QUARANTINE is hit and miss as a film. It takes the same film style that has been seen in BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and CLOVERFIELD.
The second did the best with the video camera format as the audience watcheds the events that were filmed by film stuck in
the thick of it. CLOVERFIELD's one flaw was the cardboard characters that I just wanted to slap (the only thing I could get
behind was the guy going back for the girl that loved him). QUARANTINE has a leg up on CLOVERFIELD with more likeable characters.
It's plot made me expect more. A news reporter (Jennifer Carpenter) and her camera man follow fire fighters on a call to an
apartment building that is sealed off by the CDC. This zombie film starts out good, but the screenplay suffers from the flaws
of so many films that use characters to service the plot and an ending that is spoiled by the trailer.
On a second viewing (months later), I did think the ending was more effective and I liked the film a little bit more.
I found myself more immersed in the experience of watching this discovered tape that is the bassis for the movie. It
is more in the territory of CLOVERFIELD good instead of BLAIR WITCH PROJECT bad.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The audio commentary for the film by Director John Erick Dowdle and Producer Drew Dowdle (who wrote the film with John) does
nicely compliment the featurettes.
Three featurettes are on the disc.
the first is a brief making of featurette (LOCKED IN: THE MAKING OF QUARANTINE) that amounts to promo fluff.
The second one ( DRESSING THE INFECTED: ROBERT HALL'S MAKE-UP DESIGN) is the best of the three as it focuses on the makeup
effects (they decided to do things to the extreme and luckily they steered away from the Herpes skin look. The third
featurette (ANATOMY OF A STUNT) is all about the prep work and filming of a stunt.
Several previews round out the extras includinga trailer for REC (which QUARANTINE remakes).
FINAL ANALYSIS: QUARANTINE isn't pefect or as good as CLOVERFIELD. Still it is entertaining and I wait
for the original version it remakes (REC) to hit DVD.
this DVD review is (c)2-17-2008 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to
Lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com
