By Scott Martin

[REC], Spain, 2007

Directed by Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza

I’m immediately reminded of The Blair Witch Project (1999) whenever someone brings up this 2007 Spanish film. Blair Witch, though, has the upper hand on several levels, the first and most major being its marketing. The shrewd execution of this campaign managed to invoke glorious word of mouth and gather a slew of followers before the film was ever released. Another level is the complete no-name cast, which allowed for Blair Witch‘s seemingly student-film style to be swallowed whole by the audience. Justly, this became one of the most profitable films of all-time, made for roughly $60,000 dollars and grossing nearly $250 million worldwide. In [REC]‘s case, such a campaign was never employed, and while that doesn’t hinder the viewing experience, it certainly wasn’t beneficial to the film.

Set in Barcelona, the film centers on reporter Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman Pablo (Pablo Rosso), who are taping a night at the local firehouse for their television series While You Sleep. A distress call comes over the radio, and the crew rushes to an old apartment complex where screams and violent noises were heard. The contents of the first-person film show exactly what happens on this fateful, terrible night. Read More