REC was a Spanish horror film released in 2007 about zombies taking over an apartment block. It was filmed using handheld cameras to feel more realistic. This style was very successful. After REC's popularity, two similar zombie films were released. Screen Gems then bought REC and remade it as Quarantine with the same story but in English. Quarantine was a financial success, grossing $49 million. Factors influencing the remake included profit potential from a new language, replicating REC's style and storyline, and capitalizing on current horror film trends and popularity.

1. Rec: PR5: Remakes and Production Factors Which Influence Them
REC was released on the 23rd
of November in 2007 in Spain. This horrific horror film was directed by
Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza. The storyline of this film took horror to a whole new level. Zombies
took over an entire block of flats, each one hiding in areas where civilians were trying to escape. The
film was a massive success in Spain and eventually with other countries too.
What made this film so intense and different to all the rest, is that it was filmed hand held by one of
the cast members. So everything felt so much more real and intensified. It felt as if you were
watching this as it was happening. The director of the movie took a lot of time with his production
team deciding what was going to make his horror film different to the rest, something that would
stand out from all the other stereotypical zombie horror films. In an interview with Jaume Balaguero
he explained his reason for shooting the entire film with a hand held camera ‘A conventional horror
story would be told through one camera only as an integral part of the story itself, live and in real
time. We wanted the audience to come up closer to the horror, to feel like they're a part of it all…
we wanted to use the film screen in a way that is similar to the experience of playing videogames. ‘
Rec almost created a trend at the time it was released, as two other famous horror films were
released right after Rec stormed the cinema. These horror films were called Clover Field and Diary of
the Dead; these horror films were also included zombies. It was not a coincidence that these films
were released at similar times. They were released by popular demand, as the audience loved REC
so much these two films had a perfect opportunity to be as successful as REC. Production companies
don’t work by coincidence, they study and research what the best for their audience and when the
perfect time is to give their audience what they want.
Screen Gems was the company that bought the rights and entitlement to the Spanish horror film Rec
not long after it was released. As the production team that created Rec didn’t have enough money in
their budget to distribute it, in a way that they would make profit. So the film was sold to screen
gems. Screen Gems is a branch production company from Sony Pictures Entertainment – Columbia
Pictures. Sony Pictures horizontally integrated with Columbia Pictures in 1989, Columbia Pictures
was sold for a total of £3.4 billion. Screen Gems then made a remake of REC, which was named
Quarantine and was released in 2008. Quarantine replicated REC perfectly, and the storyline was
kept exactly the same however a completely different cast who all spoke the English language.
Screen Gems rushed to release Quarantine as they knew it would be a huge hit with the audience.
As the film was in the English language the film grew a wider audience, and became more successful.
Screen Gems also released REC for the second time, at the same time as Quarantine was released.
Just to make that extra bit of profit for the fans who wanted to view the original movie.
Different factors influenced to remake of Rec, for example financial factors, Screen Gems knew they
could make millions releasing it in an English language, and with new actors to play the characters.
Scenes were acted in the same way as the original, as they needed to stick to the original script as it

2. was so good. Quarantine made a total of £49 million. Also the trends at the time, so when
Quarantine was released Screen Gems also released the original version, just to increase their profit
and so their audience could experience to original and the remake at the same time. Also the
popularity of the genre, and how Jaume the original founder of REC made this film so different to
the rest with its hand held style of filming. Synergy was also used to increase profit and popularity of
the film, so t shirts and DVDs of the original and remake were released.
In conclusion, the remake of REC remained very true and factual to the original movie, as REC’s
storyline, and technical use such as cameras was so good and realistic. Quarantine made a large
amount of money for the company as they knew the trends at the time, and different ways to
advertise using different factors of synergy. I have found factors which influence remakes and what
makes a remake successful with the audience of the original movie.