Terrifying experiences are awaiting on a reality TV crew and others in the strictly-by-the-numbers Spanish horror flick "REC", winner of 12 awards, which plays like "Night of the Living Dead" meets "The Blair Witch Project."

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“….[REC] is a lean, mean and downright terrifying 85 minutes or uncompromising horror and the best scare film I've seen for years. See this at the cinema if and when you can, without knowing much about it to get the full effect, before you can before the (inevitable) American remake Quarantine hit theatres later in the year…..”

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imdb info| Esp. info
Just as the Japanese ghost story ('Ringu', 'The Grudge') begins to fade with cinema audiences who are bored by the countless remakes these films foreshadow with their surprising success (subtitled films getting more wide spread coverage than ever before), the European Horror film has become the newest "thing" horror fans are becoming excited about. European horror rose during the late 70's with directors such as Dario Argento ('Suspiria') and Mario Bava ('Lisa and The Devil') when their "Gallo" horror graced the screens to critical praise before fading during the early 80's. But after the success of Alex Aja's gruesome French horror 'Switchblade Romance' (aka 'Haute Tension') in 2003 a steady influx of European horror films have been creeping their way onto cinema screens, with this year shaping up to be its biggest yet with around 4 films (Xavier Gen's 'Frontiers' and Alexandre Bustillo / Julien Maury's 'Inside' to name two) that have been generating huge interest and the inevitable remake from over the pond. (REC] is the first entry directed by Spanish directors Jaume Balaguero (director of the critically mauled 'Darkness' with Anna Paquin) and Paco Plaze (director of a direct to video nasty 'Romasanta'). The film revolves around a plucky young TV presenter Angela (Manuela Velasco) and her Cameraman who are shooting for one night with the local fire department. When the fire crew are called to an incident inside an apartment block, things are not what they seem (it's a horror, of course its not).

What unfolds is shot in the same "cinema verite" made famous for scaring the world (or boring them senseless) with 'The Blair Witch Project' back in '99 as well as this years over-hyped $40million dollar 'Cloverfield'. But what (REC] does is create something special, something sinister, and something bone chillingly scary. With its basic plot, basic set-up and a pretty minimal of everything (sets, actors etc) (REC] delivers a horror film leaps and bound more successful than its forbearers by scaring the living hell out of you. doncasterfreepress
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