[Rec] 2: A Better Film, But Also a Less Scary One

In the early days of The Vault of Horror, Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza's [Rec] was the one of the very first new horror films I passionately championed. I wanted to get the word out about this fantastic Spanish zombie film that, unfortunately, was not known to many American fans. It turned out I wasn't the only one, as lots of other writers in the horror blogosphere with which I was just becoming acquainted were also raving about it.

In my opinion, the original [Rec] was the most downright terrifying horror film of the previous decade. It was the kind of a movie that grabs the neckhairs of even a hardened fright film watcher like myself and says: "Be afraid." So it was with great relish that I latched on to the opportunity to experience [Rec] 2, Balaguero and Plaza's continuation of their tale of undead outbreak. And I'm excited to say that it was an intense flick that's almost as much fun as the original, and in some ways, even more interesting.

[Rec] 2 picks up the action right where we left off at the end of the first one--kind of like a Rocky movie, except with dead people instead of boxers. We're right back on the scene of the quarantined apartment building, as a SWAT team and a special government agent infiltrate the structure to figure out just what the hell is going on inside. Matters are further complicated by a group of overly curious teens who sneak into the building as well.

The story is told, once again, in cinema verite style, with all the action depicted via "real life" video recordings. It's the same "found footage" approach taken by cinematographer Pablo Rosso in the original, except this time the film makers kind of riff on that style, giving us several different points of view from a few different camera sources, such as the cams carried by the SWAT members, the camera inevitably carried by one of the teens, etc. It's all edited together to create a real feeling of development from the original; Balaguero and Plaza are consciously exploring and expanding the visual "gimmick" they introduced the first time out.

This time, however--and this felt like an intentional decision--the action is less chaotic, and more coherent. One of the criticisms of the original (thought not by me) was that it was almost too realistic, with a constant stream of panicked yelling and screaming, and stretches of action so muddled by movement and noise as to be overly disorienting. This time, the whole thing feels a bit more dramatized, more traditional in presentation, and I don't mean that necessarily as a negative. Rather, I found it to be a change of pace and just one of the things that make this movie anything but the tired aping of the original that it easily could've been.

Another area in which there is bold and fascinating development going on is the direction taken by Balaguero, Plaza and their scripting collaborator Manu Diex in the actual narrative. Whereas the first time out, we got a straightforward modern, infection-style zombie film, with only some hints at the end of the supernatural, this time things go full-tilt into the realm of the occult. This might put off some who appreciated the more "grounded in reality" approach of the original (whatever that may mean in a movie about the living dead), but I found this to be the most rewarding development of all.

[Spoilerish stuff ahead] What we wind up with is sort of a cross between 28 Days Later and The Exorcist, with our undead turning out to be not quite zombies after all, but closer in species to Sam Raimi's Deadites, or perhaps a whole bunch of very angry Regan MacNeils, if you prefer. It's demonic possession that spreads organically, like a contagion. I was totally enthralled by this concept, and pleasantly surprised that the story went in this direction. Science and religion are blended into the kind of hybrid that takes a little getting used to, but is nevertheless original, engaging stuff.

My biggest gripe would be the one aspect in which this sequel does slavishly attempt to follow its predecessor, which is in the presentation of the monstrous Madeiros girl who is the source of the infection. You can feel the movie building up once again to the big reveal, just as it did the first time, and you get the sense that they were shamelessly trying to reproduce the sheer terror and adrenaline rush of that infamous climactic scene in the original in which main character Angela Vidal first encounters the possessed girl.

Here, the scene feels forced, tacked on, and worst of all, is built on some heavy-handed pseudo-religious/scientific nonsense I just didn't buy, which insisted that the girl could not be seen in the light, since she was shunned by God or something like that. As a result, the only way to see her, conveniently enough, is via the night-vision camera used to see her in the original. Furthermore, this doesn't explain why the creature was unable to interact with them earlier in the film (just because they couldn't see her?) Anyway, not to belabor the point, this is a relatively small problem in an otherwise very enjoyable horror film.

[Rec] 2 also ends with a little twist and some flashback footage that both lets us in on what exactly happened to Angela when she got pulled down that air duct, and also sets us up for a [Rec] 3 which looks like it will go in a far more large-scale, ambitious direction than the previous two. All in all, it's a more traditional horror film than its predecessor, with some intriguing thematic and narrative developments, even if the re-treading of somewhat familiar territory unavoidably ensures that it's not quite the white-knuckle roller coaster of pulse-pounding terror that the original was.

