Quick [REC]ommendations

See what I did there?

Up Front PS: Skip to the end for the best Sci-Fi short film you’ve never seen

After the trauma catharsis (I’m coining it “traumatharsis”) of last week’s post, here’s a bit of lighter fare. Over the past couple weeks I’ve dipped into my “comfort zone” of films: Found Footage Horror. Whenever I’m feeling low, or just in need of my brain’s equivalent of “easy listening,” I return to this subgenre. It soothes me, like a warm blanket and hot cocoa on a rainy winter’s day. There’s something about the grainy textures, (usually) amatuerish acting, and predictability (usually) that drones on with a warm pleasantness I’ve grown to love over the years. Is religion the opiate of the masses? Perhaps. For me, it’s this.

[REC]

It took me ages to watch this, partly because I'd already watched Quarantine (the US/COMPLETELY INFERIOR remake) and partly because of subtitles which . . . doesn't necessarily bother me, but I have to be up for it. Kind of glad I waited because, even though this is over a decade old, it's easily one of my top FF Horror Movies ever.  

Annoying (if perky) late night news reporter joins a firefighter crew as they respond to a call in an apartment building for a health issue, things escalate quickly as the building becomes suddenly quarantined and ... well, not going to spoil it for you if you haven't seen it, but the endgame was a bit surprising. 

What makes this film brilliant is that it is somehow expertly directed while still feeling utterly natural. That’s a huge feat in a genre that often eschews comprehensibility for the chaos of shaky camera to communicate "genuineness." A taut thriller where almost no shot is wasted, each choice narratively and directorially contributing to a film that funnels down to gnarly conclusion (the ending being the only thing that is, maybe, a little bit of a let down. But only maybe, because it's just really hard to stick any landing in a horror film). 

Not a 10/10 film because it's got a few things to quibble about, but easily a 10/10 found footage horror film. One of the best I've ever seen.

[REC]² 

So, how do you follow-up a masterpiece like Rec? You go all Aliens on it. That's not a new observation, by the by - a lot of people have made the comparison, but it's an apt one. While the first film is a meditation on a tight narrowing of circumstances down to a single pointed focus on fear, the second is much more of a “let’s turn this up to 11” mentality. Alien vs Aliens.

Essentially starting out right after the events of REC, a group of soldiers are sent into the building to investigate. Multi-cameras replace the one singular camera in REC, the pace is more action-y, and, overall, it's a worthy sequel. There is a weird narrative decision halfway through to

****Minor Spoiler Follows****

split off from the action, and pick up with a second set of characters who have their own camera. We then see the preceding events from their perspective, with a couple of crossover moments between sections, until everyone comes together for the final gauntlet

****OK You’re Good Now****

Regardless, this remains another tight thriller, with some new tricks thrown in to the mix that show a director/editor willing to learn new things in service of their craft. 

This one isn't quite as cleanly wound as the first, and there are some real kinda eye roll horror movie decisions made at certain points, but they're forgivable because.. hey man, this is just a FF horror flick. It's not Scorsese (and it's not trying to be). It's great for what it is. 

Mister Creep

If REC is a 10/10, and REC2 is more like a 9/10 then this one is. .. Ok, there are tiers of FF horror. Some are these pretty well made affairs (I'd put As Above So Below in there or The Taking of Deborah Logan). Some of them are legitimately someone's art school project and cost literally 75$ to make. Then there are some that lie somewhere in between, where it's clear that it's some indie filmmaker who has maybe a budget, but not much of one, and whose actors are all college drama school friends who need the work. 

This one falls into that latter category, and judged on that pool of films, is exceptionally well done. The premise:

Four college kids (but, older college kids, who are back in school because the gig economy essentially sucks) are finishing their final film project. One of them is obsessed with serial killers, and claims to have found an urban legend of a serial killer with over 200 confirmed kills, whose existence was swept under the rug (b/c, hey, it's bad for tourism to have your town associated with a 200 bodycount killer right?). There is a rumored broadcast that still is being sent over the airways (which gives the director an excuse to introduce younger audiences to rabbit ear antennas) seeming to suggest the killer is somehow still broadcasting, even though he was given lethal injection years before.

Kids follow the clues blah blah weird supernatural stuff starts to happen blah blah. What's great here is multifactorial: 

•  The film switches between an interview with the serial killer (legitimately well acted/unnerving/interesting), his broadcasts (very weird, psychedelia sort of things), and film from the kids investigating. This allows the director to present a few different types of media, and each one is competently carried off. Nothing amazeballs, but just having one style competently done in these films is unusual, much less three. 

• The whole things clocks in at just over an hour between credits. I.e., it doesn't **** around like a lot of these movies tend to do. Yes, maybe I'd like a little more time with these characters, but I'd easily sacrifice that for something like this where I can get in/out in a short evening session. It's nice the director understands the audience here - we don't come to these mid-tier FF horror films for a buffet of runtime, we just want something concise and competently done. 

So, for what it is, 9.5/10. Totally worth the 5 bucks I spent because, not only did I enjoy it, I know the money will go to some dude who actually might need it/use it to continue to hone his craft. 

BONUS ROUND

My buddy Chris sends me things. 10/10 times they are amazing works of music/art/video that are also 10/10 times utterly under the radar. How does he find this stuff? I don’t know and I don’t care because I don’t like knowing how people make their deals with the devil. Anyway, here’s the best sci-fi short film that you’ve (I bet ya 1000 wulongs) have never seen. Ever better? It’s just one guy doing all this. Amazing.