DVD Pick of the Week: [REC]

Welcome back! Well, to some of you, anyway. To the rest of you, glad you decided to stop by and I hope this humble column helps you navigate the stacks of new releases each week. My goal is to point you toward titles of interest and warn you away from those films that seek to do nothing but leech away your time and give you nothing in return.

Full disclosure: I have not seen many of these titles, and what follows are not necessarily reviews, but opinions based upon what I know of the titles I pluck from the new release lists I peruse. The opinions I give based on the new releases are my own, and my recommendations are based on my personal interest. In any case, I hope you enjoy and perhaps find something you like or a title to point me towards.

Now, there are weak weeks and there are weak weeks and this, my friend,is a weak week. As I looked over this week's list, I was amazed at just how few titles of interest there were. Seriously, it is a dead zone this week. That means this is a good week to catch up on those titles you may have missed.

[REC]. Ever heard of this one? Well, this is the Spanish movie that Hollywood got wind of while it was still in production, bought the script and then proceeded to make sure it did not make it overseas until after their remake had its run. The remake was released last Fall and was called Quarantine. I have not seen the original, but from I understand, it is very nearly a shot for shot copy. The film is first person footage, not quite found footage (ala The Blair Witch Project), about a news crew tagging along with a fire company to a call at an apartment building. Inside the apartment is something strange, the tenants are turning into bloodthirsty zombie-like things. I loved Quarantine, I hope to enjoy this as much.

The Haunting in Connecticut. This is a movie I enjoyed on the screen and have come to have fonder memories in retrospect. It is one of the better ghost stories to reach the big screen in recent years. The movie s well acted and has an air of authenticity around it as we get deeper into the haunting. This is based on the true account of the Parker family who moved into a home in Connecticut in 1986 in order to be closer to the hospital where their son was receiving cancer treatment. Shortly after arriving, the boy started seeing apparitions in the house. That is when all hell seemed to break loose in this quiet Connecticut community. Interested in knowing more? This may be one you will want to check out.

OC Babes and the Slasher of Zombietown. How can you go wrong with a title like that? I have no idea what this movie is about and have no doubts that it is terrible, how can it not be? The description says that a group of OC stereotypes are trapped in a bar following a zombie outbreak, only to be trapped with a serial killer. Really? I may just have to see this. To top it off, the writer/director bears the name Creep Creepersin. Do you think that may be a pseudonym?

Fulci Frenzy (Perversion Story, The Psychic). Here is a two-pack of Fulci flicks, neither of which I have seen, so this may be a worthy pick-up to put alongside the likes of Zombi, The Beyond, and Cat in the Brain. Perversion Story centers on an insurance salesman who lands on death row for the murder of his wife, the problem is that she is still alive. The Psychic tells of a psychic woman who opens a wall in her husband's home, finds a skeleton, and proceeds to investigate who this person is. Sounds like a fun evening to me!