RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Quarantine
Quarantine

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Quarantine (2008)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
59 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:76

Fresh:45

Rotten:31

Average Rating:5.7/10

Consensus: Quarantine uses effective atmosphere and consistent scares to stand above the crop of recent horror films.

Australian Rating: MA15+ [See Full Rating] Strong horror violence

Runtime: 89 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Australian Theatrical Release:
Nov 27, 2008 Wide

US Box Office: $31,691,811

Synopsis: A faithful adaptation of the 2007 Spanish film REC, QUARANTINE chronicles the outbreak of a rabies-like disease in a Los Angeles apartment building and the struggle of the unaffected residents to... A faithful adaptation of the 2007 Spanish film REC, QUARANTINE chronicles the outbreak of a rabies-like disease in a Los Angeles apartment building and the struggle of the unaffected residents to stay alive after the authorities trap them inside in an effort to contain it. Equal parts BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and 28 DAYS LATER, the film is presented through the eye of a video camera, putting the audience in the middle of the action and creating a heightened level of intensity and realism. Television reporter Angela (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman, Scott (Steve Harris), are covering the goings-on at a firehouse for a program about night shift workers. As she clowns around with two flirty firemen (Jonathan Schaech and Jay Hernandez), an alarm sounds, and a truck is dispatched--with Angela and Scott on board---to an apartment building where an old woman has seemingly lost her mind. The woman bites one of the firemen and is soon killed, but when more tenants turn up with the same disorder, it's clear that a chain reaction is occurring. Unfortunately for Angela and the rest of the uninfected residents, the authorities have quarantined the building---but she and Scott continue to document the tragic and terrifying events inside the building as those inside are one by one transformed into bloodthirsty monsters. Director John Eric Dowdle, whose film THE POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES also used a pseudo-documentary approach in detailing the crimes of a serial killer, creates a sustained level of chaos and fear that will have all but the most seasoned horror fan cowering in the corner. Though the shaky camerawork may be difficult to take for those prone to motion sickness, it--along with a complete absence of music--gives the film a startling realism and immediacy to accompany its stomach-churning descent into full-on hopelessness and dread. [More]

Starring: Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez, Columbus Short, Greg Germann

Starring: Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez, Columbus Short, Greg Germann, Steve Harris, Dania Ramirez, Rade Sherbedgia, Johnathon Schaech

Director: John Erick Dowdle

Director: John Erick Dowdle
Screenwriter: John Erick Dowdle, Drew Dowdle
Producer: Doug Davison, Roy Lee, Sergio Aguero
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Red Band Trailer
    >
    A Way Out
    >
    It's Locked
    >
    It's Mrs. Espinosa
    >
1 - 4 of 4

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for Quarantine

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The camera bounces along, its path blocked frequently by the back of some fleeing figure, so that you're never quite sure where you are, where you're going or what you're looking at...

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment 6 Comments
12/01/08
Sandra Hall
Sandra Hall
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's one of those rare movies where you can't quite ascertain as to whether the filmmakers are trying to create scares or laughs.

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
12/01/08
Andrew J. McGlinn
Andrew J. McGlinn
FILMINK (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Delivers a pleasingly high quota of decent jolts as the body count mounts and the TV airhead becomes increasingly hysterical.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
12/01/08
Jim Schembri
Jim Schembri
The Age (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Spanish film worked better than John Erick Dowdle's remake, which is, if possible, even more chaotically filmed to the point that you often haven't got the slightest idea what's happening -- you just know that it's nasty.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment 1 Comment
12/01/08
David Stratton
David Stratton
At the Movies (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Jennifer Carpenter is terrific as the news reporter who gets swallowed up in her own story, and leads an excellent cast, all of whom bring a veracity to this remake in the hands of the talented Dowdle brothers

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
11/20/08
Andrew L. Urban
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Despite the Cronenbergian themes, the film is relentless and singleminded: It just wants to scare you, and it succeeds.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment 2 Comments
10/24/08
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Quarantine fails to correct some of the problems evident in its predecessor while also incorporating a few defects of its own.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment 1 Comment
10/10/08
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

When the month's horror options boil down to a modestly clever exercise like this or yet another Saw sequel, you know you could do worse.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
10/13/08
Geoff Berkshire
Geoff Berkshire
Metromix.com

Develops into a legitimately unnerving experience.

Full Review Source: Paste Magazine | comment Comment
04/07/09
Jeffrey Bloomer
Jeffrey Bloomer
Paste Magazine

Quarantine isn't an awful film--just an unnecessary one. It may well be the most pointless remake since Gus Van Sant's Psycho

Full Review Source: Mike Bracken's Horror Films | comment 1 Comment
10/10/08
Mike Bracken
Mike Bracken
Mike Bracken's Horror Films

Despite Quarantine's theft from nearly every film in the subgenre, there are parts of the film that just plain work, no matter how much it doesn't seem like they should.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
10/14/08
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

Good news for those who missed the Spanish zombie horror [REC] when it opened here a few months back. Here comes the inevitable fast-tracked Hollywood remake, which covers the same ground without the burden of all those subtitled hysterics.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
11/21/08
Xan Brooks
Xan Brooks
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

'Quarantine' is a solid horror movie and one of the better to be released this year. The last 15 minutes is hardcore suspense that redeem any cheap movie making flaws.