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21st Century Terrors, Part 8: 2007

The year 2007 is a special one here in the Vault, because it was the year this blog first got off the ground. And boy, did I pick an interesting year to get things started. There was a lot going on in 2007 in the world of fright flicks, and I was definitely fortunate to have some of these films around to write about at the very beginning.

The remake and sequel craze was in full swing by this point, but luckily there was also a lot of fascinating and original material being put out on the market as well. Interestingly enough at the time, a great deal of it was coming from overseas.

In particular, the one movie that will always come to mind for many when 2007 is brought up is Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza's [REC], which many would consider among the most downright terrifying films of the entire decade, if not the most terrifying. From Spain came this unique, mockumentary take on the zombie subgenre, featuring a team of TV reporters and firemen trapped inside a quarantined apartment building during an outbreak of some sort of disease which turns the living into bloodthirsty undead.

Visceral, straightforward and extremely realistic in its presentation, [REC] became an instant sensation. People from all over the world clamored to see this (formerly) little movie that had emerged from Spain, a country many hadn't thought of as much of a horror haven since the heyday of Paul Naschy. It also managed to keep the zombie resurgence going strong roughly half a decade after it first exploded.

Spain also produced a very different kind of horror film that same year in Juan Antonio Bayona's The Orphanage (El Orfanato), a movie that was helped along in its overseas exposure by the blessing of Guillermo del Toro, who was understandably taken with it. A very unorthodox combination of ghost story and psychological thriller, The Orphanage takes its place amongst the likes of The Uninvited, The Haunting and The Changeling as one of the finest motion pictures of its kind.

Meanwhile, from just a few miles to the northeast in France, came Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury's Inside (À l'intérieur), a deeply disturbing and shockingly violent motion picture that became another international sensation and immediate film festival darling. The 2000s gave us quite a few depraved horror films, but Inside has to be very near to the top of the pile in terms of subject matter and the unflinching portrayal of said subject matter.

Following a nine-months-pregnant widow on the eve of her induction, as she fends off a psychopathic intruder bent on stealing the unborn child from her body, the film struck a nerve with even the most jaded horror viewers. As dead serious as the genre gets, Inside delivered extreme tension and extreme violence in equal doses, resulting in one of the most unsettling viewing experiences imaginable, and a movie that literally challenges the definition of entertainment.

And yet, while in most any other year, Inside would win hands down as most disturbing French movie, in 2007 it was a toss-up! There must have been something in the water in France that year, because the French also gave us the equally grim and harrowing Frontière(s). Xavier Gens' story of fugitive thieves held prisoner by demented neo-Nazis is another film that helped propel France to the cutting edge of international horror cinema.

But the Americans certainly weren't sitting on their hands while the Europeans had all the fun, either. Rather, some of the best and brightest filmmakers around were delving deep into the genre. Tim Burton took a crack at the beloved Stephen Sondheim splatter musical Sweeney Todd, putting his go-to star Johnny Depp in the lead, and adding wife Helena Bonham Carter to the mix to produce a typically sumptuous and subversive slice of cinema reminiscent of some of his best work.

Genre junkies Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez joined forces to create Grindhouse, a one-of-a-kind 21st century double feature that paid homage to the sticky-floor movies of old. Though greatly hyped, it did not quite live up to box-office or critical expectations--nevertheless, Rodriguez' contribution to the effort, Planet Terror, is a balls-to-the-wall, over-the-top zombie trash epic that certainly has its fair share of avid supporters. If anything, RR has to at least be recognized for having a great deal of fun with the subgenre, in the grand tradition of Dan O'Bannon. Plus, we also got the infamous line, "I'm gonna eat your brains and gain your knowledge..."

Steve Niles' acclaimed 30 Days of Night vampire graphic novels were adapted by director David Slade in highly bloody fashion--and although the slickly stylized film divided many fans, its unapologetically brutal approach to the bloodsucker mythos was at least an effective alternative to the Twilight-mania just tightening its grip on popular culture. Another film which divided fans was The Mist, in which Frank Darabont, director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, turned his attention to his first Stephen King horror story. A monster movie in the tradition of classic 1950s fare, with a modern twist and a gut-punch ending, it may not have pleased all the King fans out there, but it had to be considered better than the other King adaptation of 2007, Mikael Håfström's 1408.

