Quarantine is yet another entry into that brave yet tricky genre of documentary style movies within movies. This time the man behind the camera is Scott (Steve Harris) who works for a news channel along with reporter, Angela (Jennifer Carpenter). Angela fulfills some kind of childhood wish by scoping out a firehouse. Scott films Angela’s interviews with the on duty firemen and tours around the station. After repeated slides down the fire-pole and countless hose jokes the alarm sounds. Angela and Scott tag along in the hopes of covering more intense action than the station’s shower room.


I Bet Diane Sawyer Doesn't Haven't To Put Up With This Stuff - Jennifer Carpenter

Now the real fun begins. The firemen and their investigative pals respond to a distress call from an apartment building. Neighbors heard a shriek from an elderly woman’s apartment. The firemen open the door to find the woman standing in the middle of her living room in a nightgown with bloodshot eyes and foam oozing from her mouth. When the men try to escort her out of the room she suddenly attacks them with flailing limbs and gnashing teeth. Whatever is wrong with this woman there is a threat that it will spread to the other people in the building. To make matters worse, law enforcement and the Center for Disease Control have suddenly appeared and sealed the building. The horrific and bizarre events of that night are captured through the unflinching lens of Scott’s camera. Watch…..if you dare.


My Last Night On Earth And It's With a Hunky Fireman.....Buddha Be Praised! - Elaine Kagen and Jay Hernandez

The terror is served up on two different platters. The first course is psychological terror. The people in the complex are surrounded by cops, snipers, press and CDC agents. The front door is barred and the windows are monitored by snipers. Some voice via bullhorn assures the inhabitants that everything is under control yet no more details are shared to put the unnerved tenants at ease. Even the firemen and cops that are in the building because of the distress call are in the dark about what their fellow officers are up to.

The horror then takes on a physical form as we gradually discover the reason for the lockdown. The crazy old woman is just the warm-up for the mayhem that will ensue. Bodies will literally start hitting the floor as one by one the tenants are assaulted by this mysterious threat. Is it vampirism? Is it zombie-ism? Or is it a really aggressive strain of mono? I ain’t telling. Y’all know I don’t spoil so you’ll just have to rent it on your own time.


NNNOOOOO!!! - Jennifer Carpenter Discovers That There Will Be A "Quarantine 2"

While I was totally jazzed about the premise I was not thrilled by the overall execution. The movie gives a much better excuse for the action being filmed within a film. The “news story gone terribly wrong” angle was a smart move and way more logical than the galloping cameramen in Cloverfield and Diary of the Dead. Scott’s camera is the electronic hope that they’ll survive so they can share the tape with the world and broadcast the injustice done to them. There were still some moments, though, where filming seemed like a silly thing to do. Like with the chase scenes. Again I ask, who in their right mind would try to film stuff while running away from a threat? Barely made any sense in Cloverfield and it sure doesn’t gel here either. I wonder if it would’ve helped matters to have the film alternate between Scott’s footage and traditionally filmed shots?

I watched the special features which give behind the scenes looks at the makeup, filming techniques and stunts used in Quarantine. It was cool to learn that antacid pills make for reliable foam and that there is such a thing as a “contact lens technician”. Wow! I can get paid for sticking things in people's eyes? I'd like an application, pleas. I bet they have the best vision plans in the nation.

Oh, but the real shocker in the featurettes is the interview with the director / writer, John Erick Dowdle, and his brother/co-writer/co-producer Drew Dowdle. The Brothers Dowdle shared all sorts of captivating tidbits about their precious project and the challenges of shooting a film like this. And yet somehow both brothers neglected to mention that Quarantine is actually a remake of a 2007 Spanish horror flick called REC.


As Long As Our Batteries Hold Out We Might Just Survive This Movie - Columbus Short & Jay Hernandez

Now, in their defense, I did not listen to the director commentary so there’s a good chance one of the Dowdles gives a proper nod to REC on the commentary track. I still think it was an insulting omission from the behind the scenes interview. At least, Screen Gems made sure to include the REC preview in the DVD/Blu Ray’s Trailer Gallery. I also included the link to REC's official website (Spanish language) for further reference.

The cast is loaded with familiar faces starting with the lead actress, Jennifer Carpenter, who most should instantly recognize from the Dexter tv series and The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Her cameraman is played by Steve Harris who brought down the house every week on The Practice and has moved on to prominent film roles in hits like Minority Report and Diary of a Mad Black Woman.


Um, There's Really No Need To Give The Dead Guy A Cavity Search, Officer - Columbus Short (top), Jonathan Schaech (center) and Jay Hernandez (bottom) 

Jay Hernandez escapes Hostel just to land in another prison as one of the captive firemen on the scene. Jonathan Schaech, who terrorized Brittany Snow and her friends in 2008’s Prom Night, dons a healthy moustache and uniform as another one of the firemen held prisoner.

Some of the more recognizable tenants include Greg Germann (Ally McBeal, Bolt), Dania Ramirez (X-Men: The Last Stand, Heroes), Doug Jones (Hellboy, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Pan’s Labyrinth), and Bernard White (The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions).


The Brothers Dowdle (the two dudes on the left) with Director of Photography, Ken Seng (right) and some uncredited dude in the background.

Quarantine is definitely worth a renting. Not as jittery and illogical as Cloverfield but not particularly flawless either. While the set-up is fantastic and the ensemble of characters is deliciously diverse the “movie within a movie” element tangles up the action at times. And while the ending is spine-tingling I felt a bit letdown that after all the clever psychological chills and all the harrowing chases throughout the building the cherry on top is some fantastical ghoul who literally appears out of nowhere. Not every horror flick needs a scary monster present to validate it as a horror movie. The virus (oops! spoiler!) was scary enough. The creeping thing in the finale was overkill.

Word to the wise, y’all. If you’re being chased by a skyscraper sized monster or a pack of the undead please drop the camera and run like heck. Focus on surviving so then you can write a novel about it, sell it to Hollywood and live the rest of your years like a CEO.