"QUARANTINE" (2008) (Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez) (R)
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QUICK TAKE:
Horror: A television reporter and her cameraman end up confined in a quarantined apartment building where something horrible is occurring to the residents and everyone else there.
PLOT:
Angela Vidal (JENNIFER CARPENTER) is a TV reporter who, along with her cameraman, Scott Percival (STEVE HARRIS), are going to spend the evening doing a story on a Los Angeles fire department and specifically two of the firemen there, Jake (JAY HERNANDEZ) and Fletcher (JOHNATHON SCHAECH).
The first part of the evening is standard stuff around the station, but a call finally comes in and the firemen -- with the TV crew in tow -- set off for an apartment building where the super, Yuri Ivanov (RADE SERBEDZIJA), has reported troubling screams coming from an older tenant's unit. Upon arriving, LAPD cop Danny Wilensky (COLUMBUS SHORT) is already there, while residents such as veterinarian Lawrence (GREG GERMANN) are there trying to figure out what's happening.
When the cop and firemen enter the older woman's apartment, she's acting strangely, seems infected by something unusual, and then suddenly attacks Fletcher, leaving him badly wounded. Danny ends up shooting and killing her, but he and the others then realize they're in quite a bind.
Not only are others in the building similarly infected by something that's turned them into wild animals, but the authorities on the outside -- apparently aware of what's occurring inside -- have sealed all of the doors and windows, effectively quarantining everyone inside. With no way out and no one to help them, those remaining try to avoid the infected and crazed killers, all as seen through Scott's camera that catches everything that occurs.
OUR TAKE: 1 out of 10
Our new reviewing policy for films that aren't shown in advance to critics is that we'll only provide a paragraph or two about the film's artistic merits or, more accurately, lack thereof. After all, life is too short to spend any more effort than that on a movie that even the releasing studio knows isn't any good (which is why they hid it from reviewers before its release).
Think "Blair Witch Project" meets "Cloverfield" meets most any zombie flick and you'll have this low budget pic that continues the "you are there" trend of horror filmmaking, sans any sort of tripod or Steadicam to let us actually see what's occurring.
If the persistently bouncy, shaky and disorienting camerawork doesn't make you seasick (and it will if you're remotely susceptible), the retreaded material (crazed, animal-like killers pick off trapped people one by one) will leave you not remotely concerned or interested in who's the last one to bite the dust.
Note to filmmakers - next time invest some money in a tripod and script and stop try to make a quick buck off copying what your predecessors have done. If anything, those responsible for "Quarantine" should be subjected to that very treatment themselves to prevent them from infecting not only viewers, but future filmmakers who might be influenced by their "work." The film rates as a 1 out of 10.
Reviewed October 10, 2008 / Posted October 10, 2008
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