10 Famous Actors Who Inexplicably Popped Up In Found Footage Movies
3. Jennifer Carpenter (Quarantine)
The fact that two different films made by Drew and John Erick Dowdle made this list probably tells you a little something about the way that these guys view the found footage conceit as a whole: namely, as less of a tool for enhancing a films veracity and more of an easy method of saving a few pennies on HD cameras and decent cinematography. Released in October 2008, Quarantine is a remake of the terrific Spanish film , which itself was released only a year earlier. With the exception of the cities in which the films are set, as well as the core cast of actors, both films are wholly identical in practically every regard, from the basic story and main plot beats to even the set designs and specific lines of dialogue. It calls to mind Gus Van Sants 1998 remake of Psycho, with both films being not so much movies with their own unique identities, but more like feature-length experiments in filmmaking form and method. So Quarantine, just as an individual film in and of itself, already lacks a concrete reason for existing. Yet in casting Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter in the lead role of the reporter caught in the middle of the chaos (not to mention Jay Hernandez as a firefighter and Columbus Short as Carpenter's cameraman), Drew and John Erick Dowdle manage to also completely strip Quarantine of any remaining shreds of authenticity that might still have lingered. The end result? 89 minutes of guts and gore, all of it signifying nothing.
