Quarantine (2008)

Synopsis:

Television reporter Angela Vidal (Carpenter) and her cameraman (Harris) are assigned to spend the night shift with a Los Angeles Fire Station. After a routine 911 call takes them to a small apartment building, they find police officers already on the scene in response to blood curdling screams coming from one of the apartment units. They soon learn that a woman living in the building has been infected by something unknown. After a few of the residents are viciously attacked, they try to escape with the news crew in tow, only to find that the CDC has quarantined the building. Phones, internet, televisions and cell phone access have been cut-off, and officials are not relaying information to those locked inside. When the quarantine is finally lifted, the only evidence of what took place is the news crew’s videotape.

Our Thoughts:

After the success of films like The Blair Witch Project and now Cloverfield (2008), shooting with so-called “shaky cams” looks to be the new rage.

Looking like a cross between The Blair Witch Project and Dawn Of The Dead (2004) comes Quarantine, the latest entry in the “shaky cam” films.

This time around, they confine the action to one apartment building, giving a film a healthy dose of claustrophobia to heighten the tension. While the “shaky cam” experience got people closer to the characters in the other entires, Quarantine is the first to contain it’s characters to this much of a confined area (Blair Witch had the woods, Cloverfield (2008) had New York).

That could be a good thing, as viewers will feel trapped right along with the characters in the film most likely - but will the scenery of the small apartment building begin to look uninteresting after the 7th pan over the same wall? Possibly.

If the characters are well enough acted, chances are good Quarantine could become the next “shaky cam” hit. Let’s just hope they stay away from the naseau-inducing pans that gave Cloverfield (2008) viewers pause.

Just in case, we’ll probably wait until Quarantine hits DVD just like we did with Cloverfield (2008). After all, at home, you can always hit pause.