1: [REC]

When I decided to count down the best horror films of the decade, I ran into a problem ranking #1. Should I do the scariest movie of the decade, which would probably be Inside? Or would it be better to do the best movie in the horror genre, which is Pan's Labyrinth. Eventually, I decided on a compromise: The #1 movie would be the most flawlessly made terrifying horror movie. That honor goes to Rec.

Rec is a simple story, well told. Angela Vidal (Manuela Vascal), a reporting, is recording for her show in a local fire station, when the firemen get an emergency call. They head out to an apartment complex to help an injured woman, only to be attacked by her. She turns out to be a zombie The complex is quarantined, and Angela and her cameraman are trapped in with the rest of the residents. At first, they try to document everything that is going on, to show the people on the outside just how unjust the quarantine was, but as the zombie virus begins to spread they start becoming more and more concerned for there own safety.

This film is a found footage film, and it really utilizes the style. The film opens at the fire station, with Angela interviewing the rest of the cast. She is completely adorable in these scenes, and it really helps build her character and the audience's sympathies towards her. Then, after the initial excitement happens, she takes time out to interview everyone. This slows the film down, which sets us up to be even more shocked by the next big scares, while giving us an opportunity to meet everyone else in the apartment complex. They are all interesting, and it is quite funny watching them awkwardly try not to look stupid on camera. It makes them all feel like real people.

This makes it all the harder to deal with them all becoming zombies. That is one thing I can appreciate about the 28 day's later fast moving zombies: if one zombie is a credible threat, then you are a lot more open to make a film with a small cast of character's that turn into zombies. Sacrificing the scope of the zombie attack actually increases the tragedy, because the only people affected happen to be the only people we care about.

The film's final act is perfect. The character's manage to escape the immediate danger of the zombie attack by hiding in the supposedly abandoned penthouse apartment. It quickly becomes apparent that the penthouse was quite recently occupied. They slowly search each room, coming up with more and more disturbing things each time, until eventually they stumble upon patient zero. She is corpse-thin, decrepit, and absolutely terrifying. It is one of the most pulse-pounding climaxes to a film I have ever seen.

Rec is a film that should not be missed. The director's, Paco Plaza and Jaume Belaguero, have earned my respect and admiration with this film. Unlike most found footage films, where the camera feels like a hindrance, this film feels perfect. The story they are telling is small enough to be told with a single camera, the demands for pacing work with the narrative, which only work with the single camera. It all fits together perfectly. I dont understand why the things that don't work in other film's are so spectacularly successful here, but I know that they do. Rec is a film that can't be missed.