As alluded to previously however, we were also bombarded with more than our fair share of remakes and sequels in 2007. And although remakes and sequels are not necessarily bad by definition, looking at the catalog of releases from that year, one could not be blamed for coming to that conclusion.

With long-time favorites like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Hitcher served up in tepid "re-imagined" form, it was a tough year for some long-time horror fans. Most egregious of all would have to be Rob Zombie's Halloween, a film which managed to enrage the legions of fans of John Carpenter's 1978 original, with its post-modern deconstruction of the Michael Myers character, and less-than-creative regurgitation of much of the material of its predecessor. Although the extensive Myers' backstory added depth and was appreciated by some, in the end, the film sometimes unaffectionately termed "Zombieween" came off as a largely unnecessary affair.

On the sequel front, it seemed like every notable film/franchise of the decade was being pumped for all it was worth by the studios desperate for the next fix of genre-derived revenue. There was Saw IV, Hostel 2, and The Hills Have Eyes 2, each of which either killed off, or should've killed off, their respective series.

George Romero followed up 2005's Land of the Dead with Diary of the Dead, a fresh, cinema verite approach to his zombie series which unfortunately came off poorly thanks to being released in the wake of [REC] and, to a lesser extent, Cloverfield. Although this blogger enjoyed the film, most felt it to be the nadir of Romero's revered zombie cycle to date. As far as zombie sequels go, 28 Weeks Later was received a bit better, with some (including yours truly) finding it to be superior to Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. Once again, it seemed that Uncle George had been beaten at his own game--a game which, in 2007, also gave us such less-than-memorable fare as Resident Evil: Extinction and Flight of the Living Dead.

An erratic year of highs and lows, and perhaps a bit of a comedown from the heady days of the mid-2000s, 2007 was still a very good year to be a horror fan, with lots of quirky, soon-to-be cult classics emerging as well, such as the vagina dentata chestnut Teeth, the Australian giant crocodile picture Rogue, and the cheesy send-up Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer. One could certainly never say that there wasn't a little bit of something for everyone, and all in all, I'd have to say that The Vault of Horror picked a pretty cool time to be born!

Also in 2007:

• Dead Silence
• The Deaths of Ian Stone
• I Know Who Killed Me
• Mother of Tears
• Primeval
• The Signal
• Vacancy

Part 1: 2000
Part 2: 2001
Part 3: 2002
Part 4: 2003
Part 5: 2004
Part 6: 2005
Part 7: 2006

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Visceral Visionaries: Gustavo Lopez Mañas

Today I have a very special edition of Visceral Visionaries for you. I'm taking to visionary Spanish horror photographer Gustavo Lopez Mañas, whose work has appeared in the worlds of music, fashion, advertising and the movies. Yet despite the thriving mainstream career of this native of the gorgeous city of Granada (they didn't write a song about it for nothing), Mañas has always had a deep, abiding love of the macabre, and has thus always made a place for it in his work.

In fact, his sweetest gig of all has to be that he was an actual on-set photographer during the filming of the 2007 Spanish horror film [REC]. Despite being insanely jealous of this, it was nevertheless a pleasure to discuss it, as well as many other things, with Mr. Mañas...

I understand you were originally influenced by comics, tell me a little about this.
Yes, I started drawing comics books when I was 15, and then worked as an inker on super hero comics. Later, I finally discovered photography, and this gave me the way to express my ideas.

You're a formally trained photographer, what led you to want to explore horror-related themes in some of your work?
I've loved horror movies since I was a child, and I always have been interested on the feelings that they give us. That feeling is the one I also want to provoke.


You created an entire series on the theme of Le Fanu's Carmilla, what was it about that story that inspired you?
Carmilla is a very special story to me. Because it shows us how the relationship between two teenage girls can be as frightening as the fact that Carmilla is a vampire. And of course, it's one of the most important stories about vampires, which inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula.

What is it about vampires that make them such a ripe theme for photography?
Well, vampires are very attractive characters, because they are synonymous with sex and seduction.


