Insultingly... hilarious? You knew that when Cloverfield went multi-platinum, there would be a gazillion basement-dweller scripts being shoved into production in hopes of becoming the chosen successor. For Quarantine, we can safely say they have not succeeded. Truly terrible. Intrepid reporter chick (hot) and her camerman (...less hot) decide to follow a team of firefighters around for the night (do people really do this?) and it just so happens to be the night where the fire department gets eaten alive by rabid mutant humans or something. Common scenario.
Lots and lots and lots of screaming, and darkness, and half-darkness. Flickering lights, creepy African people, a baby with bronchitis-- err, rabies. One criticism often launched against hand-held movies is that there's little reason for the person filming to keep filming. Especially when you are trapped in a dark apartment and people are being knocked off three at a time by infected (and albino) humans. (Let's see -- should I a) avoid getting killed, b) help my friend avoid getting killed, or c) set up this awesome tracking shot?) The creators of Quarantine address this "problem" using one of the stupidest techniques I've ever seen. The reporter (chick in poster) demands repeatedly that her camerman keep filming this at all costs. The public needs to see this, she shrieks. When a fireman tells her to turn it off, she freaks out and starts yammering about the freedom of the press. Even after it becomes blindingly obvious that they are going to die (indeed, the chick rhetorically asks "they're not going to let us out of here alive, are they?") the cameraman keeps running around the house, in the dark, up and down the stairs, FILMING EVERYTHING. "Quick, help!" "Nah sorry babe, this angle is too perfect."
The handheld camera-supernatural-thriller has swandived over a fucking great white. Please, no more.
On a side note, providing Quarantine did some factchecking, it did provide a nice educational nugget: I didn't know that rabies is 100% fatal once the symptoms begin to show.