Full Review Source: BET.com | comment Comment
07/03/09
Clay Cane
Clay Cane
BET.com

Horror movie fans can enjoy the visceral experience. The core purpose %u2013 to make people jump out of their seats %u2013 is executed with intense precision.

Full Review Source: Film School Rejects | comment Comment
10/10/08
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
Film School Rejects

Quarantine, yet another pseudo-documentary horror movie, delivers the heebie-jeebies with solid acting and perfectly calibrated shocks.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment 1 Comment
10/13/08
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Quarantine is a lucrative steal by Dowdle. The Spanish original is arguably the best vérité fright movie since The Blair Witch Project. The American version is not quite in the same league.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
11/21/08
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Rather too hysterical to be coherent, but it's still jittery and thoroughly unnerving

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
10/15/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Quarantine director John Erick Dowdle and co-writing brother Drew wisely stick close to the told-from-the-cameraman's point-of-view template of the terrific original.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
10/10/08
Clark Collis
Clark Collis
Entertainment Weekly

Good Halloween-type fun for the fans of adult thrillers, 'Quarantine' is a cleverly done scare flickt aht will keep you wondering who's going to get it next.

Full Review Source: Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) | comment Comment
10/23/08
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

Too much information in the trailer spoiled some of the suspense of the film

Full Review Source: jackiekcooper.com | comment 8 Comments
10/14/08
Jackie K. Cooper
Jackie K. Cooper
jackiekcooper.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
all

Latest News for Quarantine

February 16, 2009: RT on DVD: High School Musical 3 or Midnight Meat Train?
It's a good week for mediocre films (Body of Lies, Changeling, Quarantine and Flash of Genius, which all walk a fine line between Fresh and Rotten) and an even better one if... More...

February 08, 2009: An eye-popping both metaphorical and literal genocidal rat race scare scenario made especially haunting when it kicks in, with its post-9/11 domestic terror lurking around every corner, hyper-paranoid sensibility. Opens in new window
More...

February 08, 2009: An eye-popping both metaphorical and literal genocidal rat race scare scenario made especially haunting when it kicks in, with its post-9/11 domestic terror lurking around every corner, hyper-paranoid sensibility. Opens in new window
More...

November 21, 2008: UK Critics Consensus: Does Ridley Scott’s Body Of Lies Ring True? Is Blindness Blinding Or Bland?
It's a varied pick of films in the UK cinemas this week; we have Sir Ridley Scott's latest collaboration with Russell Crowe, the CIA thriller, Body Of Lies. Julianne Moore and... More...

See All

More DVDs

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
68% 68% Funny People
25% 25% Four Christmases
45% 45% Shorts

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Ban Them All!

Ban Them All!

10 Most Controversial Movies

Zombieland

Zombieland

Director Ruben Fleischer's favourites

New Avatar action

New Avatar action

Watch an exclusive chase clip from the film

Kids' Book Films

Kids' Book Films

We fly through 10 of the best

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Zombieland 2 in 3D?
18
  • First Look (Sort Of) at New Nightmare's Freddy Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com
24
  • First Look at Shrek Forever After Source: USA Today
48
  • Woody Harrelson Will Battle Zombies in 3-D Source: Moviehole
26
  • Natalie Portman Says Kat Denning Is in Thor Source: MTV
34
  • Disney Restructuring Has Broad Implications Source: Los Angeles Times
10
  • Joel Silver Talks Ninja Assassin, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, and More Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
126
  • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
112
  • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
32
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
181
  • Total Recall: John Travolta's Best Movies
90
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
63
  • 5 Facts About The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
62
  • Ban Them All! 10 Infamously Controversial Movies
59
  • Critics Consensus: Flee From Ninja Assassin
44
  • Friday Harvest: The Road, Avatar, and more!
38
  • Five Favorite Films With Zombieland Director Ruben Fleischer
22
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
16
  • Weekly Ketchup: Zombieland 2 in 3D?
6
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
16
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
11
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
21
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • RT on DVD: Wassup, Bruno
3
  • Scott Hicks Talks The Boys Are Back
0
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Richard Kelly chats about The Box
2
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
21
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Quarantine at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Quarantine at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
Dressing Wonderland
Dressing Wonderland External Link

Tim Burton's costume designer talks to Movieline about her long collaboration with the filmmaker and Johnny Depp.

Wes Anderson on Fox
Wes Anderson on Fox External Link

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

Win Glee DVDs
Win Glee DVDs External Link

We've got 20 copies of the hit TV series' Pilot Episode to giveaway.

Win tickets to Cold Souls
Win tickets to Cold Souls External Link

Double passes up for grabs to the new comedy starring Paul Giamatti.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Twitter External Link

Get all the latest movie updates, reviews, interviews and features here.

Competitions
Win Star Wars prizes
Win Star Wars prizes External Link

Enough Prequel, Original Trilogy and Family Guy DVDs to fill a space cruiser

Win the entire 007 collection
Win the entire 007 collection External Link

Everything from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace could be yours.

Win Fight Club Special Editions and more
Win Fight Club Special Editions and more External Link

We're giving away the 10th Anniversary Blu-ray, plus Braveheart and the Rocky collection

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.