After seeing [Rec], I noticed a rather disturbing trend with mockumentary horror films. To date, I’ve seen The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, The Last Exorcism and — if you’d care to count it as “horror” — Cloverfield. These films are different in many ways, and yet they all have one thing in common: None of them end well. It seems to me like there’s room in the cinematic world for a “found footage” movie circulated by a character who lived to tell his story and send a warning to anyone willing to see the film, but no such movie has yet been made, as far as I know. I’ll grant that bleak outcomes are quite common in horror films, but I find it fascinating that we have an entire subgenre completely devoid of happy endings.

This film’s unfortunate party is a very cute reporter named Angela Vidal and her cameraman, Pablo. When we first meet them, they’re shooting a news segment on local firefighters, interviewing them and learning about their life on the job. It’s not remotely frightening — as you can probably imagine — but this is good character development and it only takes up ten minutes of screen time. After that, we’re at the accursed apartment building where shit gets real.

Not long after our reporters arrive with local law enforcement, they’re trapped with the apartment’s residents and an unknown yet very real problem as the building is put under quarantine by the Spanish government (did I mention that this is a foreign film?). As the movie progresses, our characters succumb to paranoia, hysteria, anarchy and violent infighting. I found it to be very much like The Mist, except that instead of locking out an unknown threat and preserving their shelter, they’re locked in with the threat and trying to escape.

A vital part of this film is that the government offers no reason for the quarantine. They only command to stay under lockdown, keep calm and to follow the commands of the police officer inside. Problem is, the officer himself has no idea what to do and is struggling to stay calm just as the rest of them are. Also, he’s the only person with a gun.

We frequently see the characters’ frustrations at being held without cause. One character promises to sue the government when it’s all over, and the idea of a lawsuit may well be the only thing keeping her going. Then we have our heroine and her cameraman, who insist on recording anything and everything as proof to the world of what’s happening. The film has a topical anti-government edge to it, so I can understand why American studios were tempted to remake it. Too bad the remake wasn’t nearly as good.

The threat itself is wonderfully scary, especially since we know so little about how it works or how quickly this disease can turn its victims. Anyone in the film could go from perfectly sane to a bloodthirsty maniac in a split-second at any time (“sleeper zombies,” if you will), which is used to terrifying effect. It also helps that the apartment building itself is quite run-down and claustrophobic, which does wonders for the atmosphere.

Then there’s the camera. The shaky-cam does get a touch annoying on occasion, but never for more than a few seconds at a time. The film also makes solid use of such gimmicks as microphone malfunctions, night vision and a mini-spotlight. There are several times when the camera has to be turned off for some reason or other, which raises tension as we’re left to wonder what we’re not seeing. Even the act of putting the camera down can result in some great scenes, such as when Pablo runs to help strangle a zombie.

Unfortunately, I should mention that this film does have its share of shrill and one-dimensional characters. We’ve got a senile old couple who never, ever stop bickering, for example, though my personal favorite is the preening, racist douchebag who might as well have “BAIT” tattooed below his receding hairline. The characters all have their annoying moments — some more so than others — but given the extreme circumstances they’re under, I can forgive that just a little. As for our protagonist, I found it interesting that we only ever see a facade of Angela. There are hints of the woman beneath the reporter, but she seems to smother it and keep to her job, just to stay sane. Eighty percent of the time, she’s just a pretty face in front of the camera. The rest of the time, she’s making sure that they have as much usable footage as possible. It isn’t until the last few scenes of the movie when she totally breaks down and goes into full panic for her life.

Oh, those last few scenes. There are so many tantalizing questions and hints to be found in that abandoned room. Is this threat a disease, a religious curse or both? Is there really some millionaire behind it all, or did the apartment super put that up there and make up some excuse? How long has that monster been up there, how has she lived that long and how did she manage to spread the disease? So many fascinating questions. I understand that the sequel answers a few of them, but I can’t find a Region 1 DVD of [Rec]2, so the answers will just have to wait.

When all is said and done, [Rec] is definitely my favorite mockumentary horror film so far. The social commentary is subtle, yet omnipresent. The scares are low-budget, but well-presented and nicely paced. This is a very frightening movie, well worth checking out.