Review of [REC] (2007) by Ciarán R — 16 Mar 2012

Handheld POV horror from Spain, in which a small, unwitting television crew tails a pair of firemen into the mouth of madness. The Blair Witch / Paranormal Activity thing has been done a dozen times over by now, with varying degrees of believability and success, but this is one of the better examples of what the format can do.

Starting slow with a series of missed cues and tame vignettes for the camera that introduce the primary characters, (a cute minor TV personality and the two generic firemen who allow her to tag along for the evening) it slowly, deliberately adds new faces and developments, building tension until everything finally boils over in a geyser of chaos and terror.

Working wonders with a small cast of unknowns, it wrings every bit of potential out of an admirably simple concept without stretching beyond its means. The storyline is equal parts quiet suspense and startling horror, masking its budgetary shortcomings with a temperamental light source and a set of large-lunged ladies.

I'm not often one to take the bait and jump during this kind of flick, but even I have to admit it caught me once or twice. A solid, entertaining ball of dread that reaches and surpasses the limits of its overplayed genre, it's great material for a dark, windy night at home.