You also did some photography on the set of [REC], how did that come about?
I sometimes work for “Filmax”, one of the most important Spanish film production companies. They make many horror movies. I made around 10 horror movies with this company, and [REC] is only one of them.

What do you think made that such a successful horror film?
I think they thought it out so well--they knew how make a movie that people would like. And especially, they knew how to promote the movie. Sometimes it's almost more important to do good promotion than a good movie, if you want to sell it.


Your Hair Museum photography contains horror themes as well, particularly the Bride of Frankenstein... Tell me a bit about this project.
This project was created in 2002 with my friend and hair artist Jesus Martos. He thought it could be great to make a characters gallery, and wanted they it to have a very disturbing look.

Why do you think it is that there are images which can simultaneously be beautiful and frightening?
I think it's because morbid and frightening go together.


Of what work are you the most proud? Both horror and non-horror related.
Carmilla, is the work with which I really showed what appeals to me. Thanks to the help of a lot of friends, that was a fantastic experience for me.

Do you find that your horror-themed works informs your more "mainstream" work in any way?
I enjoy very much doing both, but for me, the mainstream work is just to pay the bills. All artists have personal and mainstream works.


What future projects can my readers look forward to from you?
Very soon, I´m going to finish a video clip that we made for [NYC rock band] Anthony and the Johnsons featuring performance artist Johanna Constantine, which is really special.

* Thanks to Stu of Buy Zombie for putting me in contact with Gustavo.

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The Year in Horror: One Blogger Looks Back

Maybe it was because it was my first full year blogging, but I have to say that 2008 was a pretty solid year for scary entertainment. Certainly a lot better than 2007, at least in my experience. And when it comes down to it, this is all about personal experience. It's all subjective, people, and I can only write based upon what I actually experienced over the course of the past 12 months in horror. There are a lot of great flicks and shows that I need to get to, most notably Let the Right One In, which I will watch via vaguely illegal means sometime in the next few days.

That said, I feel it's with good reason that I claim 2008 to have been a highly satisfying year for terror. For one thing, we kicked off the year with Cloverfield, a bona fide mainstream American giant monster movie that opened in the midst of an earth-shattering multimedia marketing campaign. And while it may not have been the life-changing experience many apparently were led to believe it would be, it was an enjoyable flick, and it was a pleasure seeing a kind-of-horror movie grip the imagination of the entire nation like it did.

And speaking of the nation, if 2008 was anything, it was the year that domestic horror took a trip to the woodshed, courtesy of foreign horror. Yes, fans, our fear-loving brethren from across the seas put America to shame this year.

Apart from Let the Right One In, which I haven't even seen yet, you had Juan Antonio Bayona's The Orphanage reaching U.S. shores--a sublime film which rightfully received the blessing of Guillermo del Toro. Frenchmen Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury shocked the holy hell out of us with Inside, the first knockout French gore flick since the days of Jean Rollin. And J-horror took a backseat to K-horror thanks to Black House, a DVD releases from South Korea which it was my pleasure to review some months ago. Of course, there was also the god-awful The Wig from the very same country, but who's keeping score?

But the granddaddy of 'em all was the flick that was, for this blogger's money, the best horror movie of the decade thus far--Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza's [Rec]. Although criminally withheld from U.S. theaters this year so as not to steal the thunder of the American remake Quarantine (no, I haven't seen it), that couldn't stop those curious and industrious enough to get their hands on it and discover that a horror movie can still have the power to terrify even the most jaded veteran fans.

I'm thankful that starting up the VoH has helped me gain access to a greater world of horror out there, beyond the beaten path. Without the Vault, I might never have had the pleasure of catching Ryan Spindell's Kirksdale, a festival-favorite short that yielded some of the highest quality 20 minutes of horror you'd be likely to find all year.

I also had the privilege of catching George Romero's Diary of the Dead during its extremely limited and brief theatrical release. And yes, I am a defender of that film, and I will continue to be as long as I have breath to pontificate. It was a joy to see Romero's zombie saga continue this year, with an installment I found much more fresh, innovative and powerful than 2005's Land of the Dead.

I can't really say the same for Steve Miner's pitiful Day of the Dead direct-to-DVD remake/fiasco. I was really convinced that that would be the lowest I'd sink all year. And then I saw M. Night Shyamalan's latest stop on the painful descent to oblivion, The Happening. I can honestly say I can't recall the last time I saw a movie that bad. For real.

