Halloween is approaching and the current horror movie options are scarce, so if you are desperate for something besides yet another “”Saw”” sequel, then add “”Quarantine”” to your list – but do so with some hesitance.

Apparently horror movies can’t be scary nowadays without shaky camera filming. “”Quarantine”” happily obliges and executes this technique well. Jennifer Carpenter stars as Angela Vidal, a reporter shadowing a few firefighters at the local fire station. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Angela follows the firemen as they respond to a medical call at a nearby apartment complex.

When they find a diseased elderly woman covered in blood and foaming at the mouth, “”Quarantine”” transforms into a zombie movie as the woman feels the need to attack and bite everyone in the room, spreading the strange disease like wildfire. This movie grips the audience as the officers lose control of the situation – and Angela’s cameraman dutifully records the escalating murderous mayhem. The handful of people who miraculously stay uninfected try to escape the building, only to find they have been wrongfully quarantined. Panic heightens as the authorities lie to the public and inform them that the building has been evacuated, while the trapped people are left to fend for themselves.

Here is where “”Quarantine”” plummets fast. What started with a somewhat sensible premise, making for a genuinely scary situation, turns almost comical. When tiny infected 5 year olds take down full-grown police officers, the movie loses its scare factor.

Saved by its decent acting, this movie provides cheap thrills full of gore but fails to deliver suspense at the end, having already given everything away in the trailers.

Company: Andale Pictures
Run time: 89 minutes
Star Rating: 3.5 out of 5