quarantineTelevision reporter Angela Vidal and her cameraman Scott Percival are assigned to cover a night in the life of the L.A. Fire Department.  They are set to shadow two firemen, Jake and Fletcher.  They tour the firehouse, they see how the men and women live, they see the showers, the racquetball court, the sleeping quarters.  They slide down the pole, they play basketball, the make wagers on who can get into the gear fast enough, Fletcher or Angela.  It’s another routine night, even when they get a routine 911 call to an old apartment building.

When they arrive on-site, two policemen are waiting.  An old woman, Mrs. Espinoza, has been heard screaming.  They break down the door to find the kindly old lady agitated, bloodied, and foaming at the mouth.  Despite all the attempts of the rescue workers, nothing calms her.  Then she bites one the police officers.

Before anything else can be done, the CDC arrives, quarantines the whole damn place, and won’t let anybody out.  Snipers are posted on the buildings across the street, and armed guards stand watch outside.  Steel shutters are put in place and the building is sealed up tightly.  It’s safe to say everything that happens next is a downward spiral.


When Quarantine first came out, I had no real interest in seeing it, even though I am a Jennifer Carpenter fan.  It looked kind of stupid.  I want to give a shout out to my cousin, the Big D, for telling me to just watch this film.  Quarantine is one of the best horror movies I’ve seen all year.

This movie slowly escalates.  And by the final scenes, it is truly intense.  One of the problems I had with Romero’s Diary of the Dead, and other POV films, is that the cameraman is happy to sit back and scream and not get involved.  That doesn’t happen here.  Scott is ready, willing, and able, to kick ass.

The movie does feel like a documentary at times, and the tension is palpable.  Quarantine is far from ordinary.  The actors bump into the camera, people fall apart, people feel real.  And the ending is killer.  This is a great movie.

5 out of 5
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