REC

Spain, 2007, 78 minutes, Colour.
Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Pablo Posso.
Directed by Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza.

'Rec' is the recognised symbol on the camera for ‘record’. This is how this film is made, all on a handheld camera with all its directness, lopsidedness, falling to the ground and the cameraman running to catch the action, everything from the point of view of the camera operator.

It starts quite blandly as the TV reporter fluffs her lines on screen and repeats them. She and her cameraman, Pablo, are filming a segment on firemen and their night work for a Barcelona program called ‘While You Sleep’. They receive a call to rescue an old lady from an apartment block. Once there, the mayhem breaks out. The old lady is covered in blood and then viciously bites one of the police. Suddenly, the building is sealed and the police will not allow anyone out. No explanations are given to the bewildered tenants and the increasingly frantic reporter. (Luckily, the cameraman stays calm and avoids the increasing danger and keeps on filming.) The group try to find ways out as their number continues to diminish because of bites and the rapid infection.

The film runs for less than 80 minutes but, after its calm start, it is most effective in recreating the situation as if it were really happening in the moment, the terror of the tenants, the attempts of an intern to help the sick, the policeman desperately trying to stay in charge and resenting the TV people – and the reporter continually chasing the story.

Ultimately, an explanation of what has gone wrong is given which satisfies audience curiosity. However, the film really does its work well both technically and in terms of giving audiences some ‘realistic’ scares and maintaining an atmosphere of fear. The technique was used in many films including The Blair Witch Project and the recent Cloverfield and Diary of the Dead. This is a very good example of the genre, but not for the fainthearted.


1.An effect horror film? Terror? Audiences identifying with the situation and characters? Plausibility? Real?

2..The time span, just one night?

4.The camerawork, hand-held, the focus with the television cameraman, his framing, light and dark, the night vision? The editing of the film? Audiences identifying with the point of view? The focus and its limitations? The atmospheric score?

5.Angela and her TV personality, her program, saying her lines, fluffing them? Her work with Pablo behind the camera? She on camera throughout the film? Hearing his voice, sometimes glimpsing him, reflection? The credibility of his camerawork in the realism of the plot?

6.The introduction, Angela and her program, her being with the firemen, following them around?

7.At the firemen’s centre, the tour, the realism of the offices, the men, the meals, locker rooms, the talk, the chatty atmosphere, the situations? On the ready? Their being called out?

8.The apartment block, going in, being locked in? Only glimpses out the windows and the doors to the outer world? The darkness, the manager, the people gathering on the ground floor? The woman, her illness, the infection, her disfigurement? Her attack, her death? The nature of the infection? The mother and child, the story of the dog, the vet explaining rabies? The police in the apartment block?

9.The clash between the police and the firemen? The policeman in charge? The having to cope, the fears, the uncertainties, going around the building in the dark, the searching?

10.Being quarantined, the building being locked, the windows blocked in? The residents and their panic, fears of death, the various voices? The information from outside? Watching the TV – then losing it? The inspectors coming in, their protective suits, the search, the tests – and the infections?

11.The building, the floors, the elevator, the layout, the search, the variety of people, people hiding?

12.The mother and child, the story, the dog, the vet and his opinions, the rabid rabies, the blame – and the child killing its mother?

13.The vet, common sense, his help? The manager and his trying to find an alternate exit? The group trying to exit the building, their failure? The businessman, his being drunk, surly, death in the elevator? The Somali couple and their not being able to speak English? The rest of the residents and their being ordinary? Dealing with the situation, together, in the dark, the various infections, rabid and their deaths?

14.The nature of the rabies, the effect of the deaths, the residents turning into zombies, the attacks?

15.The policeman, his authority, the panic? The exits? His being infected? The fireman and his infection and death? His friend, his help, finally being taken?

16.Angela and Pablo, Angela becoming more and more terrified, panic? Their survival? The camera, going up the stairs, the night vision? The attic? Angela feeling trapped? The discovery of the clippings, the lab, the chemicals, the conspiracy, the apocalyptic tone? The glimpses of the creature?

17.The tension in the dark, Pablo and his holding on, Angela and her fears, Scott’s death? The finale with Angela being dragged away?

18.How well did the genre work, its visual style, the plausibility of the plot and characters? Terror and atmosphere?