Quarantine (2008)

Dir: John Erick Dowdle

L.A. reporter Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE) and her cameraman Scott Percival (Steve Harris 12 ROUNDS) are spending the night at a fire house as part of a local flavour news piece. They interview the chief, capture footage of the firetrucks, slide down the fire pole, interrupt dinner and whatever else they can think of to kill time until the team they are partnered with, Jake (Jay Hernandez HOSTEL) and Fletcher (Johnathon Schaech LAID TO REST) receive a call.

Angela and the start of a very long night

A call finally comes in. A call for both police and fire to respond to a report of a woman screaming in her apartment.

Arriving on the scene at an apartment building, the police, firefighters and television crew are met by the apartment owner (Rade Serbedzija THE FOG remake) who leads them to the door of the elderly woman who was making the racket. She looks very ill, drooling copious amounts of mucus, and is frightened by the interlopers to her home. But she warms up to her guests and demonstrates how spry she is by attacking a cop and chomping onto his flesh and tearing off a big ol' bloody chunk to nosh on.

Then all hell breaks loose.

The elderly woman was infected and anyone attacked by the infected and has their blood contaminated by the rabies like virus via bite or open wound turns into a flesh craving maniac. The denizens must quickly learn survival skills if they wish to make it through the night. And the gub'ment ain't about to help. Alerted to one of the apartment renter's dog getting all freaky and killing off pets at a veterinary hospital earlier in the day, the police, SWAT and CDC quarantine the building and will not let anyone out. Cable, Internet and mobile phone services are all cut. The sharpshooters positioned on top of adjacent buildings are all too willing to show off their skills on anyone attempting to sneak out.

I first learned of the found footage film QUARANTINE in the pages of Fangoria magazine. It was curious that a Spanish film [REC], which hadn't even been released yet, was being remade by American film makers. What's the point of that? Why not just see the original? I'll argue that QUARANTINE is a damn fine film that may not surpass the original but is a thrilling and tense view. QUARANTINE does away with the supernatural overtones of [REC] and changes a few other details and events but its foundation is the same. And even though I knew what was about to unfold because I had seen it unfold in [REC], I was still figuratively on the edge of my seat.

The acting is well done, with Jennifer Carpenter putting in a nice performance as the lead character who is not as strong as she thinks she is. The deaths of main characters are affecting, not just done for the sake of the script or a cheap scare. This shouldn't be a surprise, but the characters, caught up in a terrifying situation, act like real people rather than clods. They are believable. The bane of many a found footage film, the shaky cam, is kept to a minimum and never distracting or vomit inducing. Yes, the camera just happens to be in a perfect spot to capture all the action at times, but I'll forgive that employment of an oft-used trope of this sub-genre as not once did I see a camera angle that was impossible.

See the original and then watch the remake. It is worth it.

***1/2 out of ****

Grave Encounters (2011)

Dir: The Vicious Brothers (Colin Minihan, Stuart Ortiz)

GRAVE ENCOUNTERS opens with a word from executive producer Jerry Hartfield (Ben Wilkinson) that what we are about to watch is real. Jerry explains that Lance Preston (Sean Rogerson HARPER'S ISLAND), creator of the television series Grave Encounters, was filming episode six of the reality / ghost busting series for his company when something went horribly wrong. His company edited down the hours and hours of footage but otherwise didn't touch or enhance the footage. It's all real people!

Yes! It's a found footage / haunted house film. I really enjoyed this plot in the TALES FROM THE CRYPT episode TELEVISION TERROR from 1990. And a plot only gets better the more time you see it, right? Right?

Lance and his ghost busting crew, camera woman Sasha (Ashleigh Gryzko), tech guy Matt (Juan Riedinger) and cameraman T.C. (Merwin Mondesir) are shooting the episode at the Collingwood psychiatric hospital in Maryland. Closed since 1963, the hospital was headed by a doctor with a love for lobotomies who died at the hands of his patients. After filming the locals commenting on their spooky experiences, the crew and special guest psychic Houston (Mackenzie Gray) are locked inside to spend the next eight hours wandering the darkened corridors looking for ghosts.

And of course they find some ghosts.

Competently shot and featuring all the de rigueur jump scares, GRAVE ENCOUNTERS is yet another passable entry into an over crowded sub genre. The acting and writing are fine for this type of film but I tire of watching people walking down dark hallways while shakily holding a night vision camera. If it's more of the same you are looking for then seek out GRAVE ENCOUNTERS.

A sequel was released in 2012.

** out of ****

As Above, So Below (2014)

Dir: John Erick Dowdle

Scarlett (Perdita PROWL Weeks), a driven university professor, is obsessed with continuing her father's unfinished quest to find the alchemical Philosopher's stone. Crossing illegally into Iran to follow-up on a clue to the location of the stone, she discovers a sealed up chamber in an underground passage about to be destroyed by the Iranian authorities. The clue is the Rose Key in the form of a statue of a bull. Frantically taking photos of all the inscriptions on the Rose Key she barely makes it out alive as the explosives to collapse the tunnel are detonated.

Now in Paris to consult with her friend George (Ben FRIDAY THE 13TH Feldman), as he conveniently studied the dead language used on the Rose Key, documentarian Benji (Edwin THE PURGE: ANARCHY Hodge) tags along to film their quest. Together Scarlett and George work out that the Philosopher's stone is buried underground in the catacombs. They enlist the aide of Papilon (Francois Civil) and his crew to lead them through the catacombs to the hiding place of the stone.

Once underground in the damp and dark passages, the final resting place of millions of dead, weird, unexplainable events occur. The group continues on deeper into the catacombs despite the gloom giving birth to ghosts from their troubled past. Nothing will stop Scarlett from uncovering the stone.

Yes, this is another 'found footage' film and the shaky camera may have some nauseated viewers hitting stop on their remotes. But this film is all about location, Location, LOCATION. The film makers' decision to shoot in the actual Parisian catacombs was a wise one as the location is fresh and easily evokes a claustrophobic dread. I also liked the esoteric / alchemical frosting to what may otherwise have been a film about youngsters wandering around a cave for most of the running time (this is a far better film than GRAVEYARD DISTURBANCE). A reference to V.I.T.R.I.O.L is even worked into the plot.

The writer / director team of Drew Dowdle and John Erick Dowdle are no strangers to the found footage genre. QUARANTINE, their remake of the Spanish [REC] is surprisingly entertaining and the team has drawn on their past experience to propel AS ABOVE ahead of the pack. Having the character Benji install cameras on a number of head lamps allowing for multiple viewing angles instead of the now cliche one camera that just happens to always be pointing in the direction of action (or dropped to the ground at just the right angle) was a wise decision. [REC] 2 did something similar by having the police equipped with cameras on their person.

No spoilers ahead but I did want to mention that the ending felt a bit weak. It makes sense within the construct of the story and the Masonic notion of a chamber of reflection but it's an idea we've seen too many times to count. Overall the film builds up a nice bit of tension and is an enjoyable trip.

*** out of ****