[REC]2
Year: 2009
Director: Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza
Starring: Ariel Cassa, Jonathan Mellor, Pablo Rosso, Oscar Sanchez Zafra & Manuella Velasco
Runtime: 85 mins
BBFC: 18
Director: Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza
Starring: Ariel Cassa, Jonathan Mellor, Pablo Rosso, Oscar Sanchez Zafra & Manuella Velasco
Runtime: 85 mins
BBFC: 18
2007’s [REC] is a phenomenal achievement in horror filmmaking thanks to its expert pacing, endless barrage of clever jump scares, and panic inducing claustrophobia. The film was a runaway success in Spain and on the film festival circuit, with it being picked up by Hollywood for an American remake to release just one year later. [REC] was on a path to be one of the next big horror franchises so of course a sequel was on the cards. But does [REC]2 pale in comparison to its predecessor, or does it manage to break the mould of underwhelming horror sequels?
Running parallel to the original film's ending, [REC]2 follows a team of soldiers accompanying a health inspector (Jonathan Mellor) who have been sent into the quarantined apartment complex from [REC]. Seeing the events play out through their helmet cameras, the soldiers must fight back against the infected residents from the first film in search for information about where this virus came from and its links to the Vatican.
For the most part, [REC]2 succeeds in the same vein as its predecessor does. Once the team enter the building the tension begins to wind to breaking point as we learn about the mysterious Tristana Medeiros (Javier Botet), the gangly figure from [REC]’s terrifying finale, and the experiments performed on her by the penthouse apartment’s owner, Father Albelda. From there, much like the first film, all bets are off as the team are assaulted by an endless barrage of infected residents and they begin their search for Tristana.
[REC]2 also mixes the formula up by telling the story from multiple perspectives. Each solider has their own camera so switching viewpoints happens regularly, and even allowing for multiple viewpoints at once in some scenarios. This helmet camera also eschews the typical pitfall of found footage films, “Why do they care about the camera?”, even better than the first film did because it’s physically attached to them this time around.
Running parallel to the original film's ending, [REC]2 follows a team of soldiers accompanying a health inspector (Jonathan Mellor) who have been sent into the quarantined apartment complex from [REC]. Seeing the events play out through their helmet cameras, the soldiers must fight back against the infected residents from the first film in search for information about where this virus came from and its links to the Vatican.
For the most part, [REC]2 succeeds in the same vein as its predecessor does. Once the team enter the building the tension begins to wind to breaking point as we learn about the mysterious Tristana Medeiros (Javier Botet), the gangly figure from [REC]’s terrifying finale, and the experiments performed on her by the penthouse apartment’s owner, Father Albelda. From there, much like the first film, all bets are off as the team are assaulted by an endless barrage of infected residents and they begin their search for Tristana.
[REC]2 also mixes the formula up by telling the story from multiple perspectives. Each solider has their own camera so switching viewpoints happens regularly, and even allowing for multiple viewpoints at once in some scenarios. This helmet camera also eschews the typical pitfall of found footage films, “Why do they care about the camera?”, even better than the first film did because it’s physically attached to them this time around.
Of course [REC]2 goes bigger and goes harder than the first film to justify its existence as a sequel. There are more jump scares, more bloody gore, and this time around our protagonists are trained to be able to protect themselves. It has a near unstoppable momentum to it as it throws you an endless barrage of horror mayhem. However, this is arguably the film’s greatest fault too because as a result the scares are less effective than in the original film. Because of how full on the original [REC] was, [REC]2 is already playing catch up and it doesn’t take long to become desensitised to it all. This is why [REC]2 leans harder into its story than the original did, another element that can potentially be a negative.
Because of the way the original film was framed nobody felt like actors. Whenever Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) conducted an interview with someone, that felt like a performance because she was of course a reporter, but outside of those scenarios everybody felt like they were just normal people caught up in a nightmare. The various characters of [REC]2 do feel like actors though, and this mostly comes down to the underwhelming dialogue which either consists exclusively of extreme emotional overreactions or exposition.
Personally, I feel like if you enjoyed [REC], then you’ll also enjoy [REC]2. It’s a perfectly acceptable sequel that riffs on many of the same strengths as the first film whilst also expanding the scope of the world the film takes place in. However, the increased blood and gore mixed with the frantic terror of the first film can make [REC]2 overstep that line between terrifyingly plausible and entertainingly improbable. Our protagonists in the first film accidentally got caught up in something deadly sinister, whereas everyone in [REC]2 knows what they’re up against and is capable of fighting back against it.
[REC]2 is still very enjoyable and terrifying, but for some it won’t have quite the same scare factor as the first time around.
Because of the way the original film was framed nobody felt like actors. Whenever Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) conducted an interview with someone, that felt like a performance because she was of course a reporter, but outside of those scenarios everybody felt like they were just normal people caught up in a nightmare. The various characters of [REC]2 do feel like actors though, and this mostly comes down to the underwhelming dialogue which either consists exclusively of extreme emotional overreactions or exposition.
Personally, I feel like if you enjoyed [REC], then you’ll also enjoy [REC]2. It’s a perfectly acceptable sequel that riffs on many of the same strengths as the first film whilst also expanding the scope of the world the film takes place in. However, the increased blood and gore mixed with the frantic terror of the first film can make [REC]2 overstep that line between terrifyingly plausible and entertainingly improbable. Our protagonists in the first film accidentally got caught up in something deadly sinister, whereas everyone in [REC]2 knows what they’re up against and is capable of fighting back against it.
[REC]2 is still very enjoyable and terrifying, but for some it won’t have quite the same scare factor as the first time around.