This Spanish horror film uses the terrifying experience of amateur female reporters and colleagues who fell into a biochemical crisis in an old house, and uses a set of classic Hollywood horror films to make a standard realistic documentary from a DV perspective, and it is very grassroots. kind. The authenticity of a documentary is the soul, and the function of DV equipment is the easiest to create such a feeling.
The DV perspective will bring you back to your own line of sight, and everything will be assimilated. There is no time left for you to distinguish the existence of various doctrines and meanings, and your function becomes a party who experiences unexpected events. To be clear, the director is the party involved. Our role is to hide in an air-conditioned room and watch a live broadcast.
Therefore, the director will broadcast the live broadcast in a fast-paced, single-angle manner, and all kinds of scheduling in regular movies are gone. Like playing a game like "Silent Hill", you will be controlled in a single linear development, and there is no way to be distracted. The bloody experience of horror movies is the easiest natural partner to achieve this kind of approach. If it was replaced by Ozu movies, I am afraid it would have collapsed long ago.
This kind of film takes advantage of the general public's herd mentality and is very immersive, but it also depends on the director's skills. The Cloverfield File in the same style is an atmospheric work, implicitly full of lyricism. And "REC" is quite satisfactory, but it is rich in details. As a horror movie born out of a conventional plot, it is already quite good.
It is easy to create a real horror atmosphere by explaining the plot from the DV perspective. When I first saw the arrogance of the virus infected body, I found that I was isolated from the outside world. These two scenes are very good at DV. The former has a strong sense of presence in the face of emergencies, with both thrilling and frightening; the latter's news recording function takes you to death. If these contents should be replaced with regular film processing, I am afraid there is nothing new at all.
The film's climactic scene was inspired by the wonderfully dark confrontation of The Silence of the Lambs. With the single perspective of DV, the director truly restores the sense of panic that humans face when facing the dark. It is not so much a DV recording as it is a live participation of the human eye. The reason why this scene is wonderful is completely dependent on the last and only DV footage that can see things.
In The Cloverfield Archives, people are attacked by hordes of monsters in the enclosed space, which is a bit cliché. "REC" is in a desperate situation and can't find out what the danger is, until... This treatment is stronger and more oppressive. According to the situation at the time, in the confined space of several square meters, in the extreme darkness, the two big living people could only use DV night vision to try to escape. This may be the essence of DV in "REC", which can integrate the plot into reality.
Watching DV movies will make you dizzy. Fortunately, the director has effectively avoided this phenomenon, and the shaking and shaking of the lens will not make people vomit. Although the house is not very big and the location is favorable, the director's camera control is not as simple as "Blair Witch" taking wild pictures of the sky. Most of the director's shots start with the cameraman still, not moving until the plot allows.
The film has a rich narrative, as well as a work ethic that is emphasized in the spirit of DV. Here should pay tribute to the participants in the scene - the DV photographer of the whole film. The eldest brother is conscientious, brave and fearless, and occasionally gives advice with calmness and insight. Not only that, he has always existed silently, but has never met, and is really the noble incarnation of those war photographers.
It's really cool that the film ends with a savage and decisive ending, not only on the high point of the closed space of horror films, but also on the difference between European films and Hollywood's handling of affairs. Not sensational, not strange, not hypocritical, the key point is to restore human nature and restore the authenticity of DV style. Therefore, you will believe more in the essence of the DV format, that is, the content should be as authentic as possible.
In all fairness, the Hollywood blockbuster-style "The Cloverfield File" is more likable, because there is a big pattern and an epic sense. "REC" will hate itself for appearing after it, even though the film is played to the extreme in a small space, it does not go out of the box in the DV format. Even so, for hundreds of millions of similar horror films, the film is also novel and unique.
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