Plot: Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) is the host of The Night Shift, a television show that looks into the various jobs people do on the overnight shift, when most of the others in the area are asleep. Her latest assignment involves getting to know more about how a local firehouse functions in the third shift, a stressful job in the best of circumstances, let alone on an unusual schedule. As she learns about the routine of the station, she also gets to know the firefighters themselves, though her investigation is cut short when an urgent call comes in. The crew is dispatched to an apartment building where screams were heard and as it turns out, those screams are coming from an old woman, who is acting strangely, to say the least. She attacks of the crew members and when the others race to escape the complex, they discover they’ve been locked inside. A quarantine has been declared within the apartment building, so Angela and the others must survive as some kind of virus spreads throughout the complex.

Entertainment Value: This is a remake of Rec and while it makes some changes, it is a fairly faithful adaptation, even shot for shot in some sequences. But Quarantine fails to capture the same frantic, desperate atmosphere of the original and what small changes have been made prove to be for the worse. Rec was sparse on dialogue and narrative, opting for atmosphere and tension, but this remake shoehorns in much more talking and even goes overboard on explanations for the virus. This removes so much of the unknown and to me, that lessens the tension and suspense. I also think all the dialogue slows the pace and as this material works best in that kinetic state, the talking is a detriment as well. Even so, the sections of Quarantine that stick close to the original work well enough and I think Jennifer Carpenter is great at total panic, so she is a capable lead here. I do have to admit, it is a little strange seeing so many famous faces in a found footage movie, but that is neither here nor there. I think Quarantine is a decent watch, but if you have access to the original Rec, that is likely going to be a more effective, worthwhile experience. But as far as remakes are concerned, this is one of the more passable ones.

No nakedness. A brief visit to the shower room happens, but towels are wielded to ensure no private pieces are revealed. There is some blood splashed around, more than most found footage movies and a little more on screen violence than the genre normally features. A camera is used to bash in an infected’s face in one of the better set pieces, along with some nasty bites and general attacks, with some of the bloodshed shown, but most just out of our view. We do see the aftermath and it can be brutal, with blood spread around and limbs mangled, I just wish the movie had shown us the violence that caused all this, rather than just the remnants. So we have some blood here and of course, the frantic attacks and shaky cam approach help mask the lack of direct violence, which helps a little. The early scenes at the station have some light banter and humorous lines, but otherwise, this one is serious and rather basic. I don’t think all the added dialogue during the actual quarantine was a wise choice, especially trying to reveal so much about the contagion. As for craziness, the kinetic atmosphere earns a point, but not much else here that is all that wild or manic.

Nudity: 0/10

Blood: 3/10

Dialogue: 1/10

Overall Insanity: 1/10

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