Quarantine locks in chills, keeps out frills

FOR a movie I really only grabbed off the DVD shelf ’cause there was absolutely nothing else worth picking up, Quarantine was a surprisingly good scare flick.

I had heard very little about the film so certainly wasn’t getting my hopes as far as a finished product goes. But the film, from director John Erick Dowdle, can be likened to an intense theme park ride.

It’s short and sharp, winds up and down and around and around, and sometimes even makes you go ‘whoa’.

It takes its cue from Cloverfield and the much earlier released The Blair Witch Project in that it is shown using so-called real footage from a hand-held camera. Yep, the old shaky effect.

In this instance it was ‘shot’ by the cameraman for a television news reporter who is spending a night with a Los Angeles firefighting crew.

But, instead of featuring gigantic insect-looking monsters and possessed sticks the antagonists are something a little less supernatural and more altered human.

The film also borrows heavily from the likes of 28 Days Later in that a deadly virus turns innocent victims into blood-thirsty killers with a one-track mind – that being ripping the throat out of the nearest person’s neck.

During a mildly cringeworthy opening we meet our on-camera star Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter), and her ‘crew’ Scott Percival (Steve ‘The Lips’ Harris) who are playfully being shown around the inner sanctum of the local fire department by helmeted heroes Jake (Jay Hernandez) and George (Johnathon Schaech).

It is when the two firemen receive a distress call requiring their services at a nearby apartment things take a decidedly nasty turn.

Tagging along, Angela and Scott suddenly become caught up in an extremely gory situation when a seemingly harmless old lady goes all cannibal on one of the cops also on the scene, and then sends George flying three stories headfirst into the building’s ground floor.

Before they and the rest of the tenants have a chance to vacate the premises, the entire building has been sealed tight by higher powers.

It soon becomes apparent, thanks to resident veterinarian, that what they may be dealing with is a decidedly deadly strain of rabies, hence the frothing at the mouth of its victims – and the constant biting and growling.

One by one the tenants are either infected or bitten – or bitten and infected.

The last hour presents some genuinely chilling moments as Angela, Scott, Jake and co try to avoid the crazed infected long enough to find a way of escaping – and at the same time avoid the sniper rifles outside wanting to keep them in.

The use of the ‘real’ camera, a la Cloverfield and Blair Witch, can be quite annoying at times, but is used to reasonable effect during the finale up in the building’s attic when Angela and Scott come face to face with the man behind the virus. I didn’t quite jump but my girlfriend did – as did one of our dogs.

While there is little room for character development and depth, the acting is sound, with Carpenter putting in a solid showing and one that, while divides viewers, I believe is quite a realistic portrayal of a woman struggling to deal with the grizzly devastation going on around her.

Quarantine is a remake of the Spanish film [Rec] (2007), one I haven’t seen but am quite interested in having a look at now.

Though I’ve never been one to overdo the theme park rides. They make me a bit sick.

RATING: 6.5/10