What else? Oh yeah, well, I guess there was another Saw movie that got wheeled out in time for Halloween. Watched it. Not bad. Not great. Slightly better than the last one. Whatever. Next.

On the small screen, I was treated to a third season of Dexter that maintained the same level of excellence that the first and second season set in place. And HBO rolled out True Blood, a very good, if not quite great, vampire series that restored TV horror to a place of respectability after the lameness that was NBC's sad anthology series Fear Itself.

In the realm of fine literature, Marvel Comics went old school with the extremely well-done EC-style Dead of Night miniseries, starring one of my all-time favorite underused characters, the Man-Thing. Dark Horse gave it a go with a new, painted Evil Dead series that, despite attempting to do something interesting with the narrative of the original film, failed to make much of an impression on yours truly.

A year of foreign language triumphs, American kaiju, Romero controversy, M. Night's latest debacle and horror on premium cable. Nothing if not interesting, 2008 was a great year to begin this little Vault of Horror adventure, if I do say so myself...

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New Zealander Soils Himself During [REC] Screening

Now, I've been a strong proponent of the Spanish zombie film [REC] since it was first released last November. And I can't think of a stronger endorsement for the picture than the incident reported on the New Zealand website Scoop, which alleges that an audience member literally crapped himself in sheer terror while watching the movie at the New Zealand International Film Festival last month.

The report is corroborated by a correspondent for the NZ website Incredibly Strange, who was also in attendance:

"What the individual left behind in the theatre seat was as horrifying as anything on the screen, and that's saying a lot."

There you have it, fright fans. If that doesn't convince you to see it, nothing will. If you happen to be in New Zealand, the flick opens there on August 28. Otherwise, it's available now on DVD in certain parts of the world. Find a way to acquire it at your earliest opportunity.

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Don't Say the Zed-Word: 40 Years of the Modern Zombie Movie, Part 4

It's been pointed out by many, including George Romero himself, that the contemporary renaissance in zombie movies was brought about not by anyone in the film industry, but rather by the video game industry. By the mid 1990s, the genre was all but nonexistent among horror pictures. But then, in 1996, Shinji Mikami of the Japanese company Capcom designed a game (originally for the PlayStation console) called Resident Evil. The zombie was about to be awakened from its grave.

Taking its cue from classics such as Dawn of the Dead and Lucio Fulci's Zombie, Resident Evil was a game intended to frighten players, something that hadn't really been tried yet. Known as Biohazard in its native Japan, the game was a massive hit, familiarizing an entirely new generation with the basic archetypes of the modern zombie movie. It was followed by other games, including House of the Dead and Silent Hill.

The influence would first be felt in Asia itself. Zombie movies hit their stride there like never before, leading to films like Bio-Zombie (1998), Junk (1999), Versus (2000) and Stacy (2001). Naturally, it was only a matter of time before the phenomenon spread to the United States, the birthplace of the modern zombie.

By 2001, with the game series a resounding success, Capcom had authorized a movie adaptation. Originally, Romero himself was tapped to script the project, then famously fired after his screenplay was deemed too heavy on gore and lacking the game's non-zombie monsters. Clearly, the filmmakers were looking for a more sanitized, mainstream-friendly take, and that's exactly what they got with Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil (2002). Starring Milla Jovovich, the picture plays more like a video game than a movie, and contains little to endear it to hardcore zombie lovers.

But what the flick did accomplish was to further reestablish the zombie subgenre, and pave the way for a veritable explosion of followers. That same year, acclaimed British director Danny Boyle would give us 28 Days Later, taking the phenom begun by Resident Evil to the next level.

We can debate whether or not Boyle's film is a true zombie movie till the cows come home. But while the movie's disease-crazed killers may not literally be ghouls, 28 Days Later is constructed with so much of the modern zombie template in mind, that in the end this debate becomes a tired exercise in semantics. The fact is that 28 Days Later is a zombie movie at heart, and by becoming the most critically praised film of its kind, it kicked open the floodgates once and for all.

Instantly, zombie flicks were being greenlit left and right, to a degree not seen in 20 years. But while back then, zombie movies were confined to the cult periphery of the horror scene, overshadowed by slashers and Satanism movies, this time around, the zombie was firmly fixed in the public eye, at the forefront of the horror rebirth.

