Quarantine (2008) Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

U.S. 2008
Director: John Erick Dowdle
Cast: Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez, Columbus Short, Steve Harris, Johnathon Schaech, Elaine Kagan
Rating: R
Release Date: October 10th 2008
Running Time: 1 hour 29 minutes

The Movie Review

Quarantine film still 1


QUARANTINE
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
Overall:

Most movie remakes needed more than 2 or 3 years to be produced after the originals had been released. And in most cases it took more than 2 decades, for example: Friday the 13th, My Bloody Valentine 3D, The Last House on the Left, and the future I Spit On Your Grave (2009) or Motel Hell (2010).

What a darn awesome movie it must've been, if less than a year after being released, the Hollywood had already rushed to produce the remake of it... It's a darn good horror movie for sure! It's entitled Rec, a Spanish Horror Film with remarkable acting and extremely engaging storyline back in the 2007. And in 2008, American-produced movie, Quarantine tries to give the same intensity as Rec... Could it?

On one peaceful night, a TV reporter, Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman Scott Percival (Steve Harris) is seen covering a simple story about the work and life of the night-shift firefighters. Angela's task is merely to see what they're exactly doing on their spare time, where do they sleep and a bit personal heart-to-heart sharing from them. Firefighters Jake (Jay Hernandez) and Fletcher (Johnathon Schaech) are chosen to accompany them. Just when Angela and Scott are busy 'investigating', the alarm blares with Jake and Fletcher are being dispatched to the caller's place, a seemingly ordinary apartment complex. Angela and Scott excitedly hop in to see it life and firsthand. It turns out 2 police officers are already there, Danny (Columbus Short) and James (Andrew Fiscella). It appears that an old lady named Espinoza who lives on the upper floor is reported screaming frantically. Not very long, our reporters, the firefighters, the police officers and the other residents learn that Espinoza is actually infected by an extremely contagious and dangerous virus of an unknown origin. And the situation gets worse when the police officers and the CDC suddenly lock them inside the apartment building and even jamming cell phones and TV signals. They are quarantined! What is really happening? Could they get out of there alive?

I stop the storyline there, so that it doesn't spoil your watching experience. Every surprise and shock on Quarantine is precious!

And so to answer the question on the 2nd paragraph, then... Yes, it could! With only one main condition, that you have never seen the original! It also helps to heighten the intensity level if... you aren't familiar before with names like Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez and Columbus Short. Why? Because recalling from my experience with Rec, it made me more terrified and sucked-in in the storytelling very much because frankly..., I wasn't familiar with the all Spanish cast in Rec. For this type of horror movie, this "unfamiliarity" strengthens the realistic-feel, it gives us the illusion that this horrifically daunting incident could just happen in everyday life to everyday people... Just like us. And what terror could be possibly bigger than the one that happens in your everyday life?

Quarantine is one of the remakes that worth the effort of remaking. Most of the storyline and the subplots really stay true to the original. Some could say that as a copy-paste job, but some might also look at it as a wise decision. If you have seen Rec, of course there's almost nothing in here that's worthy of your time. But if you haven't seen Rec, and a fan of American movie production, Quarantine is a highly awesome terrifying horror movie that would make your 1 hour & 29 minutes time of watching go by fast. Yes, the pace is fast, the terror is unflinching and the performances of the cast are pretty solid. Jennifer Carpenter does some screaming again after The Exorcism of Emily Rose and although at some point she looks artifical, but overall, she gives us great performance. Jay Hernandez also has some experience being chased just like in Hostel. But the weakest link might come from Columbus Short, no his acting is not all bad, it's just his face was a regular in teen and dance movies such as You Got Served, Stomp the Yard, Save the Last Dance 2. And before I forget, there is no nudity in Quarantine but with quite ample amount of gore and splattered blood every now and then.

One more thing that sets Quarantine (and Rec) apart from other horror films is the absence of any kind of musical score or soundtrack. It uses the shaky-cam technique impersonating how real reporters do. The good thing about it, that it doesn't over-shaky like in Cloverfield. Yes of course, it's still shaky from the running and the breath-panting, but it doesn't hinder the audience in understanding what's going on. Reality + Intensity = Good Horror. But with Rec and Quarantine, it equals to Great Horror...