Quarantine poster & wallpaper

Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris, Columbus Short

Television reporter Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman (Steve Harris) are assigned to spend the night shift with a Los Angeles Fire Station. After a routine 911 call takes them to a s...( read more  read more... )mall 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, Internet, televisions and cell phone access have been cut-off, and officials are not relaying information to those locked inside. When the quarantine is finally lifted, the only evidence of what took place is the news crew's videotape.

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R, 1 hr. 29 min.

Directed by: John Erick Dowdle

Release Date: October 10, 2008

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DVD Release Date: February 17, 2009

Stats: 12,943 reviews

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Quarantine (2008) Jennifer Carpenter as Angela Vidal & Joey King as Briana in Quarantine (2008) Columbus Short as Danny Wilensky in Quarantine (2008) Columbus Short as Danny Wilensky and Jay Hernandez as Jake in Quarantine (2008) Jay Hernandez as Jake in Quarantine (2008) A Scene from Quarantine (2008) quarantine Jennifer Carpenter as Angela Vidal in Quarantine (2008) Greg Germann as Lawrence in Quarantine (2008) Dania Ramirez as Sadie & Jennifer Carpenter as Angela Vidal in Quarantine (2008) Quarantine (2008) Quarantine (2008) Elaine Kagan as Wanda Marimon and Jay Hernandez as Jake in Quarantine (2008) Columbus Short as Danny Wilensky and Jennifer Carpenter as Angela Vidal in Quarantine (2008) Elaine Kagan as Wanda Marimon, Jay Hernandez as Jake, Rade Serbedzija as Yuri Ivanov, Columbus Short as Danny Wilensky & Jennifer Carpenter as Angela Vidal in Quarantine (2008) Jennifer Carpenter as Angela Vidal in Quarantine (2008) Elaine Kagan as Wanda Marimon, Rade Serbedzija as Yuri Ivanov and Craig Susser as Hazmat Doctor in Quarantine (2008) Jennifer Carpenter as Angela Vidal & Jay Hernandez as Jake in Quarantine (2008)
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Flixster Reviews (12,943)

  • stopitgoaway
    October 26, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    Angela Vidal and her cameraman are making a documentary about the fire brigade. Joining up with a couple of them, called out to an apartment building, they soon discover something horrific is going on....

    Quarantine is a an American remake of Rec. This means it has two major pro...( read more)blems to overcome. First, Rec was to me the scariest movie I've seen in a cinema for almost 18 years (the last, was The Exorcist III)! The second, is that it IS an American horror movie remake. Now, the track record for this has been awful. Consider the evidence - The Ring, The Grudge, One Missed Call, The Wicker Man to name some. Hell, they can't even remake American movies! The Hitcher, When A Stranger Calls (I still shudder about that one!), Prom Night, Halloween. So this movie starts with two major points against it.

    However, despite a couple of minor issues, and one major one, it's not that bad.

    The reason it works, is that the director John Erick Dowdle has taken the scares from the original and simply re-done them. In fact the movie is almost a shot for shot remake of Rec! The fact that despite having seen Rec, the scares still work is a testament to not only how scary the original was, but also how well they've been re-done.

    As I said, there are a couple of minor faults. Some of the make-up effects, don't quite work. The other minor fault is that the cast, while good aren't as convincing as the original cast were. Case in point, Jennifer Carpenter as Angela. At the start she's fine, but by the end she's a bit over the top in hysterical and terrified mode compared to Manuela Velasco.

    But the major fault, and this one is harder to overlook is that they've changed what is actually going on. In this movie, it's suggested that it's a strand of rabies that has caused the outbreak. In the original, it's never really revealed what is causing it, although events towards the end suggest a possible supernatural cause. But because they've changed it here, it means the final scenes don't work as well, and don't really fit. And the final shot, which was revealed in the trailer by the way, again doesn't work in the remake.

    The movie is slightly longer than the original, spending more time with the fireman at the station before the events begin, and has a little more emphasis on what is going on outside also, but these little changes don't affect the movie that much.

    How you view this movie will depend on the original, Rec. If you've not seen the original then it is a pretty effective scary movie, especially the last 15 minutes. However if you've seen Rec, then this movie offers nothing new, and isn't as good overall.
  • Goldfish81
    September 10, 2009
    Goldfish81
    Scared the pee out of me! :) Jennifer Carpenter was amazing!
  • jmanard52
    September 6, 2009
    jmanard52
    Predictable but not bad. I really dont have much more to add.
  • creepfreak
    May 3, 2009
    creepfreak
    It's official. I think John Erick Dowdle is a horrible director. First the shitty Poughkeepsie Tapes, now this. Quarantine was just as embarrassing, for slightly different reasons, but it's still a joke(and killer rats are hilarious.). Did he even pay attention to the movie [REC]...( read more), or did he just listen to it in the background, drunk and half asleep on the couch, covered in cheese doodles? This guy doesn't understand the key qualities to a good movie. He just understands poo poo, and how to light a match.

