Simply put, REC is one of the greatest horror films of all time. I wanted to stand up and cheer when the end credits started to roll -- it's that good. The fact that I never saw it coming probably adds to my excitement, but this is one of those rare treasures that keeps horror lovers like myself going. As we suffer through unnecessary remakes, disappointing sequels and cookie-cutter plots, there's always that little voice deep inside our brains telling us that maybe the next film will set the cockles of our little black hearts on fire -- my friends, REC is that film.

Naturally, the U.S. had to go and create a remake (Quarantine), but I urge you to get your hands on this Spanish original before you even think about spoiling the whole story by watching its American clone.

I knew absolutely nothing about this film going in -- not even the title. In fact, I wasn't even sure it was a horror film when I started watching it. It starts out as a documentary featuring journalist Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) filming a "while you were sleeping" segment at a local fire station. As we watch Angela try to figure out anything interesting to do as she walks through the station and interviews individual firemen, we join her in hoping that a call will come in and add some excitement to a pretty boring night.

When the call does come down, it doesn't promise much in the way of action -- someone needs help getting a door open -- but that changes pretty quickly once the fire and television crews arrive at the scene. Neighbors recount hearing screams from the dwelling of a strange old lady upstairs. Chaos ensues once the firemen and a policeman make their way into the apartment, quickly necessitating a dire need for an ambulance (and not just for the old lady).

The film maintains the feel of a documentary throughout, as Angela's cameraman Pablo (Pablo Rosso) scrambles to get the most revealing of shots (successfully capturing the goriest of injuries that looked pretty damned realistic to me). That unwavering, underlying thread of realism will be a staple for everything yet to come -- and there is indeed so very, very much to come.

Cue the paranoia and mutual suspicion as authorities arrive outside and begin to seal up the entire building, forbidding even the gravely injured from leaving. No one inside knows what is going on, and the authorities aren't talking -- not even to the security guy struggling to maintain even a semblance of control among the motley crew of frightened neighbors, frustrated fireman and the TV news crew filming everything that is going on. Things only get worse after a health official finally arrives -- let's just say that, in this sort of situation, knowledge is not power.

What follows, in the film's final half hour, is some of the most realistic, chaotic, intense and frightening action to ever grace the big screen. Viewing everything that happens through the lens of Pablo's camera, the viewer essentially becomes another character in the film, trying to make sense of everything he is seeing or not seeing, then finding himself swept up in every instance of mad panic that sends everyone running pell-mell from one dark room to another or fighting for their very lives from the most unexpected of threats. The only times the camera stops rolling is when Pablo briefly accedes to the request of authorities to stop filming. With Angela continually barking at him to keep shooting, though, these little breaks in the action never last more than 15 to 20 seconds.

The entire cast is superb up and down the line. I've heard that most of the actors and actresses weren't told exactly what to expect for each hair-raising scene, thereby adding to the intensity of their reactions, but all I know for sure is that I would have had no doubts whatsoever in believing that everything I had just seen was completely real if I hadn't known it was a movie.

Get your hands on this movie any way you can. It's a brilliantly conceived and even more brilliantly executed horror masterpiece that I now count among my favorite horror films of all time. Obviously, I can't guarantee that you will love the film as much as I do, but I can't begin to imagine how any horror fan could walk away from this film without having been deeply impressed.