[Rec] (2007) Dir: Jaume Balagueró & Paco Plaza

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There are a lot of infection-based horror films out there, and, being totally frank, most of them are very mediocre. You do get your exceptions, though, and this Spanish found-footage infection-based horror from 2007 seemed, based on its reviews, to be one of them. Directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, it has achieved a healthy cult classic status, which was more than enough to entice me into watching it.

What started out like a fairly mundane but realistic feeling documentary on local firefighting, quickly turned into a terrifying and desperate fight for survival. The basic, shuddery, handheld style of camerawork might be a little tropy for the horror genre, but that's, in part, because of how well it works, and this was a prime example of just that. The film looked and felt very real, relatively speaking. It was very easy to get swept up in the chaos of the film, with the camera making the audience feel like they themselves were in the middle of the terrifying action.

A big reason why this film works so well is because it thrives on that aforementioned realistic base, which makes the events of its story so much more intense, shocking, and scary. For a film with a mostly very simple narrative, it ended up being an absolutely riveting thriller, which had me engaged from start to finish. And just when I thought it couldn't get much more creepy and freaky, the film unleashed a genuinely terrifying ending, albeit the very last shot of the film was a little predictable and cheesy, but I can excuse one bad shot.

The film didn't really focus on characters too much, with the horror and mystery elements of the narrative carrying most of the storytelling weight, but there were still some performances worth noting, especially that of Manuela Velasco, who played the most prevalent character in the film, and was extremely believable with her reactions to the unfolding horror she was experiencing. Nobody else stood out as an individual, per-se, but I should emphasise that I think everyone did a decent job to make themselves feel like regular, real, people.

Overall, I ended up thoroughly enjoying this excellent little independent horror - it may have been simple, for the most part, but it was extremely effective. In fact, I would go so far as to call it one of the best 'zombie' films I've ever seen. Where so many films from the subgenre have tried to do way too much, this one kept things concise and focused, and the film was all the better for it. The ending stayed with me for a long time after the film ended, which is exactly what you want from a film like this. I digress, what a superb horror film. I do wonder if the sequels could ever live up to this first one - so few can - but I'm certainly tempted to go and find out.