continuing to film despite being pursued by zombies. But [.REC] does it better than most, with the video being shot as news footage, and the camera often being dropped or bashed around to add to the realism of the moment. And the idea of a self-contained zombie apocalypse – in this case taking place in a single apartment building – is one I enjoyed. Knowing that some form of authority was outside, intent on keeping the characters from escaping added another layer of tension to things. And the zombies themselves were fun; fast moving, strong and creepy.

The only real let-down of the film were the characters, save Manuela Velasco’s Ángela Vidal. Most of them were little more than sketches, there to be zombie-chow and little else. Only Velasco’s dedicated reporter gets any sort of development, as she becomes determined first to expose what she believes to be a conspiracy, then to simply chronicle what’s happening so that someone, somewhere, might see. It gives the film a strong centre if nothing else. You can feel for her, especially since she’s not shown to be particularly heroic or idealistic. She’s a real person in a real bad situation and sometimes that’s enough to keep your attention.

Too, I’ve found this lack of character when it comes to – well – characters to be a common weakness of many recent zombie films, so I wasn’t altogether surprised. Otherwise, I enjoyed the film quite a bit. If you haven’t seen it, give it a shot. You might enjoy it too. The sequels are equally entertaining, though by the fourth entry, things are getting somewhat nonsensical.

I give it three screeching zombie toddlers out of five.