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Letterboxd Reviews

So as you know, I stopped writing lengthy reviews on this site this year, keeping the blog as more of a film diary of sorts.  Lo and behold,...

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Movie Review - Quarantine (2008)

***Available on DVD***
Starring Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris, Jay Hernandez, Greg Germann, and Denis O'Hare
Written by John Erick Dowdie and Drew Dowdie
Directed by John Erick Dowdie

Horror movies are typically not my favorite genre.  I always find myself seemingly able to see every "scare" before it happens.  Add to that, stupid characters played by awful actors and I usually finish a horror flick and tell myself, "I just wasted  two hours of my life."

Fortunately, Quarantine did not feel like a waste of 90 minutes.  This is absolutely a very effective, taut, exciting thriller.  Told in the same shaky first-person camera vein as The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield, this flick is a welcome addition to the "revival" of the zombie flick in recent years (28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead).

Angela Vidal (Carpenter) is a reporter for a local news station who, along with her cameraman, Scott (Harris), decide to follow around a fire department for a "Day in the Life" type segment.  Called into action, Angela and Scott follow fireman Jake (Hernandez) into an apartment complex only to find themselves quarantined there by the CDC.  Some type of virus has broken out in the building causing people to essentially go apeshit.

With the exception of the first 10 minutes that detail the "regular" life of the firemen (everyone in that segment seemed way too forced and unbelievable), the acting is all top-notch.  It certainly helps that the characters aren't forced into doing stupid things by the writers.  Everything that happens here -- reactions, dialogue -- seems fully authentic (well, you know, with the exception of the flesh-eating zombies).

The RyMickey Rating: B   

4 comments:

  1. I had to get Crank: High Voltage off that list...I was ready to give this a 'B' regardless of how good it was...

    But, in actuality, I really thought this was a good movie...whereas Crank is a good awful movie.

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  2. Didn't know if you noticed, Thomas, but Denis O'Hare was in this one.

    It's funny, because he came onscreen, and, in the past, I wouldn't have known who he was in the slightest, but this time, I couldn't help but think, "Thomas liked this guy in Duplicity!"

    He and Clifton Collins, Jr., are everywhere!

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  3. Hrm.

    I can't remember if you liked Blair Witch or not?

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  4. Blair Witch was okay. I saw it way after the buzz (on dvd) so it was kind of ruined for me. I liked this much better than Blair Witch.

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