An avid film fan, I get through a large amount of DVDs and am in a good position to tell you all abo...
An avid film fan, I get through a large amount of DVDs and am in a good position to tell you all about them. Get through the odd video game and book also. Focusing on movies for now though.
Member since:20.03.2008
Reviews:8
This film is yet another American remake, Quarantine being based on the original Spanish horror [REC]. The film shows the footage of a news team who accompany a fire crew on the night shift, filming a documentary about the life and work of the fire department. The news crew is composed of a young female reporter, played by Jennifer Carpenter (that's her shown on the front cover of the DVD case), and her camera man.
The film takes a sinister turn when the fire crew and reporters attend a call out to an apartment block. The reports are of a woman trapped in her apartment who may be injured. Police are already in attendance, and together with the fire crew members, they investigate the report. What they find is an old woman who is acting strangely - confused and covered in blood. While trying to comfort the old woman, she becomes delirious with rage, and attacks one of the police officers, biting his neck. And thus starts the story of an outbreak of some unknown rabies-like disease, a virus which sends its victims into fits of uncontrollable
aggression.
The film then documents the events which follow. Everyone inside the apartment block is trapped inside as the military arrive, together with the CDC (Center For Disease Control), and barricade all possible exits. A state of quarantine is declared. The trapped fire crew, police officers, reporters and residents of the apartment block are then subjected to a night of fear, panic and chaos as they try to escape the building and attempt to find out the truth about what is going on. And all along, the infection starts to spread.
OVERVIEW: The film is shot in the style of a documentary in-the-making, so is similar in style to films such as Cloverfield and The Blair Witch Project. The camera shots are often made in 'Shake-O-Vision' as the camera man is running around or fighting for his life. Some people may find this filming style to be quite annoying, and I must admit it can be difficult to make out what is going on in some scenes. But then does it make the film seem more realistic? Also, the lighting in the apartment block can make it very difficult to see in detail what is happening. The rooms all seem to be very dark, even though there seems to be plenty of wall lights and lamps around. They must have 1 watt light bulbs in them : ) . Again, some people may find that this adds to the feeling of claustrophobia and panic, but my own personal opinion is 'it annoyed the hell out of me' - at times anyway. I do like to see what is happening.
The acting in large is satisfactory, though the leading actress Jennifer Carpenter 'who plays the female reporter', does seem a little wooden at times. Her performance does get better towards the end of the film.
Special effects are standard for this type of film. The rabid creatures do look realistic however, and wounds are pretty impressive, (though these are not that hard to do these days). It should be mentioned that this film is not a gore-fest. There are some scenes of gore, but is not over the top like in many modern horrors, and are quite few in number.
The film is shown in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, and picture quality is good. The sound is in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. Sound quality is excellent.
WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS FILM: I would rate this film as only average, and I am a genuine horror fan. It's one of those film which you could take or leave. I would personally recommend getting the original Spanish film [REC]. That is much better, so long as you don't mind reading subtitles.
DVD EXTRAS: Quite a few extras are offered on this DVD. Commentary with writer/director John Erick Dowdle and Writer/Producer Drew Dowdle is offered and provides some interesting insights to the making of the film. A 'Making Of' featurette is also offered as is a documentary on the special effects and another on the stunt scenes. All these provide some interesting entertainment. There are no deleted scenes, which is unusual for this type of film.
PRICING: This DVD has been out on general release for a while now, so is not that expensive. I paid £7.99 for it at the supermarket, but you can find it much cheaper on the internet. Try Amazon or eBay for the best deals.
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Advantages: good camera style, liked the ending (but it was obvious) Disadvantages: Show servicemen (eg, police and fire) in the US to be completely thick and incompetent which isnt
fionad86 26.06.2009 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Quarantine (DVD)
Advantages: good camera style, liked the ending (but it was obvious) Disadvantages: Show servicemen (eg, police and fire) in the US to be completely thick and incompetent which isnt
fionad86 26.06.2009 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Quarantine (DVD)
Aug 6th, 2009
very helpful by (88%):
helpful by (13%):
