Quarantine: Movie Review



The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield and Quarantine all have one thing in common: they all have that sick-inducing and gut-wrenching shaky camera technique. You know, when the whole movie is on the perspective of a camera/cameraman the whole time. Nothing screams "HURL!" with a camera that feels like it does not know the words "cooperate" and "stay". But moving on, we are really excited about this film. Just think, The Blair Witch Project plus 28 Days Later zombies (that run and scream like there is no tomorrow); it just looks like the next step for zombie movies. Just read further and you will find out if Quarantine just made it big time.



Quarantine's plot is actually simple. An apartment complex was quarantined off last March 2008 and it seems that the government was trying to hide something. A tape was found that may contain clues to what really happened and the movie starts off at the beginning of that tape. The main character is Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) with her camareman Scott. They are filming in an LA firestation for a late night show. Unfortunately, an emergency call happened and Angela and Scott rode with the firefighters. A woman was reported trapped in her apartment room while screams were also heard from the same room. As the firefighters and police opened the door, what they will see is totally different from what they expected. From there on the fight for survival begins as the apartment was quarantined with Angela, Scott, the policemen, the firefighters and the residents trapped inside to fend off with whatever is with them.

Quarantine was something else. It had some bad points but overall, we feel that it was successful in how it delivered the medium. It was awesomely scary yet you will leave the theater feeling unfulfilled. Probably it is the ice-thin plot and how the shaky camera really avoids any deep developments with the story. What we really liked though is the acting, the sounds and how the camera was effectively used. The acting was A-class especially for Jennifer Carpenter. You just have to see this girl to truly see what we mean. How she presents her fear is very near to what we call genuine fear. The sounds were really great as well. Without even the use of any kind of music, the film was still scary as hell. Finally, the camera was well-utilized in bringing fear and thank god it was not as hurl-inducing as Blair Witch or Cloverfield. This film might not be for everyone as it is really, really creepy. For zombie and horror fans, this is a must!





Rating: 4 reels




Why you should watch it:
- great acting from all the actors and actresses especially Jennifer Carpenter
- the camerawork was very good considering this used the shaky camera technique
- this is truly an innovative way of presenting the zombie-genre

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- if you get dizzy easily
- plot is really simple
- the ending is quite predictable honestly







2 Comments

Comments