Quarantine, directed by John Erick Dowdle is based on the Spanish fim REC and focuses on a young reporter and her camera man who become trapped in an apartment building while filming a story. Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter, The Exorcism of Emily Rose) plays Angela, an eager reporter and her camerman Scott, the rarely seen character who is filming the events as they unfold (played by actor Steve Harris of Eli Stone and Sugar Hill).
The Story
Angela and Scott have been sent on assignment to do a ride along with the night crew at the Los Angeles Fire Department. The night is quiet and Angela gets to know the fireman, namely Jake, played by Jay Hernandez (Hostel, World Trade Center) and George "Fletch" Fletcher (Johnathon Schaech, Prom Night). The fun is interrupted when the crew gets a call that a woman was heard screaming in her apartment.
Angela, Scott and the firemen arrive on scene, where they find a group of concerned tenants and a distraught woman covered in blood. The woman attacks a police officer, biting his neck. She then attacks Fletch, throwing him down the stairs. The two men are badly wounded but alive. Another woman is discovered in her apartment, sick and unresponsive. Jake and the remaining police officer Danny (Columbus Short, Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip) gather all the residents in the lobby and try to keep everyone calm. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Police Department, a SWAT team and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) barricade everyone inside by blocking all possible exits. Eventually, they discover that a virus spread by bites is consuming the building and Angela, Scott and Jake fight to stay alive.
Pros and Cons
Jennifer Carpenter earned her stripes with an amazing performance in The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Carpenter did most of her own stunts and amazed audiences and critics with her ability to contort her body and voice. In Quarantine, Carpenter plays terrified very well but isn't given much else to do. Hernandez fairs well as the once heroic fireman who has become just as lost and terrified as everyone else. All the other actors do well as trapped and terrified tenants, going to desperate measures to escape. Overall, the cast does a good job.
There are some scary moments; the infected seem to "wake up" suddenly and attack immediately, with brute force. In the struggle to stay alive, the trapped fight back with an axe, a gun and even the camera itself! The scariest moment in the film is when Angela and Scott are trapped in a dark room with a subhuman, violent creature that appears to live in the building's attic.
The film is entirely made up of footage from Scott's camera. Many movies have been made in this same style, including The Blair Witch Project and the recent Diary of the Dead. While it's a creative idea that gives a feeling of authenticity to the story, it can make the action difficult to decipher. Many moments in Quarantine are action packed as characters try to find safety and outrun the blood thirsty infected. The constant motion of the camera can make for some queasy moments and not because of the film's gore. Despite the moments of tricky footage, Quarantine is a scary, well acted film that will definitely keep the audience on the edge.
