REC

The Spanish horror film REC is indeed a great example of that rare horror film that sweeps the audience up in adrenaline, the thrill and the chills bordering those of action flicks. Perhaps it is indeed this strong element of kinesis that makes REC a great movie, an urgency brought about by the constant movement with barely moments to stop and ponder until the next big one hits. If films were park rides, then REC would be the perfect roller coaster, dipping and turning you over 360 with only a few seconds to resettle your guts back into place before getting driven into another loop.


Beyond the great ride and experience, what is most attractive in REC is what lies at its core--a reflection of a society at a crossroads of choosing between making sense of traditional faith in terms of modern science and navigating modern dilemmas (brought on by science and technology) guided by faith. It is this core that is most interesting, this ambivalence that pervades the narrative that is neither one that sees faith in the eye nor science in its pure cold objectivity and is present in modern-day Spain. Filipino viewers can identify with this issue, not because we put ourselves to the standard of modern Spanish living--a level of modernity the Philippines has yet to arrive at--but we share (indeed we owe it to them) the same deep entrenchment of faith in every aspect of society. Thinking back, it is precisely this ambivalence, this perceived hesitation in choosing which road to take that both drew me in while watching the film and later made me feel quite distant, in that I dislike this move that plays too safely. I thought it was a cheap trick to try to explain away the phenomenon of demon possession as a strain of mutation in the human DNA that could be isolated and cured by modern science, one that does not stand up to logic as previous exorcisms have involved the non-possessed being bitten (or some other way by which body liquids could be transmitted to another) and yet without the news of contamination or the "virus" of possession spreading. This gap in logic, which can never be determined as intended or unintended by the filmmakers unless we get a statement from them, leaves room for the ponderer who watches the film and thinks over the points raised after to consider the 'falseness' or 'wrong' of the first explanation provided--that the spreading virus is one that concerns demon possession. Since previous established exorcisms did not yield a possession that was infectional, then the virus in the film could possibly be wrongly identified as that strain that causes the phenomenon of demon possession, or rather, the effects of demon possession as experienced and manifested by an individual. (Of course, this ambivalence would be answered in the sequel REC2 when they do establish that indeed the virus spreading in the building and its inhabitants is one that is concerned with demonic possession.)

This nuanced consideration though should definitely not take away from the fun that is viewing REC!