It's one of those rare movies where you can't quite ascertain as to whether the filmmakers are trying to create scares or laughs.
Quarantine (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:76
Fresh:45
Rotten:31
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: Quarantine uses effective atmosphere and consistent scares to stand above the crop of recent horror films.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for bloody violent and disturbing content, terror and language.
Runtime: 89 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:Oct 10, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $31,691,811
Synopsis: A faithful adaptation of the 2007 Spanish film REC, QUARANTINE chronicles the outbreak of a rabies-like disease in a Los Angeles apartment building and the struggle of the unaffected residents to... A faithful adaptation of the 2007 Spanish film REC, QUARANTINE chronicles the outbreak of a rabies-like disease in a Los Angeles apartment building and the struggle of the unaffected residents to stay alive after the authorities trap them inside in an effort to contain it. Equal parts BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and 28 DAYS LATER, the film is presented through the eye of a video camera, putting the audience in the middle of the action and creating a heightened level of intensity and realism. Television reporter Angela (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman, Scott (Steve Harris), are covering the goings-on at a firehouse for a program about night shift workers. As she clowns around with two flirty firemen (Jonathan Schaech and Jay Hernandez), an alarm sounds, and a truck is dispatched--with Angela and Scott on board---to an apartment building where an old woman has seemingly lost her mind. The woman bites one of the firemen and is soon killed, but when more tenants turn up with the same disorder, it's clear that a chain reaction is occurring. Unfortunately for Angela and the rest of the uninfected residents, the authorities have quarantined the building---but she and Scott continue to document the tragic and terrifying events inside the building as those inside are one by one transformed into bloodthirsty monsters. Director John Eric Dowdle, whose film THE POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES also used a pseudo-documentary approach in detailing the crimes of a serial killer, creates a sustained level of chaos and fear that will have all but the most seasoned horror fan cowering in the corner. Though the shaky camerawork may be difficult to take for those prone to motion sickness, it--along with a complete absence of music--gives the film a startling realism and immediacy to accompany its stomach-churning descent into full-on hopelessness and dread. [More]
Starring: Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez, Columbus Short, Greg Germann
Starring: Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez, Columbus Short, Greg Germann, Steve Harris, Dania Ramirez, Rade Sherbedgia, Johnathon Schaech
Director: John Erick Dowdle
Director: John Erick Dowdle
Screenwriter: John Erick Dowdle, Drew Dowdle
Producer: Doug Davison, Roy Lee, Sergio Aguero
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment
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Release:
Feb 17, 2009
Reviews for Quarantine
This isn't as good as CLOVERFIELD, but it does a pretty decent job at generating some thrills. Unfortunately, the movie is ruined by Carpenter's distractingly awful performance.
Real no frills filmmaking. Anything that gets in the way of the main idea is stripped to the bone. This includes certain niceties like character, humor, and even story.
Quarantine is the unavoidable American replica, only this version has ingested a bottle of idiot pills and washed it all down with a full glass of directorial incompetence.
We are saddled with the limitations of the 'found' film premise - seemingly endless screaming and scrabbling around in the dark, filmed from just a single angle.
The downside is that for the final half-hour the camera shakes so badly I started suffering from motion sickness.
The Spanish film worked better than John Erick Dowdle's remake, which is, if possible, even more chaotically filmed to the point that you often haven't got the slightest idea what's happening -- you just know that it's nasty.
The Spanish did it all a little better but Carpenter rivals her European counterpart in hollering blue murder.
My suggestion is to see the original first and then skip this one altogether...
This derivative horror flick can be confined along with its numerous inspirations.
Grows increasingly repetitious and tedious as the same cinematic tricks are played over and over...the effect is suffocating rather than enjoyably spooky.
Too much information in the trailer spoiled some of the suspense of the film
Quarantine fails to correct some of the problems evident in its predecessor while also incorporating a few defects of its own.
Actress Jennifer Carpenter of Exorcism of Emily Rose fame surely deserves some kind of award for giving the most hysterical over-the-top performance in a horror movie since Marilyn Burns in the original 1974 Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
The premise isn't bad; I like the fact this hysteria happens in and around people's homes, because it's an excuse for the filmmakers to uncover secrets normally kept behind closed doors. A pity there are no great revelations here.
...a movie that didn't need to be made and which no one needs to see.
Quarantine is a modestly inventive, sporadically exciting thriller that nonetheless proves too faithful to its central conceit for its own good.
...feels as if someone had videotaped their trip through a haunted house run by the local Jaycees.
Latest News for Quarantine
February 16, 2009:
RT on DVD: High School Musical 3 or Midnight Meat Train?
It's a good week for mediocre films (Body of Lies, Changeling, Quarantine and Flash of Genius, which all walk a fine line between Fresh and Rotten) and an even better one if... More...
February 08, 2009:
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February 08, 2009:
An eye-popping both metaphorical and literal genocidal rat race scare scenario made especially haunting when it kicks in, with its post-9/11 domestic terror lurking around every corner, hyper-paranoid sensibility. ![]()
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November 21, 2008:
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| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
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