    [REC] was horrifying, and perfectly filmed...Quarantine just sucks, and smells bad.

    Stick with [REC]. Scary sh*t! And look out for [REC] 2, coming soon, filmed by the same two directors. Should be interesting.

    Anyway Quarantine was not scary. It made me chuckle and then I went beddy-bye. I had a nightmare that John Erick Dowdle remade The Exorcist, and asked Justin Timberlake to play Regan. Creepy stuff.
  • PvtCaboose91
    April 30, 2009
    PvtCaboose91
    "I don't care what they say! We have to tape everything!"


    Just when you thought it was safe to declare low-budget Spanish film [Rec] the greatest horror flick in years, the inevitable Hollywood remake has already hit cinemas barely a year later. Unsurprisingly

    ...( read more), Quarantine is an extraordinarily faithful remake of [Rec] - right down to every major narrative beat and scary moment, not to mention the very layout of the multi-storied building has been almost precisely replicated. There's little uncertainty as to why Quarantine was in the can so quickly. Aside from a handful of tweaks hither and thither (as well as the obvious language modification from Spanish to English), it's a brazen facsimile of [Rec] - its faithfulness reminiscent of Gus Van Sant's Psycho remake. John Erick Dowdle isn't so much a director, but a copycat handling someone else's homework. Oh boy, it shows.


    Sony's Screen Gems had this remake officially commissioned before principal photography for [Rec] had even been completed. The company clearly perceived the Spanish horror film as the next landmark of the horror genre, taking a genre staple (a zombie plague) and allowing movie-goers to witness it through the immediacy of a handheld camera. [Rec]'s release in America was delayed until well after Quarantine, evidently in an endeavour for Screen Gems to develop a ruse that their film is 100% original. US audiences may have been none the wiser, but for anybody who's caught the original, Quarantine is guaranteed to trigger recurrent uncontrollable bouts of déjà vu.


    The fundamental story of [Rec] remains unmodified for its remake: shooting a night-shift reality program, presenter Angela (Carpenter) and cameraman Scott (Harris) are shadowing a crew of Los Angeles firemen throughout an ostensibly dreary evening. Following a few uneventful hours, the firemen respond to a routine 911 call which takes them to a small apartment building. The tenants had called 911 in response to blood-curdling screams coming from an apartment. However they soon learn the inhabitant of said apartment has been infected with something unknown. Following a vicious attack, the authorities swiftly quarantine the entire building - cutting off all entrances, exits and windows. Phones, internet, television and cell phones have also been cut-off. Meanwhile, the heroes are hopelessly trapped inside the building as the unknown virus spreads...converting hosts into bloodthirsty, rabid mutants. As the residents fight to survive and struggle to find a way out of the quarantined building, Scott documents the horrifying experience on camera.


    Having viewed [Rec] multiple times, it was possible to recognise scenarios and plot points which have been precisely duplicated in Quarantine. It's a blatant remake severely undermined by unoriginality and its unmistakable Hollywoodness. The noble and dignified firemen have become horny, cheeky and self-centred (this is even acknowledged!). On the other hand, Angela openly flirts with the firemen. The character of Angela has been transformed into a stupid, clichéd American horror movie bimbo. [Rec] featured a strong protagonist concerned with getting a good story. In Quarantine, Angela is tragically Americanised.

    In addition, gore levels are higher and characters frequently do stupid things. For example, Scott the cameraman keeps filming and uses the camera to view everything. He even kills an infected person; smashing the lens of the camera into its face! No cameraman would ever do this, and no camera would ever survive the treatment. Another touch of Hollywood: a character tries desperately to escape, and is gunned down as a result. Oh, and Scott the cameraman is an African American. Adhering to the clichés, he's muscle-bound and he kicks butt.


    If it ain't broken, don't fix it - this motto should become a law in Hollywood. [Rec] is an original, chilling horror film that succeeds admirably in its execution. Its atmosphere of anxiety is able to keep any viewer riveted throughout the taut running time. [Rec] is also the best entry to the horror genre for a very long time. Remaking it in Hollywood with a bigger budget under the tight studio system is the equivalent of a Hollywood remake of The Blair Witch Project. There's absolutely nothing wrong with [Rec], and a remake shouldn't have been green-lit...let alone within a year of its theatrical debut. Quarantine is unnecessarily longer with extended character development (notably at the beginning of the film) and added Hollywood moments. Scares are far more predictable, and plot developments are too mechanical. The scenarios lifted from [Rec] appear awkward when inserted into this film. From time to time the film also seems lost. It needed brisk pacing and a tighter runtime. Quarantine is instead cumbersome and lumpy - it's cold, lifeless, stiff and sometimes downright excruciating. It has been filmed on studio sets rather than a real apartment block, therefore feeling false and flat. To save time and funds, the Americans should've just produced an English dub of [Rec]...or just not touched the Spanish gem at all!


