Is it possible to make a horror movie that's original? If it is, Quarantine does little to prove it.
The new film is an obvious rip-off of this year's Cloverfield, which was already a low-class B grade film. Swap the monster in Cloverfield with some rabid humans and you have the same movie. Jiggly, Blair Witch Project-style, hand-held camera shots mixed with a serious lack of any useful information seem to be the new played-out horror film technique.
Quarantine takes place in modern day Los Angeles. Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter, Dexter) is a local news reporter who is following around the Los Angeles Fire Department (L.A.F.D.) with her cameraman (Steve Harris, Diary of a Mad Black Woman) for the night.
The beginning is devoted to following the characters around the mundane L.A.F.D. firehouse. Generally in horror films, the first half hour is pertinent to the plot of the movie, setting up the basis for the ensuing slaughters, but that is far from the case here. The exposition is just filler in order to make the movie long enough to be feature length.
Also embedded in the first 15 minutes is the attempt to set up a romance between Angela and a young fireman (Jay Hernandez, Lakeview Terrace), which is simply a waste of time as it never materializes into anything substantial.
After the painfully boring beginning, a call finally comes into the fire department that leads the actors to a suspicious L.A. apartment building. Viewers are led to believe that something exciting will start happening. But sadly, that is just not the case.
To be brief, the plot of the movie revolves around rabid people attacking other people in the building, which has been quarantined by the government. No one can get out and magically, none of the lights or phones in the building work.
Although the movie mostly takes place in the dark and one would expect for scary things to happen, viewers will be disappointed again. Horror movies usually don't aim to be avant-garde or cutting edge; the general expectation of watching a scary movie is to be scared.
The acting in the film is nearly impossible to comment on, since it is basically non-existent. Occasionally making sporadic panting noises supposedly trying to signify that they're scared, the actors sound like they are out of breath. Viewers hear the occasional scream and curse word, which appears to be the only reason the movie got its R-rating. There is nothing particularly gruesome in the film and everything is so predictable that it makes it nearly impossible for the viewer to be frightened at all.
The only redeeming part of the film is the final few minutes when the cameraman turns on his night vision, creating a frightening illusion. However, this change of camera technique would only shock a viewer under the age of 10.
The film is great for those who actually believe there is a "BNC" (bio-nuclear-chemical threat, whatever that is) brewing in the basement of an L.A. apartment building. Otherwise, Quarantine is just another disappointing, basic clich?(c) horror film.
