Film Reviews

Quarantine

• Rating:
• Director: John Erick Dowdle.
• Starring: Jay Hernandez, Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris, Rade Serbedzija.
• Details: US / 89mins (18).

Since they veer more towards realism than escapism, mockumentaries are a tough nut to crack and doubly so when it comes to horror, a genre that few believe what is happening on screen could actually happen. The Blair Witch Project and the recent Cloverfield divided everyone, and there's a decent chance Quarantine will do the same. Buying into this set-up is paramount, however, and if this is achieved Quarantine will reward. While shooting a fluff piece on a fire department for TV, ambitious presenter Angela (Carpenter) and cameraman Scott (Harris) are treated to a night of hell. The firemen are called to a building downtown where a woman is 'acting strange' - she's mumbling incoherently and is frothing at the mouth - and the TV crew go for a ride along. A few chomps on the neck later and more people are acting strange. Then the apartment is quarantined by the city officials and reasons why are sketchy at best, but some information is cobbled together - a virus is running amok, turning people into rabid killers and this building is a hotbed. Based on the Spanish thriller Rec, Quarantine is a fresh take on the zombie movie that Romero's Diary Of The Dead misfire should have been. The performances are intense and there's an edge to every scene - something that has been missing from a lot of horror lately. Dowdle loves the confusion he creates, as the questions 'how and why is this happening' never far away. Despite a slow opening fifteen minutes, there's never a dull moment once it gets down to business.

Review by Gavin Burke