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Disclaimer: I have not yet seen the Spanish film [Rec], on which Quarantine is based (or remade), so you should know I'm reviewing this film entirely on its own merit, without any comparison or frame of reference to the original. Thank you.

Writer/director John Erick Dowdle (Full Moon Rising, The Poughkeepsie Tapes) teams up with his own brother Drew, to co-write an adaptation of Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza's 2007 film [Rec]. Renamed Quarantine for American recapitulation, Dowdle's film infuses a raw cinema verite technique to achieve a hyper sense of realism in this tale of a neophyte reporter and her lone cameraman becoming sequestered behind blood-soaked closed doors. In the tepid climate of modern day horror flicks (remakes in particular) this is a well made film, one that ultimately excels at reaching the goals it has set for itself. By that I mean, the film is no doubt a visceral experience of the highest intensity; a film that, I won't lie, had me fidgeting in my seat a few times with sheer anticipation (perhaps due to gimmickry, which I'll address). For what it offers though, Quarantine is tremendously effective. A pretty sick film!

Theories of Isolation
Present day Los Angeles. A camera is turned on, and we meet a cute young woman named Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter), a novice news reporter who fumbles a few greet-lines to her cameraman Scott (Steve Harris). They are in front of a local fire-station, on assignment to shadow a particular squad on a seemingly slow night. We, as do Scott and Angela, meet Jake (Jay Hernandez) and Fletcher (Johnathon Schaech) - the lucky pair of firefighter/EMTs who indulge the news-team; show them around the facility, the hook-ladder, a hand-ball court etc. We instantly get a good feel for these characters, and for the first 15-20 minutes or so really start to like them, especially Angela, who is witty and charming, very likeable from the start. We see her exude a child-like innocence as she twirls down the fire-pole, races Fletch to see who can put a fire suit on quicker, even makes a jubilant escapade into the dude's locker-room. Everything's fuckin' peaches.

Then an emergency call rings in, Jake and Fletch dispatched. Amped their night is about to change, Angela and her cameraman hop in the fire-rig. When they arrive at the place in question, a pair of LAPD officers is trying their best to seal the place off. Seal it from what, you may ask? We're told an old, reclusive lady fell in her apartment and let out an awful bellow. But when they vet the woman, she's on her feet, foaming and frothing at the mouth. The crew tries to control her, but she lashes out and gorily attacks one of the men. Angela demands Scott capture everything on film (hence the original title Rec, I presume). As everyone starts to panic, the authorities gather all the residents of the building into the foyer as to discuss a plan of escape. You see, the entire building has been surrounded by cops, soldiers, firemen, SWAT, etc. - the entire block for that matter has been quarantined and heavily guarded. Yet we still don't why, or what the cause is.

It's clear whatever the old lady's condition is, it's contagious. A slow developing reaction, one more or less turning each who gets bitten into a flesh-starved maniac. A tired story, huh? Not so fast. We meet a resident veterinarian named Lawrence (Greg Germann), who after examining a few of the wounded (which is growing by the minute), deduces that the condition seems to be a very potent strain of rabies, or something similar. As the survivors begin to get plucked off one by one and morph into what attacked them, they must not only fight the fuckers off, but try to make an escape from the building altogether. Tensions rise of course, and there are even times when the band of survivors start to rub each other the wrong way. Enemies among enemies, it seems.

Can Anybody Get Out Alive?
The best thing about Quarantine is that it's an experience of immersion; due to the sole POV camera framing, we are instantly plunged right into the action, essentially acting as surrogate to the camera itself. These awful things are happening to us as they are happening to the characters in the film. At times, it actually felt as if we (audience) were inside a morbid video game or a virtual haunted house. I can't front though, if you're not into the shaky cam phenomenon, the frenetic Blair Witch/Cloverfield aesthetic, this movie could irk you a bit. At times the camera moves way to rapidly, where action is muddled, leaving you dizzy, even nauseous. And because the crux of the story takes place in a single building, from a single perspective, a sense of enclosure or claustrophobia can certainly be felt at certain points. But I have to believe, and again I haven't seen the original, that was part of the filmmaker's intentions - not to necessarily scare you (although a bonus), but to leave you utterly uncomfortable. To that end, the film succeeds - even if over-calculated.

The performances in the film are believable, especially that of Jennifer Carpenter. She's able to realistically run the gamut of mirth and silliness in the early going, to down right dread and terror by the last reel. Because of the documentary feel of the film, all the actors are doing their best to be normal and natural - the result equals plausibility. The flick has noticeably limited CGI, which only heightens the level of believability. The gore in the film is pretty top shelf, the FX work gruesomely solid all the way round. Another admirable part of the film is its lack of over-exposition. We never get inundated with lame explanations as to what or why the infection is spreading, save for a late scene where, even then, we as an audience suss it for ourselves instead of being patronized with lengthy explanation. The ending, I won't spoil for you, but might be my favorite part of the entire film. Quarantine: illness!

Terror Rating: 3 out of 5
Originality: 1 out of 5
Level of Gore: 3.5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Recommendations: 28 Weeks Later, Dawn of the Dead (1978, 2004)

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