REC | 2007
"REC" (pronounced: "rek," short for "record") is a Spanish found footage horror film released in 2007, co-written and directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza. The film stars Manuela Velasco as a reporter who, along with a cameraman and a group of firefighters, responds to an outbreak of infection in an apartment building. The interior of the building is becoming increasingly infected, and it is quarantined, forcing all residents to adhere to strict isolation measures.
"REC" premiered on November 23, 2007, achieving both critical and commercial success, and is regarded as one of the best works in both the found footage and horror genres. The film ranked 60th on Time Out's list of the '100 Best Horror Films.' Additionally, it was remade in the United States in 2008 under the title "Quarantine."
This film spawned the "REC" series, with sequels including "REC 2," co-directed by Balagueró and Plaza in 2009, "REC 3: Genesis," directed by Plaza in 2012, and "REC 4: Apocalypse," directed by Balagueró in 2014, which is the final installment of the series.
Reporter Ángela Vidal and her cameraman Pablo are covering a night shift at a Barcelona fire station for the series "While You Were Sleeping." They receive a call about an elderly woman, Mrs. Isquierdo, trapped in an apartment. Ángela and Pablo head to the apartment building on Rambla de Catalunya with firefighters Alex and Manu. The elderly woman becomes aggressive and bites one of the police officers. They soon learn that the police and military have sealed off the building, trapping them inside.
As residents begin to panic, Alex, who was upstairs, is thrown down the stairs and seriously injured. Mrs. Isquierdo kills a girl, and the remaining police officer, Sergio, is forced to shoot her. Ángela and Pablo start interviewing the residents, one of whom is a sick girl named Jennifer. Her mother, Mari Carmen, claims she has tonsillitis and says their dog Max is at the vet. A health inspector in protective gear arrives to help, but the injured become extremely aggressive. The health inspector explains that they are infected with a virus similar to rabies, which started with a dog in the building, and Ángela realizes it is Max. Infected Jennifer bites her mother's face and runs away. Sergio handcuffs Mari to the stairs. They search for Jennifer, but she bites Sergio. Infected residents break down the door of the storage room where they are trapped, leading to more residents being bitten and infected.
Ángela, Pablo, and the remaining survivor, Manu, search for a key to escape through a large drain in the basement. After Manu is bitten, Ángela and Pablo take refuge in the penthouse. They discover a tape recorder revealing that the penthouse owner was a Vatican agent tasked with isolating an enzyme possessed by a Portuguese girl, Tristana Medeiros, whose symptoms suggest demonic possession. The agent decided to confine Tristana to her home to let her die.
An infected boy breaks Pablo's camera, and he activates the night vision. A ghostly Tristana appears in the penthouse looking for food. Pablo is killed by Tristana, and as Ángela witnesses this, she panics and drops the camera. She is dragged into the darkness, screaming.
The film was first screened as the opening and closing film outside of competition at the 64th Venice International Film Festival in August 2007. It was also shown at the Sitges Film Festival in October 2007 and the Málaga International Fantastic Film Festival in November, before being released in Spain later that month.
The film was screened at the Glasgow Film Festival in February 2008, where the directors discussed the influences they encountered while creating the film. They explained, "What we referenced the most was not movies but TV. Rather than being influenced by traditional films, we were influenced by TV programs. What we wanted was to create a classic horror story, but we wanted to tell that story like a TV program." Subsequently, "REC" was released in the UK in April 2008 and was released on DVD in North America in 2009.