    The central technique of the "found footage" genre (initially made popular after the success of The Blair Witch Project) is to employ handheld camera and give the cameraman a personality - the audience will therefore feel like a participant in the horrifying events. In Hollywood, the genre is rarely done well. The approach has been done to death...the novelty has worn off, and it simply feels gimmicky. It ruins interesting character development (the only time allotted to becoming familiar with the characters grows very boring very quickly) and jettisons the hope of any emotional investment with the characters. Add to this a range of awful performances. They never play the realism card...they play the Hollywood movie card, contradicting the filming technique. While filming [Rec], directorial duo Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza kept a few scares a secret in order for actors to look genuinely terrified. [Rec] felt real. Quarantine does not.


    During the action sequences, the shaky cam is too distracting, nauseating and baffling. In Blair Witch and [Rec] the images are still manageable. In this film, however, it's hard to make out what's going on - you just know it's nasty. For these aforesaid action sequences (and at other portions of the movie) there are also distracting jump cuts and unbelievably erratic movements. It's a total mess and Dowdle's directing is appalling! Adding insult to injury, the cameraman never baulks at capturing the gory stuff. On that matter, the gore exudes exploitation. [Rec] was never about exploiting gore, neither was Blair Witch. The "less is more" technique works...this is just ridiculous. Scott the cameraman purposely turns the camera to look at a corpse or a puddle of blood, etc. Understandable if the cameraman turned his head to look, but why turn the whole camera?


    Nits are easier to pick in Quarantine, especially with the glaring lack of originality. In spite of all these drawbacks, there are positives. Every so often the film is gripping and nail-biting, as well as somewhat fun and entertaining. The make-up effects are particularly effective as well. The exaggerated gore does scream Hollywood, but it's fun to watch. The greatest strength, though, is the amazing sound design. The constant sirens and helicopters build a palpable panic. There's never any music or a score, which increases the feeling of apprehension. The atmosphere of trepidation is commendably elevated with the use of sounds instead of a score. Okay, so a few scenes manage to make me jump. Not many, though.


    Admittedly, the original [Rec] is hardly original; it's a Romero-style zombie outbreak fused with 28 Days Later... in the style of Blair Witch. The concept catches fire as a result of the raw pseudo-documentary style that keeps the zombie nonsense feasible. The excellent rawness has been lost in translation: the film stock is too crisp, the explicit gore too cinematic, and the performances are never quite real enough. Jennifer Carpenter continually feels like an actress playing a reporter. Any edginess has been painted over with a dense layer of Hollywood polish. It's too Hollywood from the word 'go', which begs the question: doesn't a glossy remake of a reality horror defeat the point? But hey - there are far worse films out there (like the 2008 cinematic turds known as Meet the Spartans and Disaster Movie), and after suffering a scare-free succession of studio horror offerings a genre fan may be pleased. There are some fun jolts to be had during the film's 90-minute duration - even if they are second-hand. Nevertheless, view [Rec] instead.
  • superclerk25
    November 19, 2009
    superclerk25
    While I prefer the original (Rec) this one was good as well. The movie is beat by beat similar to the original but with the addition of a few more characters to add to the body count and a slight change in the source of the virus that both works and doesn't at the same time. I ...( read more)liked the take of the original a little better than the way they went with this one but it doesn't take away from the movie.
    The scares are all there and all the same but with a couple more thrown in for good measure.
    This is so close to the original movie I find it even more silly that we needed to remake the movie in the first place. Folks need to stop being scared of reading subtitles and see the original movies.
  • knowlesey
    November 17, 2009
    knowlesey
    Brilliant! Easily the most realistic Horror film I've watched and this kept you on the edge of your seat right from where the action starts. It's slow to begin with but it wouldn't have been effective if everything started happening straight away. Brilliant acting, storyline, cha...( read more)racters and the infected residents are absolutley terrifying! I totally loved it and would reccomend any Horror fan that isn't afraid of a good scare to check it out!
  • casanova406782
    November 16, 2009
    casanova406782
    I like it, but I want to see the Spanish version original one called [REC]
  • GreenGoblin92
    November 16, 2009
    GreenGoblin92
    I don't really like horrors these days, so I've stopped watching for some time. So I read the reviews, and the critics were like, "it's tense" and stuff. Really? This film was disturbing, unexciting and even not scary. I actually expected this to be a horror-thriller (even the tr...( read more)ailer made it look like that), but the only thing it gave us was gore, screaming, biting and other crap.

