"OH MY GAWD IT'S PARIS HILTON!!!"

Good news people! This isn’t the worst U.S remake!

I’ve been wanting to watch Quarantine ever since I got to see the original (Spanish) hell-raiser [Rec], and having seen both, I think I’m in the best position to tell you which I preferred, and which you should probably pay to see. Ladies and gentlemen… once again, Awesome goes to the original!

That said, the U.S English remake wasn’t all that bad. And I’m not saying that just to be fair. (Okay, maybe a little.) If you can’t handle subtitles on the Spanish version, by all means, watch Quarantine. You know in Math they used to have stuff like “A is a subset of B but B isn’t the subset of A”? If you’ve seen [Rec], you’ve seen Quarantine, but I can’t say the same the other way round. U.S remakes have the annoying habit of dumbing things down and presenting you with foolproof shots lest you have a single-digit IQ, so there’s very little left for the imagination…or suspense, for that matter. The story of both films is shouldered by a reporter, her camera man, and a few supporting cast members, who get caught in an apartment lock-down to isolate a suspected and contagious strain of extreme rabies. Quarantine, like the nutty rabies strain, makes haste to present you with maximum terror appeal, while [Rec] takes it slow, allowing breathing spaces between scares for plot development, some imagination, and a general build-up for characters to interact. There’s nothing scarier than completely trusting someone and then getting the shit knocked out of you, than litter the place with red-herrings which later come true. Also, Quarantine openly states in its dialogue that what the characters are dealing with is nothing more than a rabies outbreak, whereas scenes in [Rec] suggest a melding of both scientific and demonic natures. Both will leave you with your heart stuck up your throat, but through very different means.

Jennifer Carpenter, who plays reporter Angela in the remake, is also distinctively different from the Angela played by Manuela Velasco. Carpenter’s Angela, a whole barrow wimpier than Velasco’s, easily fits within the all-terror-no-brain of the retelling, panicking at all the right parts. Hers is a better portrayal of a vulnerable reporter, unable to accept the terror of her surroundings, in shock and disbelief that a simple filming outing would turn into a nightmare. Velasco’s the other kind of reporter you see on TV – the kind bound to be accused of being invasive paparazzi. Hers is a character in shock as well, but illuminated with an undying will to survive the night. The ordeal, if possible. Again, to each his own. If you like squeamish folk, Quarantine’s your pick. Love watching brave souls fighting back tooth and nail (and brains)? [Rec].

Now for the camera work – don’t, for goodness’ sake, go in with a full stomach. Of the two shot using shaky cameras, [Rec] has no problem bagging this category. With better play on shadows, well framed shots through the viewfinder, and the ability to utilise silence and echos, [Rec] is overall a better-filmed piece than say, the messier in-camera editing and overuse of loud sound effects in Quarantine. This is not helped by the fact that a major scene (the climax, practically) is in the trailer for Quarantine. It’s one thing to market cheap thrills, it’s another to sell the entire climax and be a dead giveaway when it’s finally shown in the movie itself.

(First published at InCinemas)