Naturally, as with any other movement, they weren't all classics. Some, like the Australian effort Undead (2003), were decidedly mediocre affairs, while others, like the infamous Uwe Boll's game adaptation House of the Dead (2003), were downright awful.

Almost as unexpectedly as the fact that the genre was revived by video games, would be the fact that the best movie to come out of the decade's revival would not be a straight-up horror movie, but rather a horror comedy. More specifically, one of the funniest and most memorable horror comedies ever made.

Shaun of the Dead (2004) was the brainchild of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, who had already proven their comic sensibilities on the small screen in their native U.K. Self-proclaimed worshippers at the altar of Romero, Wright and Pegg brought a genuine love for the entire zombie ouvre, and it shows.

Shaun of the Dead is a loving tribute to the classic zombie flicks of a generation earlier, most notably of course, Dawn of the Dead. It works equally as both a horror film and a romantic comedy, making the tropes of zombie cinema instantly hip in a way that no earnestly serious zombie movie ever has. Directed by Wright and starring Pegg in the title role, it is that rare spoof that actually manages to outdo what it's spoofing.

With all this attention being lavished on the living dead, it made sense that sooner or later specific attention would begin to paid to the work of Romero, and to the man himself. First came news of a remake of the director's 1978 masterpiece Dawn of the Dead, an announcement met with considerable disapproval by died-in-the-wool horror fanatics.

But what the filmmakers were counting on were not that marginal demographic, but rather the general 18-34 year-old movie-going public at large. And miraculously, Zack Snyder's 2004 film proved to be one rare example of a situation in which the studio was wise not to heed the hardcore fan base. In spite of the low expectations and downright ill will of most Romero boosters, the new Dawn of the Dead proved to be a well-made, fresh and generally effective take on a genre classic.

While predictably lacking in the original's social commentary and filmed to conform to the standards of an R rating, Snyder's Dawn of the Dead is a very good horror film, and no level of admiration for the original can nullify that. Perhaps more importantly, the film's success would prove more of a boon for Romero himself than he first expected.

After years of aborted plans and false starts, the sudden marketability of zombie cinema finally helped George Romero to secure the backing he needed to film the fabled fourth installment in his living dead series. None other than legendary monster factory Universal stepped in and gave the director his largest budget to date for the production of Land of the Dead (2005).

Much slicker and more "Hollywood" than any of its predecessors, and featuring name actors such as John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper, Land of the Dead was a significant departure. For the first time, Romero was dealing with a major studio. Compromises were made, including the decision to reign in the gore and keep the film within "R" standards. The picture was not the box office success the studio had hoped for, and it divided the fan base. Some enjoyed it, others felt the director had lost his touch. Most agreed it was a notch below his earlier efforts.

Yet Romero's tale of evolving zombies and humanity's desperate attempts to survive within a dystopian stronghold has already benefited from reappraisal in the three years since its release. It was to be expected that such a film could never live up to the expectations placed upon it, and it's likely that in years to come, much like its predecessor Day of the Dead (1985), future fans will look more kindly upon it.

Ironically, the modern zombie subgenre had grown to be much bigger than the man who invented it. Although his earlier films had defined the subgenre, Land of the Dead proved to be just a part of it, and so it continued to march on. Danny Boyle gave us 28 Weeks Later (2007), a sequel which in some ways surpassed the excellent original. Another franchise, Return of the Living Dead, was resurrected, albeit with nearly unwatchable fourth and fifth installments so weak they were introduced as Sci-Fi Channel movies.

Certainly, there were signs that the movement was running out of steam. The public's hunger for such fare may have been becoming satiated--plus, there is admittedly only so much one can do with any movie formula before a total reinvention is required. The sense of repetition was inevitable.

For that reason, the most memorable zombie films of the past couple of years have been the ones that tried something new. The sharply satirical Canadian horror comedy Fido (2006) gives us an alternate 1950s in which the living dead are subjugated by the living in a "Leave it to Beaver" suburban nightmare. Romero's fifth zombie chapter Diary of the Dead (2007), although met with further mixed reviews and derided by even more fans than Land was, was a solid attempt by the director to inject new life into his creation by going back to the beginning of his zombie outbreak and telling the story via a first-person, documentary style perspective.

