Documentary-style films and shows have created a new breed of actor/camera operator. Harris, if he indeed lenses the entire film,* has to act (scared, most of the time), carry a camera, be aware of all actor and special effect blocking, and get the coverage (in sometimes minutes-long shots). The aplomb with which he accomplishes all of these feats just adds to the creepy ambience.
Angela (Jennifer Carpenter, the sister on “Dexter”) tells Scott (Steve Harris) a few too many times that he has to keep filming. In “Cloverfield” and “Diary of the Dead,” this kind of line—“People are gonna want to know…how it all went down”—justifies some pretty detached behavior. The kids in these films should, after about five minutes of action, throw down their cameras and run like hell. The camera also excuses characters’ lack of involvement. Zombie-victims in “Diary” entreat the cameraman to quit filming and help them. (This would work as a muddled societal allegory, of the distance between documenter and subject, if the acting weren’t so bad.)
Angela’s entreaties in “Quarantine” are unnecessary; Scott works for the news and the footage is clearly worth getting. Plus, he gets into the action whenever possible, queasily smashing an “infected” with the camera’s lens or dropping it while in a melee.
“Quarantine” wisely limits itself to an enclosed apartment building that gives the film a tangible sense of place. During a brief pause, the building’s super rattles off each apartment and its tenants, including the guy in the attic who hasn’t been seen “in months.” This on-the-fly map/checklist grounds the action and opens up the possibilities for tension. Without it, Angela and Scott’s last stand up the stairs would be just screams, scares, and whip pans.
*I hear that he doesn’t do much of the filming. This may negate the rest of the paragraph.
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