Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.
[REC] is a landmark of found-footage horror that executes its premise with rare discipline and escalating dread. The cinematography — handheld, claustrophobic, using the camera's own night-vision as a plot device — is genuinely exceptional, making the confined Barcelona apartment building feel inescapably oppressive. The ending sequence in the attic remains one of the most frightening set-pieces in modern horror. Its novelty is high: while found-footage existed before, [REC] synthesized live-reportage aesthetics, viral-infection horror, and religious conspiracy into something distinctly Spanish and viscerally effective. Acting is solid and naturalistic under difficult shooting conditions, though not transcendent. The plot is lean and functional — essentially a siege narrative — which serves the tension well but isn't especially layered.