Many have pointed out that Romero was outdone in this department by the stunning Spanish film [Rec] (2007), perhaps the most downright terrifying motion picture to come out of the entire zombie renaissance. More than anything, the movie is proof that, in the right hands, the genre still has life in it.

In the year 2008, forty years after George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, the future still looks good for the modern zombie movie. Romero himself is in talks to continue the story he began in Diary of the Dead; Danny Boyle is returning to his own series for 28 Months Later; [Rec] is getting a sequel of its own; and the American remake of the original, entitled Quarantine, is set to hit theaters this fall. Perhaps most promising of all is the script adaptation of Max Brooks' excellent novel World War Z, the epic tale of a global zombie uprising that is currently in pre-production with Brad Pitt as producer and star.

Even if the explosion of zombie cinema falls off within the next few years--which seems likely--it will only serve to give it a much-needed rest. Think of it as a period of dormancy--one of several throughout the subgenre's four-decade history. The zombie isn't going anywhere. Thanks to the efforts of Romero and his multitude of disciples, it has grown to become one of the classic horror movie monsters, alongside vampires, werewolves, masked maniacs and the rest. Much like the zombies themselves, zombie movies move forward, unstoppable. You may get away from them for awhile, but they'll be back.

And eventually, they'll get you.

Part 1: They're Coming to Get You

Part 2: No More Room in Hell

Part 3: Kicking Ass for the Lord

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American Horror Fans, Hollywood Thinks You're Dumb

And I'll be perfectly honest--you haven't done much lately to dissuade them from that belief, first justifying the microscopic theatrical release of Diary of the Dead, then making the remake of Prom Night the number-one movie in the country.

But that's not why I'm writing today. I know that American horror fans aren't dumb--at least no moreso than the general public at large. I know that if given the proper marketing treatment, the Spanish zombie flick [REC] could be a major hit in the U.S.A. In my opinion the finest horror picture in years, yet American distributors just don't have confidence in a foreign language film. But even if they had to--gasp!--dub it into English, it would be worth it.

What got me thinking about this again was last Friday's premiere of [REC] in the United Kingdom, a nation which shares our own native tongue (you can read some reviews from U.K. filmgoers here). After its Spanish run last November, the movie hit Italy in February, Russia in March, and Portugal and Sweden last week. Later this week, it's the Netherlands and Finland. Later this month, France and Belgium. Next month, Germany and Austria. And in June, Japan. Distributors in all those countries have no problem exhibiting the film, yet the U.S. holds firm in perpetuating its cultural isolationism.

After all, why take a gamble on a foreign flick when we can churn out yet another Americanized remake? That's what's happening, in case you haven't heard. Called Quarantine, it looks like a nearly shot-for-shot redo, and it hits theaters in October. On the bright side, the movie will star Jennifer Carpenter, who is excellent on Showtime's Dexter as the sister of the title character.

Here's the trailer, for those curious:



I won't lie, I'll probably go see it. Guess that makes me a hypocrite, since the more successful Quarantine is, the more it will reinforce the notion that American audiences need their entertainment spoonfed to them.

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[REC] Will Mess You Up

Ever since I first heard about it a few weeks back, I've been giving a lot of attention here in the Vault to the intriguing Spanish zombie flick [REC] from directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza. And now finally, with some help from my now close-personal-friend FANCYMOJO over on the Bloody-Disgusting forums, I have managed to get my grubby hands on it and see it for myself.
There have been quite a few movies that have glutted the market during this whole zombie renaissance of the past few years. But none that I have seen have been as effective, as disturbing and as revolutionary as [REC]. Not 28 Days Later, not Dawn of the Dead, not Land of the Dead. This is, quite frankly, a landmark horror film.
Unfortunately, it won't get the full recognition it deserves because it's not getting a theatrical release here in the States. It will, however, be getting an American remake later this year, much like The Ring. Hopefully, as with that movie's Japanese inspiration Ringu, [REC] will reach the audience it should via DVD, and get the attention it deserves as a genre movie of major importance.
Now I'm gonna put myself out there for possible ridicule. I'm a seasoned horror-viewing pro. I don't get spooked all that easily. Yet I will unashamedly admit that as I sat there alone in the dark of my living room watching this thing, I had to pause it a few times to catch my breath. I yelled profanities at the screen. I even got up to turn on a couple lights.
Folks, this is the kind of stuff I would do while watching Night of the Living Dead in my parent's basement as a kid. In the intro to this very site, I talk about my experience of watching The Exorcist at eight years old. I also recall the first time I saw the original Dawn of the Dead when I was 15, and it haunted me for weeks after. Well, this movie brought it all back to me.
And I'm not the only sissy. Check out these live audience reactions from the Catalonian International Film Festival in Sitges, Spain:

