Quarantine

Ahhhhh! I had my toes curled the entire time this movie was on. I actually had to pause it to walk about the house to relax. I can’t say this was a great movie, but it did what it set out to do. It created the feeling of being trapped with the characters in a quarantined building where a virus is spreading that acts like rabies but affects the host in minutes not months. If zombies were to exist, this would be how it happens.

The movie cuts right to it, forgoing credits and a fun introductory musical number and focuses on Angela, a reporter for some random LA television show which takes a look at “The Night Shift”. That evening, she and her camera man who will rarely be seen and I believe supposed to basically represent us since we see the action from his lens are spending the evening with the fire department. A few flubbed introduction takes and Angela goes in to the station and is introduced to the two men she will be shadowing, Fletcher and Jakes. For the first few hours they take a tour, poke at things, play hoops and partake in some flirty banter when the alarm goes off and we rush to the truck.

When they arrive at the apartment building, several cops are there already and it is explained that the call came in for a medical emergency. The landlord called in due to the fact that some old bitch in the building had been screaming her ass off all night but is now silent. The shit hits the fan when the door is unlocked and the firemen and officers enter the room and standing there is a salivating and growling granny who goes right for the officers neck and gives it a bit of a chew. Shortly after, Fletcher is attacked and thrown from the balcony. Taking the injured men who unbeknownst to the occupant are seriously fucked and will not be recovering, into the back of the building. Just like an LA apartment to house a textile sweat shop.

When they try to get help, the doors and windows become sealed and a wide range of guys in black with heavy artillery show up at every possible point of escape and communication has been cut making everyone’s expensive cell phone nothing more than something to throw at someone’s head. Luckily one tenant is a veterinarian and luckily the symptoms are similar to rabies, but the bad news is, rabies cannot be cured once symptoms start to show themselves which appears to be within moments of obtaining a bite from someone infected.

When the CDC arrive to collect brain and blood samples, a victim of the virus attacks and quickly they lose control of the situation and it becomes a white knuckled fight for survival in this small apartment building.

It was a tense movie that left me a little flustered. Beware if you are susceptible to motion sickness as this is filmed in the style of a hand held camera a la Blair Witch Project. Also beware if you do not like that girl from Dexter because she is all over this movie.