Monday, February 2, 2009

Quarantine

I'm sure my writing on this blog gives everyone the impression that I pretty much like any movie genre. And to be honest I pretty much do, but ever since I was a little kid, I've been addicted to Scary Movies. The funny thing about that is that I'm pretty much the equivalent of school aged girl when it comes to how scared I get. (I'm currently up writing this post because I can't sleep) I guess that's why I enjoy riding roller coasters, even though I'm terrified of heights. The sad thing about scary movies is that recently, we've become so used to special effects in all films, we can't appreciate old school scary movies any longer. Everything has to outdo itself and the end result is a lot of scary movies that are just cheesy. When was the last time you saw a contemporary scary movie that actually freaked you out? I think the closest thing we've had recently is the 28 days later series, granted, I'm partial to zombie flicks.

Shockingly, since Americans are not nearly as creative, this movie is a remake of a Spanish film named "Ils". I watched a portion of it, however, since it didn't have subtitles, it was a bit difficult, but the general themes are parallel between the two. One of these days I'm going to create a little more consistency and uniformity between these posts, because right now I feel like I talk about WHY i watch movies just as much as I talk about them. Premise of the film is that a reporter/cameraman are doing a piece on fire dept, yadda yadda yadda, I mentioned the bisque. They are quarantined in a building and no one knows why or what exactly is going on. None of the cast really jump out as start actors, though you might recognize a few. The main actress is from the show 'Dexter', the cameraman is the dude from 'The Practice', the vet is the guy from Ally McBeal and the waddle, and lastly, from the feature film 'Crazy/Beautiful' Jay Hernandez.

For a horror flick, this movie did a pretty good job. The story is similar to a lot of other movies, but the way they did it was well done. I was on edge the entire time. Does it take much, no. Were there a few all of a sudden scares? yes. Was that why the movie was scary though? Absolutely not. The director was able to create an ambiance of reality. Of not knowing. I think the recent trend in movies is to take more of a camcorder look during a movie. For example...Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, parts of The Wrestler. As I discussed previously, I find it as a great way to connect the viewer with the characters on screen. At the end of the film, the main actress, Jennifer Carpenter, played the role a little over the top, but in reality I think she sold it quite well and it wasn't overacted at all.

I give the movie 3 Manatees. If there was a horror category, I would give it 4 Manatees within the genre.

2 comments:

Daddy Mac said...

So as I said, I also watched this. But I don't think I can write about it. You see, I am much more of a school girl when it comes to scary movies than you do. So I close my eyes/look somewhere else/go to the bathroom/eat A LOT during scary movies. I probably missed like 25% of it. Therefore, it would be unfair for me to write about it.

But, it was pretty good.

Elisa said...

i think this movie would be better as a video game - you can either play as the rabid zombies or as the people trying to get out or as the cute little rats! i disagree that the camcorder trend is a great way to connect the viewer to the characters, as it just makes me puke and wish that all the characters would shut up and die already.

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