From what I understand of the international horror scene, Balaguero and Plaza did not exactly have a sterling reputation, and therefore not much was expected of their latest work. But this time they came through, and in spades. [REC] is told documentary style, portrayed as being the footage recorded for a reality TV show. The main characters are the on-air hostess and her cameraman, who are spending the night at a firehouse and filming whatever happens. It starts out as just another boring night at the station, until the firefighters are called to the site of a bizarre domestic disturbance. The TV crew follows along, only to find themselves trapped inside the building by the military as all hell breaks loose.
This is the finest, most convincing piece of "mockumentary" work I have ever seen--and this is coming from someone who just saw Cloverfield, and enjoyed it. For those who are sickened/annoyed by the whole "shaky camera" thing, I'm afraid this is not the movie for you. If you were bothered by Cloverfield, there's no way you'll be able to handle this. But if you're not bothered by that, then strap in for a deeply unnerving ride.
If I had to point to one glaring flaw, it would be the very contrived and very unnecessary plot exposition scene near the end, wherein screenwriters Balaguero, Plaza and Luis Berdejo attempt to give us an explanation for the outbreak. However, the bad taste that left in my mouth was completely overshadowed by what comes directly after. It's been said elsewhere, but the final five minutes of this movie make up one of the most completely terrifying conclusions I ever recall seeing in a horror movie. Quite literally the stuff of nightmares.
This is the kind of flick you want to share with other fans, so I only hope that anyone interested out there will be able to get their hands on it once it comes out on video. I don't even feel that it needs subtitles to be enjoyed. I watched it both with and without, and I think I enjoyed it more without. Even though I couldn't understand most of the dialogue, I was able to focus completely on the visuals--and this movie is all about what we can and can't see. The emotions of the characters are of much greater importance than their specific dialogue, which doesn't really contain anything very profound.
It's funny, because I was a little concerned with how the success of Cloverfield would affect public perception of George Romero's upcoming zombie mockumentary Diary of the Dead. And now I'm doubly concerned, because although [REC] will not reach as much of an audience as Diary, from an artistic standpoint, it has set the bar pretty high.

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Full [Rec] Trailer Online

At first, I was gonna do a nice little "2008 Preview" post in honor of New Year's, but that'll have to wait. Because late last night I came across this nifty little trailer for the Spanish zombie flick [Rec]. I posted the teaser for it a few weeks ago, and man am I even more mondo psyched to see this than ever before. Just when I thought the ghoul-boom of the past five years was finally losing steam, along comes this gem. I dare you to watch this and not be praying for a U.S. release like I am. Check it out, courtesy of Bjorn at Gnolad:


Oh yeah, and a very Happy New Year to one and all!!! Break out the bubbly!

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Who Says Italians Are the Only Europeans That Know Zombies?

More good news for zombie fans--of which, if you've been reading this blog, you know I'm one. From across the Atlantic comes word of a Spanish film called [Rec], which some are calling "a cross between Dawn of the Dead and The Blair Witch Project".
Filmed in documentary style using digital video, the movie unfolds from the point of view of a news crew tagging along with a firefighter company that responds to a bizarre disturbance at an apartment building. The next thing they know, they're locked inside under quarantine with the living dead.
Written and directed by Jaume Balagueró, the film is being hailed for its unrelenting sense of realism. Reportedly (and I know these anecdotes are often drummed up for publicity), when it first screened last August at the Venice Film Festival, half the unsuspecting audience cleared out in terror within the first 15 minutes.
[Rec] officially opened in Spain last month, and is scheduled to open in France in February and the UK in March. No word yet on whether there will be a full U.S. release. Ain't It Cool News posted this rather intriguing trailer earlier today:

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