Rec

Saw Rec, a 2007 found-footage horror, but a very good one. It follows an attractive female reporter doing a fluff story about the daily activities of firemen. She follows the firemen to a house-call which goes horribly zombie and is quarantined in the apartment building with the other tenants, and some cops and firemen. The film has all the benefits of a lack of jump-scares and none of the improvisation nonsense that plagued earlier found-footage stuff. As a zombie film, it's more action oriented and less about building up tension.

There's some great pieces to it though. The scene where everything goes wrong and the zombies come out is great. There's all these little pieces of it I love. There's a quick shot of the reporter isolated in a spotlight. One of the firemen slaps the back of a cop, leaving a bloody hand print. All of this happens very rapidly and following some tedious world-building/mood-setting, so it's very exciting and delightful. Also the variety and quality of the zombies is tip top.

There's another scene where a guy in a hazmat suit enters which is ceremonial and weird. The ceremonial aspect comes up again at the very end when our heroes break into a sealed-off apartment and further back-story is revealed. At that point (about 15 minutes from the end) the film goes full-on horror and becomes such grotesque stuff as creepypasta is made on. It's good, perhaps a little tame (either that or I'm getting tougher) but scary and well-done. I liked it.