Oct 12
Quarantine (movie)
Tonight I saw Quarantine, a film of zombies and claustrophobia. Now, anyone who hated the way Cloverfield was filmed should quit reading. However, those who enjoy the first-person shaky camera should stay right here.
Quarantine revolves around an L.A. tv reporter and her camera-man as they’re shooting an evening with the L.A. fire-department. The entire film takes place through the lens of said camera. It all begins as a typical and rather dull evening at the firehouse, until a call comes in, at which point things get interesting. It’s supposed to be a routine call, a possible medical emergency at an apartment building, an old woman screaming for no apparent reason. When our reporter and fire-crew arrive on scene, they find the woman disoriented, moaning and bleeding from the mouth. They, of course, try to help her, but she’s not so cooperative. Rather than take a little ride to the hospital, she bites out the throat of the nearest available fireman. From here, things go astonishingly bad, as teams of government agents seal off the entire building without explanation. No one in, no one out.
I haven’t enjoyed a horror movie in a very long time, until Quarantine. It doesn’t tell a brilliant story with rich characters, but that doesn’t matter. The story is solid enough, the characters real enough. Quarantine is really a film of tone, atmosphere, and stylish violence, a film one enjoys on a visceral level. I’m a fan of the first-person shaky camera, to me it adds a certain level of intimacy and intensity. Watching, one can’t help but feel trapped in that building, terrified with its tenants.
Quarantine is such an intimately intense and well-paced zombie movie, I couldn’t have been more pleased with the experience.
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10 Comments so far
I’m glad to hear this was enjoyable. I was on the fence about seeing it, but I think now I’ve decided it’d be a good idea. Especially considering how much I wound up -loving- Cloverfield.
Speaking of surpisingly good horror… Have you seen Clive Barker’s The Midnight Meat Train? It was surprisingly good. You should check it out.
You can’t be talking about the same movie I saw last night. It was horrible and laughable at times. The entire theatre booed at the end. The scary part? That there is probably going to be a sequel. People, save your money. It’s an hour and a half wasted, that you can’t get back. Go see Igor instead. Trust me.
I definitely wasn’t bored. Now, Diary of the Dead, THAT was boring.
I thought the comedic parts were somewhat relieving during all the buildup.
I really liked the film too – I think the way it was filmed was the only way that script could have worked and seem interesting. I hated the shaky camera stuff in Bourne Identity/Ultimatum but it worked here. My expectation was “zombies eat people” and that was definitely met.
Oddly enough I don’t care for that particular actress in Dexter but I liked her character in Quarantine.
Magnolia: What?! She’s so hilarious in Dexter. She doesn’t act it very well necessarily, but she’s so ridiculous and foul-mouthed that she’s awesome.
Every time I see her on Dexter I just want to punch her in the face. Cursing does for her what winking does for Sarah Palin.
I liked her being surrounded by zombies and the possibility of her being eaten made me happy.
this movies sucks and is a waste of your time and money…you would have been better off staying home and watching Dexter reruns! This season is making me crazy!
Okay, I’m a sucker for zombies.
I have to agree with you wholly on this, Michael.
We saw it this past week and I enjoyed it so much. I watch damn near every horror movie that I come across so it’s rare that I find one that is actually any good and scary at all. But Quarantine had me totally freaked out and enthralled. I think the hand held aspect really did a lot for this particular movie, it wouldn’t have been as cool if it were shot Hollywood style. I think it was definitely worth the time and money.
And plus, I’m like you: a complete sucker for zombies.
I have never screamed at all in my life before, much less during a horror movie (of which I’ve probably seen hundreds). But I fucking screamed during this one.