— For the past two weeks, I've been really excited about seeing Quarantine (IMDB link here).  I didn't know much about it when I decided I wanted to see it.  Actually, from the very first trailer I saw, I knew I had to watch it.  From the second trailer I saw, I knew I had to watch it opening day.

My girlfriend and I have a very agreeable taste in movies.  Horror is one of our favorite genre's.  Quarantine's opening day, Friday, was to be a date night for us, but we actually didn't end up getting to see it.  We're also (unfortunately) into this Mobsters game for MySpace and I was doing something on there when she ended up falling asleep.  Not to worry though!  We woke up bright and early Saturday morning, went to breakfast at Bob Evan's Country Restaurant, and did not miss the 10:35 AM matinee of Quarantine at AMC Theater's 30 at Easton Town Center.  :)  There were two Steelers fans working there, who commented on our matching Steelers attire, and we were pointed towards auditorium 17, where our movie-going horror began.  After our concession purchase, we sat in the front of the auditorium seating (so we could put our feet on the rails in front of those seats).  Only about 7 people were in the whole theater, other than us.  Who is up at the movies at 10:35 on a Saturday morning?  (Just a personal note -- I think I will be.  The matinee's, even at easton, are $5.00 a person.)

At first, we didn't know what to expect.  From the previews I remembered home-camera style filmography, but I didn't know if the entire movie was to be in that format or not.  After a minute or two into the movie, I realized, much to Christine's first horror, that it was.  We hated Cloverfield, so the expectation of the movie was not at all promising.

As the plot opened up, we found ourselves surprised.  The story was not hard to follow in this format.  The gaps in filming that normally cause us to become critical of the directing (distracting us from the movie, much like this parenthetical insertion is distracting you from the review) actually added to the suspense.  When a scene cut happened, you didn't know who died... what just happened... where the infected were lurking.  Everything changed.  And the unknown made us terrified.

We started the movie holding hands as a couple does...  45 minutes into the movie we were doing it just to reassure ourselves that the other was there (something that still would only be done by me with her -- I wouldn't be holding hands with a dude friend, or another girl for that matter, to make sure they were there... haha).  When a jump scene happened, the squeeze was intense... and the adrenaline was unreal. 

We walked out of the theater and Christine told me that this movie, in her opinion, is the new Dawn of the Dead.  Dawn of the Dead is a movie she hold in high esteem as scary.  "Back in the day," she told me, "Dawn of the Dead was THE movie.  It scared the **** out of me." 

I agreed with her point (though I disagreed about Dawn of the Dead -- but only because I hadn't seen it until this year).  All I could do was send this text message to my friends as I allowed my own adrenaline rush to subside:  "Quarantine is a great movie... for those interested in experiencing unreasonable and unending fear." 

I say to you today... as far as I know of a movie.... no movie, the first time you watch it, gives you more reason to jump or be frightened.  For me, the first showing of this movie, in a theater, defines terror.  And for that, I applaud the director and all involved in making the movie.  I'm going to buy it, not because I want to watch it again, but because I appreciate a movie, even if it is Blaire Witch meets Resident Evil, that can achieve something very few can do -- make me afraid when I set out to find fear (in a film).

Movie Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

Only for fans of Horror