Movie Review: Quarantine

Language: English
Run Time: 89 mins
Distribution: Screen Gems Films

(Warning: Spoilers included)

My first impression from the trailers was that it was your standard zombie movie. Dawn of The Dead, Night of The Living Dead, George A. Romero inspired sort of of stuff except in a confined area and viewed through a single videocam shot ala-The Blair Witch Project and other similar movies. Apparently I found out later on that this was also a remake of a Spanish zombie movie called REC released around a year ago. Have not seen the original Spanish movie, so I can't and won't compare.

The movie started much slower than I expected. And though the tour of the firehouse and the camaraderie between the firemen gives a nice wholesome and normal view of how things were, it also did feel a bit stretched at times, leaving me to think "Geez man, get to the biting and tearing flesh to bits part already."

The flow got better once the scene migrated to the apartment building that was to be quarantined later. Though it was only (and I'm sure it's normal for any zombie movie) after the first encounter that things really started to get interesting for me. It wasn't really the blood spilling from Mrs. Espinoza or her trying to grab a bite out of one of the firemen and the tangling that ensued. These are all pretty standard for zombie movies and I've seen to much of them to date already. It was more of the who, what, where and how questions that got me hooked then. Since I personally have not seen a zombie being able to speak or froth at the mouth prior to going berserk in any of the movies before. The dog leaving the room as the firemen broke through was a nice hint to it all.

Broken bones, spilling blood, panic and your standard 'Guy who's just in it for himself and gets killed pretty soon after' pretty much makes up what happened next.

There were some attempts at unveiling what was happening in between from a vet that was tasked to treat the wounded and also from a member of the CDC though nothing more than the theory of a super-evolved strain of rabies. More running and biting ensued.

There were a number of commendable attempts at surprising and shocking the viewers but honestly nothing to really make me jump out of my seat. In fact the only time I reacted verbally was when Scott (the cameraman) grabbed Angela on her shoulder as they went up to survey the room where Mrs. Espinosa was which was more reflective of the cheekiness of the moment than anything else.

Only one scene in particular that stood out for me in the movie. That was when Scott used his videocam to smash the living daylights out of a zombie. The effects of the camera movement and sounds of impact as well as the reactions of the zombie getting her brain knocked out of her was more real than anything else that I saw in the film.

Even the final scene in the penthhouse where the 'revelation' of how all this began was not quite as intriguing for me. And that included the introduction of patient zero and the end that was already much publicized in their trailers.

All in all, it was an ok movie. Worth the full price if you're really bored or a hardcore zombie movie fan. But otherwise get the DVD or wait for it to air on your local TV networks. Trust me, you're not missing anything special.