Discover Horror Movie Remakes Full Time Zombie Experience

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 26 seconds ago

At the height of the found footage craze, low budget horror films were able to use the technique to tell innovative stories, as in Paranormal Activity or Cloverfield, or to take a classic horror story and make it seem new again. 2008’s Quarantine uses found footage through the eyes of a news crew to put you in the middle of a zombie outbreak, making an old school survival story seem different just by changing the perspective. Found footage is not a popular format today, and it is debatable how well the films of the era have aged, but some are worth watching today, including RECthe Spanish-language film that was remade by Hollywood in Quarantine.

Nowhere To Run

Quarantine begins with news crew Angela, the reporter (Jennifer Carpenter), and Scott, the cameraman (Steve Harris), follow firefighters as they respond to a call in an apartment building that looks suspiciously like rabies. An old woman, infected by a mysterious virus, attacks the group, which now includes a pair of police officers, before being shot down. Soon, we see the exits from the building, including all the windows, sealed by the CDC with the first person perspective, turning the act of plastic wrapping going up into a terrifying death sentence.

The ranks of the infected begin to swell with nowhere to escape, leading to most of it Quarantine jump scare and most of her kills count. An attempt to escape the building results in a shooter taking out the occupant, forcing the survivors to try and find a way out, which is a bit convoluted. The end result robs the film of some of its horror by revealing far too much about the origin of the infection in a textbook example of why it’s best to leave audiences wanting more.

A Relic Of A Bygone Age

It is impossible to talk about it Quarantine not to mention the original film RECone of the most successful Spanish horror films of all time. Darker than the English remake and with a better pace, the original film is still considered one of the most popular films of all time. It went on for three more sequels, expanding into an elaborate mythology that eventually included a conspiracy in the Vatican.

Quarantineon the other hand, had one sequence, Quarantine 2: Terminal, which is placed on a plane before dying out. While the original is better, even the Hollywood remake is better than most low-budget horror films of the era, despite the weak plot and stumbling third act. In theaters, the film made $41 million, making it a success considering the low production budget.

Found footage films are few and far between today, especially given the diminishing returns of the Paranormal Activity franchise, turning films like Quarantine to the relics of a bygone era in pop culture. It is also an example of when Hollywood felt the need to remake foreign films, for example, The Ring or The heathercompared to today when movies like Train to Busan gets hit streaming. Zombie movies have been around for over 60 years, dating back to the sci-fi standout Day of the Triffidsand it takes a lot to stand out, but a first person case with no room to run is certainly something different.

Quarantine available on Video on Demand via YouTube, Amazon Prime Videoa Apple TV.