'Rec' Film Analysis - Horror Feature

'REC' Analysis

Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza have used their knowledge of the genre to create a claustrophobic and suspenseful horror film. The film clearly has been inspired by films such as 'The Blair Witch Project' which was notable for its use of a single camera in which the events of the film are seen through a characters POV perspective. Like the traditional opening to horror films the characters and situation that they are in is perfectly tranquil but the characters are soon descended into a world of torment. The director(s) use enigma codes to keep the audience engaged in the story for example, the audience are asking themselves how did this virus breakout? But because the audience are placed into Pablo's perspective they learn things as the characters do. 

The characters in the film although they follow the typical codes and conventions of the genre we as the audience are made to feel anxious about the safety of the characters particularly Angela and Pablo. The director(s) has used the news/documentary camera style so that the audience is placed into Pablo's point of view therefore when someone is attacked the viewers vision of the action is obscured because they are seeing things how Pablo sees them, this creates an investment in this character as he is our 'eyes' in the events and we do not want anything to happen to him as we the audience are intrigued to find out what is happening in the apartment building. Angela who is the news-woman is a strong voiced character who is confident enough to voice her opinions on the situation and remain professional throughout the chaos vowing to continue her duty as a newswoman to document, this bizarre situation, however her character does follow the horror formula of being the attractive feminine is slightly sexualised which can be seen with her interactions with the other characters by flirting with them. The supporting cast particularly the Firemen and Police are very good also, there is something quite disturbing about seeing these typically brave men who are meant to protect the residents collapse mentally and show their fear. The little girl character is used to juxtapose the adult characters who are frantically trying to get out the building, horror films tend to use this sort of character as a way of showing innocence in a terrible situation. However, as the genre usually goes this type of character is twisted into the complete opposite, during the film it is revealed that the virus had spread from the dog to the little girl via saliva, the mother desperately says that her daughters illness is nothing more than 'tonsilitis' the daughter then proceeds to infect the mother, the evil overcomes the good in the characters. As the story progresses the characters' behaviour changes due to the increasing fear and panic caused by the situation, for example, although we are following Angela who at first we believe to be the hero does in fact turn into the stereotypical horror female who is constantly screaming and therefore leaving it up to Pablo and the fireman to take action thus having a traditional male hero.

The director(s) have used the single-camera in a variety of ways to create an immersive experience for the audience. The camera acts as an important plot device as the characters are using it in a way to remain professional/sane as well as to help them, for example in one scene the characters are exploring the top floors where the lady who is infected is lurking around and eventually attacks the characters before being shot, Angela demands that Pablo replay the footage and the audience are subjected to the footage literally being rewound and replayed, this particular scene shows us how the characters and in particularly Angela are feeling it is almost as if Angela cannot believe what she has just witnessed she needs to re-watch that moment.

Angela and Pablo decide that they must continue documenting the events despite the policeman becoming increasingly distressed about its presence, Angela and Pablo then interview all of the characters and as they ask the questions the audience are learning something new, some of the dialogue is significant, for example when the little girl mentions that her dog is at the vet this creates an enigma in which the audience are wondering if the ill dog has anything to do with breakout of the virus. The director(s) use enigma codes to constantly question everything that is being said and keep the audience hanging on to every-word.

The hand-held camera gives the film a natural look to it as nothing is entirely clear, therefore making it enigmatic. Because the audience is restricted to the view of the camera Pablo manoeuvres the camera so that he can capture as much as possible for example, over-the shoulder shots are used to see the action from another characters perspective without using any real editing. The camera is used in a voyeuristic way because in one scene Pablo is watching the fireman, the policeman and the doctor trying to help the wounded men before they are attacked without them knowing that he is watching and upon witnessing this the audience feel the same fear that overcomes Pablo as he screams at Angela to run. In one sequence the last surviving fireman is wrestling one of the infected and Pablo puts down the camera in order to help him, this is an example of off-screen violence, the use of this is that the audience are left out in the way that they do not see if the characters have been bitten or not. A birds-eye view shot is used, however, it is on a dutch angle looking down the stair well this shot shows a depth of field and reveals that the infected are all on their way towards Angela and Pablo, the director has used this shot to reveal how outnumbered our characters are and the increasing inevitability of being infected.

The mise en scene creates a claustrophobic atmosphere, the lighting on the corridors is very dark and for the most part of the film the light on the camera is the only source of light in the frame, in the final sequence of the film the camera light is broken therefore Pablo has to turn on the night-vision, this is effective at bringing even more tension to the film as the characters can now only see through the camera. Because of the distorted camera work the director(s) have used an abundance of diegetic sounds that are used to various effects some more subtle then others, the more creep sounds heard are the ones that have come from the dark as the audience feel the presence of one of the infected people but are not entirely sure where they are coming from. More louder sounds are used to create 'jump moments' in which the sudden sound makes the audience have a visceral response for example, in the scene where one of the firemen drops from the stairwell and makes a large bone crushing slam onto the floor another 'jump moment' which is created through diegetic sound is the moment when the characters and standing in front of the infected lady and she suddenly screams in an in-human way that shows lets the audience know that the characters are in serious danger.