    This film had no suspense, and the only suspense was at the end when they are trying to run away from the zombies (whatever they are).

    I think the zombie genre should die out. God, their films are so predictable, annoying and bland.
  • 83Kkay83
    November 14, 2009
    83Kkay83
    Not to bad of a movie. I really don't like the camera moving around a whole lot, but it added a lot of suspense to the movie

View All Quarantine Reviews

Critic Reviews

February 24, 2009
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

Not as frightening as it should be, but still better than the average Hollywood scare-a-thon. full review

October 29, 2008
Scott Mendelson, Film Threat Hollywood's Indie Voice

Quarantine is worth seeing for its solid first two acts, some terrific acting by some favorite character actors, and a several solid spook-show scares. full review

October 13, 2008
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

Give Quarantine credit: Without resorting to computer-generated monsters or supernatural explanations, it uses consistent logic and confinement to find new ways of being scary. full review

View more Quarantine reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • stoplookink2468
    April 7, 2009
    stoplookink2468
    yeah this movie sucked it might have been better if it was a movie and we did not see it as it being on a hand held camera the entire time and i would like to know who johnathan s. was in this movie
  • rosao42
    March 30, 2009
    rosao42
    ya its a good suspense haha...
  • Muktidaya
    February 22, 2009
    Muktidaya
    hahaha good film..
  • himanshu9632
    November 6, 2008
    himanshu9632
    Quarantine, yet another pseudo-documentary horror movie, In some ways 'Quarantine' is better than 'Rec,' not only xeroxing all its shocks but managing to add more. For more review & and wallpaper click the link:- http://movies.iexplorehere.com/review/780/Quarantine.html
  • suprabuddha
    October 30, 2008
    suprabuddha
    This is one of the few horror movies I've seen over the last five years that have actually SCARED me!!! Shooting from the point of view angle places the movie-goer at ground level and in the middle of the gorefest. The director John Erick Dowdle suceeds where the much vaunted George Romero failed. Its' clear to me at least that this movie is an instant CLASSIC.
  • ElDorito11
    October 9, 2008
    ElDorito11
    this....sounds...AWESOME!!!!!! i really wanna see it!!!!
  • rhill32
    September 22, 2008
    rhill32
    LIVE HORROR-THEMED CHARITY AUCTION TO BE HELD BY PREMIERE PROPS ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 11, 2008
    IN EL SEGUNDO, CA

    Rare items from Cloverfield, The Cave, The Eye, Quarantine, Grind House, Wrong Turn, Captivity, The Simpsons Halloween Special XII, Lakeview Terrace, Resident Evil: Extinction, Hell Ride, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Jurassic Park, Underworld Evolution, Sleepy Hollow, Aeon Flux, Halloween and The Mummy Returns will be up for bid

    Proceeds will Benefit the Entertainment Industry Foundation

    EL SEGUNDO-Premiere Props announced today that the auction of never before seen horror-themed movie props, including super hero costumes from classical horror movies will be up for bid with proceeds to benefit the Entertainment Industry Foundation. Presented by Fangoria, the live auction will take place on Saturday, October 11, 2008 at Premiere Props’ warehouse in El Segundo, California (128 Sierra Street, El Segundo, CA 90245). There will be a preview from 9am – 11am, and the auction will begin at 11am.

    Film fans and collectors will have an opportunity to own rare costumes and props from fan favorites including The Cave, Rob Zombie’s Halloween, Quarantine, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Lakeview Terrace, Grindhouse, Sleepy Hollow, Hell Ride, Aeon Flux, The Eye, Wrong Turn, Cloverfield, Captivity, The Mummy Returns, One Missed Call, Ancient, Red Dragon, The Simpsons Halloween Special XII, Resident Evil: Extinction, Underworld Evolution, and many, many more!

    Several hundred items from horror classics will be auctioned off with a set portion of the proceeds benefiting the Entertainment Industry Foundation. The charity auction will feature movie collectibles and props including:
    • Aeon Flux- An action Monican assault rifle prop used by a hit team member in the film.
    • Captivity- Jen's (Elisha Cuthbert) hero brown fuzzy w/ sheer white/brown bow teddy bear.
    • Captivity- Jen's (Elisha Cuthbert) hero silver blender used to feed pureed fl
  • chrismid259
    April 18, 2008
    chrismid259
    Why does there appear to be two pages for this movie.

    http://www.flixster.com/movie/quarantined
    and
    http://www.flixster.com/movie/quarantine-2008
  • Kakaroto24
    April 11, 2008
    Kakaroto24
    since i haven't seen the original movie, i want to see this one. looks pretty good.
  • chrismid259
    March 29, 2008
    chrismid259
    Before questions are asked. Yes, this is a remake. [REC] is the original.
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