Quarantine (2/17/2009)

Rated R for bloody, violent, and disturbing content, terror, and language.

Directed by John Erwick Dowdle

Starring Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez and Johnathon Schaech

TODD’S WORD:
Seriously this movie should be “Quarantined.”

JONATHAN’S WORD:
Yeah… it's pretty sad when the making of the film (on the “Special Features” on the DVD) is better than the actual film.

TODD’S WORD:
That's funny!

JONATHAN’S WORD:
I'm not kidding. If this film was graded like my kid's report card, I'd give the film about a D- …but I'd give them an A for effort.

Allow me to explain myself. The idea behind the film was pretty creative. Original? No. The Blair Witch Project was one of the first films that made the “documentary” POV (point of view) style famous. And that filmed pulled it off (with no name actors).

A decade later Cloverfield came along and did the same idea. We the audience only get to see the whole story from one handheld camera in the hands of a novice. Cloverfield also pulled it off.

Quarantine director John Erick Dowdle probably hoped to do the same. Unfortunately, he fell far short.

TODD’S WORD:
Miles short.

JONATHAN’S WORD:
I agree. But the reason I give him an “A” for effort is in the risk he took shooting this. Unlike most films that only require quick takes, this film took 5 and 6 minute takes with no edits whatsoever. Actors rehearsed all day and effects crews prepared for a single scene. Then BOOM. One take. Any mess up and the whole thing had to be reshot. That's something that very few films have ever done (Alfred Hitchcock's Rope being one of the first).

Quite a risk.

TODD’S WORD:
With no reward.

JONATHAN’S WORD:
I agree. It fell short in almost every aspect.

TODD’S WORD:
Even the storyline lacked anything fresh. Television reporter Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman are assigned to spend the night shift with a Los Angeles fire station. After a routine 911 call takes them to a small apartment building, they find police officers already on the scene in response to blood curdling screams coming from one of the apartment units. They soon learn that a woman living in the building has been infected by something unknown. After a few of the residents are viciously attacked, they try to escape with the news crew in tow, only to find that the CDC has quarantined the building. Phones, cell phones, televisions and internet access have been cut-off, and officials are not relaying information to those locked inside. When the quarantine is finally lifted, apparently the only evidence of what took place is the news crew’s videotape.

JONATHAN’S WORD:
Yawn. The film makers only dreamed of it being 28 Days Later meets Blair Witch. Not even close.

Here's my synopsis of the film:
1. Irritating people get thrown in irritating situation.
2. Uh oh… a noise.
3. Camera shakes as something bad happens. Can't really see the details.
4. Oh no, what do we do?
5. Someone does something stupid.
6. The predictable happens. More camera shaking. We don't really see what happens again.
7. Repeat.

TODD’S WORD:
That was a much better synopsis than mine.

When the movie opened in the “its-been-done-before” documentary style I thought I would give it a chance since I loved Cloverfield. The first scene was of Carpenter (some audiences will remember her from Showtime's hit series “Dexter” as well as from the movie “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”). My initial thoughts were, “Oh no, she's always so annoying.”

JONATHAN’S WORD:
Really? I like her. She was great in Emily Rose.

TODD’S WORD:
Well, I was willing to give her another shot thinking, maybe that was just the character she was playing… Nope, she was still plain annoying! In fact by the time they left the firehouse and arrived at the apartment building, I was actually hoping she would die first. SPOILER WARNING: She doesn’t; disappointedly she dies last! And it happens to be the final scene of the film, which is in the trailer and that image is the DVD cover box art. Which leads me to ask this question: Why do you have the final scene of a movie in the trailer?!?!

JONATHAN’S WORD:
I was thinking the exact same thing. The answer is probably because… it was their best shot of the film. But it was lame because they basically gave away the climax of the film. It would be like showing a preview for Citizen Cane and seeing a shot of the sled's name. Ridiculous!

TODD’S WORD:
Thanks for ruining Citizen Cane for me!

JONATHAN’S WORD:
Don't worry. You didn't miss anything. Citizen Cane sucks. I don't care what the AFI says. If you want to see a good Orson Welles film… rent A Touch of Evil. which just so happens to have a great example of a 5 minute “take” … the first shot of the movie. Amazing scene.

What were we talking about again?

TODD’S WORD:
How Quarantine fell short in its performances, especially Jennifer Carpenter. Unlike Cloverfield, the rest of the film's cast is not smart, funny, clever or even likeable. In Cloverfield there were some very funny one-liners and a few witty comments, but with Quarantine all we get is some very obnoxious screaming.

JONATHAN’S WORD:
I agree. Audiences need likable characters. These people were not only irritating… they were morons! “Oh look… an infected person. Let me turn my back and stand close to them, tilting my neck to the side, exposing my jugular. I hope they don't bite me!”

The film was really irritating to watch.

TODD’S WORD:
Then why didn't you give it the lowest rating?

JONATHAN’S WORD:
Good question. Two reasons. 1. As stupid as the film was, it was still really suspenseful. 2. I gotta give them “props” for doing the 5 to 6 minute takes. That's not easy. They even did some Hitchcockian cuts in between at times.

But don't get me wrong. The film still sucked.

TODD’S WORD:
As I have mentioned in other reviews, I usually find horror movies to be dumb, but Quarantine goes to a whole new level. My two favorite how-dumb-can-you-be scenes were when they handcuffed one zombie to the staircase that they still needed to use and when they locked another zombie in a room…with glass doors!! But the final straw was The Silence of the Lambs rip-off at the end.

JONATHAN’S WORD:
That's funny. I thought the exact same thing. Jamie Gumm was a whole lot scarier.

TODD’S WORD:
From beginning to end Quarantine is poorly directed, poorly acted, poorly written and poorly shot. Don’t bother with this one; it’s a Coaster.

JONATHAN’S WORD:
I'm with you. Skip it!

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
Nope. It’s not the scariest or bloodiest horror movie, but it has some pretty disturbing images. Although they stay away from sex/nudity, there are a few crude comments made at the fire house. So I’m agreeing with the R-rating; I’m saying no to this one.

Side Note:
As said above, we don’t recommend your kids see this film. But on the occasion that they actually have already seen it, you may want to dialogue about the film with them. These questions below may be a help to you.

Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):

1. What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
2. How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
3. How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?