DVD Pick: [●REC]

The 2007 Spanish horror flick [●REC] from directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza far exceeds anything that has been produced stateside in the past two years (including the tepid English language remake, Quarantine). Manuela Velasco stars as a bored reporter from a cheap TV show who is trailing the crew at a local firehouse and accidentally ends up in a mysterious apartment building infected with a deadly virus. The film features faux documentary style photography, something like the breakout Blair Witch Project, but with much better results. The talented directors know how to utilize their camera and create subtle, rich, and deeply chilling images that truly could not be captured with the traditional 36mm stock that so many people begged for watching Cloverfield. It truly doesn't feel gimmicky here but artistically and skillfully used, with the space just beyond the frame serving as an eerie unknown for the viewer and the desperate cries to "look behind you" a first person participatory experience. True terror done right. Seriously, check this one out.