The Story:

This is the found tape of a camera crew which got locked up in an apartment block full of zombies.
Want more? Read my review from IFFR 2008!


The Movie:

Excellently paced and rather short at only 75 minutes, this brisk little flick has no chance of outstaying its welcome. And if you have any sort of pulse it will make you jump.
Often.
Want more? Read my review from IFFR 2008!


On to the DVD:

The British "[●REC]" DVD is distributed by Contender Entertainment as a PAL-encoded region 2 disc, and a fine job they did. I don't care if it's a direct port from the Spanish two-disc edition or not: if it is I'm glad Contender made the decision not to change anything. For this is a fine set of discs indeed!


Let's start with video and audio.
"[●REC]" is a short film, and this DVD release is spread over two discs, with the first disc having only the movie on it without any commentary tracks. Meaning there is easily enough space on the DVD to expect good audio and video.

And indeed the image is good, I'd even hasten to say VERY good. Whenever the camera isn't being shaken around (and there are more of these quiet moments than you might think), the image is razorsharp, with an impressive depth to the black levels. As in: they are very black without the rest of the image being too dark.

But even though the scary and cleverly staged images have been done justice, where this movie really shined in the cinema was in its use of sound. So the good news is: the Spanish Dolby 5.1 track is thankfully good. Even better news: the Spanish DTS track is... even better! No English dub but it is not missed, as the subtitles are easily good enough.


But wait, there's a second disc with extras. And how are these?

First there is a "making-of" documentary which lasts 40 minutes.
Directors Plaza and Balaguero have a tendency to repeat themselves, but nevertheless it is a fascinating document especially when they discuss how they got the actors to act so natural.
When they had to portray fear and bewilderment some of the actors would only get a few lines of the script, and had to improvise from there on. It means the actors' faces show ACTUAL bewilderment ("he's not yelling Cut?") and ACTUAL fear ("I have no clue what to do, but if I improvise wrong I'll screw up the shot!"). Also, the film was shot entirely chronological, and all actors wore the same clothes over and over again till the last shooting day to safeguard continuity, with strong deodorant having to take care of the stench after a few weeks. Yeck!

And another thing: that emaciated figure you get shown at some point during the movie? That is an actual actor who really is that thin. Doug Jones, watch your back!!

All in all it shows that the organic look and flow of the movie are largely due to the high amount of ad-hoc improvisation of actors and sometimes even the crew. This is not good news for the American remake "Quarantine", as it is a shot-by-shot remake. Is it possible to capture that free-flowing energy when you shoot it with a rigid script? I doubt it. In the original, the actors felt so unsure after a while that they completely lost faith in both directors. It shows on their faces and adds loads of authenticity to their performances. Good luck trying to recreate that.

Second in the list is a selection of trailers and movie-posters. Nice, but that brilliant teaser which just showed the audience's reaction at Sitges is unfortunately not on it. Unless it's an Easter Egg, in which case please say so in the comments!

Third are four interviews, ranging from 8 to 20 minutes each. These give a detailed look at the work of cinematographer Pablo Rosso, soundmen Oriol Tarrago and Xavi Mass, and the last interview is with both directors again allowing for even MORE repetition. Credit where credit is due though: Paco Plaza refers directly to Ruggero Deodato's "Cannibal Holocaust" and that's classy.

Fourth are a gallery of cut bits: four extended scenes, three deleted ones and one alternate take. Unfortunately there is no commentary attached to these, I would have loved to know why these were cut. One deleted scene shows a hallway in which every square foot has about a hundred nails extending, and it also contains a cupboard full of dead children. I'd love to know what the hell that was supposed to be doing in this movie!

Fifth and last are the production notes, but instead of some pages of text these actually consist of three 13-minute documentaries.
"Behind the scenes" is a look at shooting some of the more difficult practical make-up effects, especially the first attack and the last staircase run, and "Castings" is a selection of screentests and auditions.

The last one is "Production secrets with Manuela Velasco": basically an interview with the lead actress. Far from being a standard fluff-piece, it's surprisingly entertaining and even informative. Manuela Velasco is, as I have stated in my review, very easy on the eyes but here she also reveals herself to be quite funny. Interestingly, her stories are backed up with a selection of deleted takes, alternate endings and "behind the scenes" footage, most of which are not found elsewhere on the disc.


Concluding: what can I say? They have the movie covered!
The only gripe I have with these discs are the menu's. They are animated and each shows a specific shock-shot from the movie. In my opinion that is an acceptable practice for the second disc with the extras, after all you've already seen the movie when you check out the extras, right?
But on the movie-disc itself it is unfortunate. Which genius thought of spoiling some of the film's best jump-scares by showing them in advance of the movie?

It's a small issue though, and thankfully they don't show the deaths of any of the major characters. With no obvious faults in the Audio/Video-front, and a fine selection of extras, there's no reason to avoid this edition if you love the movie (or if you're just curious after all the hype).