REC 2 Review

Well, how about that? Just as  I was scurrying around looking for something to watch, it turns out that REC 2 finally came out with an English subtitled version, so you know I couldn't pass it up for anything. If no one here is familiar with the title "REC 2", it's the sequel to a Spanish found footage horror film called REC (which is the letters that can be seen on a camera when it's in Record mode). If you're still wondering what the heck I'm talking about, you may be familiar with the Americanized version of the movie called "Quarantine" that came out about a year ago starring Jennifer Carpenter. 

Now as good as Quarantine was (I seem to be in a tiny minority of people that didn't hate it), I will say that it doesn't entirely match up to the intensity of its originator. REC. is one of those perfect original “one-off movies” that really doesn’t need a sequel, and any courageous filmmaker attempting to do so, will immediately be putting themselves in hot water with the fanbase. However, despite the volatile quality track record of franchise expanding titles, this sequel actually manages to stick the landing.

The First Movie Is A Gold Standard Title of Its Genre

Now if I were to summarize the story for the first movie, I’d say that it basically centers around the residents of a quarantined apartment building that are being infected by an unknown virus seemingly spreading like rabies. This is where our found footage component comes in where a TV reporter and a camera guy duo have to survive the night being trapped there with a firemen crew answering an emergency call for a TV special. Now you may be thinking "Really? Another zombie type of horror movie? As if there aren’t enough of these formulaic titles out there already?". Well...not exactly. 

This really isn’t your typical zombie movie despite there being familiar elements throughout that do indeed follow particular tropes that can be traced back to the zombie horror sub-genre. However, aside from the intensely aggressive infected people encounter scenes (an idea that really got popularized with the 28 Days franchise), there is also a very suspenseful supernatural mystery angle effectively inserted.

Now to jump straight to the end of REC 1, we saw this tall, emaciated, terrifying looking female wandering in the dark corridors of a room with a hammer in her hand. Who is she? We don't really know entirely although there are some clear seeds planted throughout the movie’s suspenseful final act to give context to her identity and to the entire mystery of the viral outbreak. Pablo (the cameraman) has the night vision on trying to guide Ángela (the TV reporter) away from this freaky monstrosity only to be discovered and violently killed. It’s quite honestly one of the most terrifying scenes ever to come out of the found footage genre to date. 

This now leaves Ángela pretty much blind wandering in the dark leading to the monster dragging her off into the dark abyss. And then…the movie ends. That’s it. That's the final thing that the audience see. A feeling of hopelessness and sheer nightmare fueled terror. And now comes the sequel roughly two years later which by the trailers looked to be more of an action flick considering the central involvement of a SWAT team stepping into this world. Hmmm, very “James Cameron Aliens to Ridley Scott’s Alien” in that sequel tonal shift sensibility come to think of it.

How REC 2 Effectively Plays With Perspective To Add Variety

The movie opens up with the final few seconds of the first then transitions to a team inside of a SWAT vehicle getting geared up for whatever this mysterious quarantine mission is. We're watching through each of the officer’s helmet cams which is this movie’s unique innovation to the found footage “record” concept. I liked the idea of seeing through the SWAT team cams because it allowed for an initial false sense of security against the unknown. But what’s even cooler is that it got me immediately amped up anytime an infected person would eventually show up resulting in the officers frantically opening fire adding to the tension. What also made this movie interesting is that we see this team of officers armed to the teeth being accompanied by a doctor (later on revealed to be a priest under a secret order). Yeah, that's a thing that happens.

You're probably wondering the same thing that as I was. Why is there a priest working undercover for an organization in an apartment filled with infected people? Well, in a fascinating revelation twist, it's later revealed that the people aren’t actually infected by some rabies-like viral rage disease but instead an elusive demonic entity. Once this concept got established into the story, my eyes were then glued to the screen in constant anticipation and intrigue. So what started off as a fresh zombie virus outbreak found footage horror flick ended up turning into a supernatural horror possession series. It’s truly one of the coolest genre twists that I've ever seen in a movie and made for some absolutely insane individual scenes that follow the reveal. 

Scenes such as a demonic kid crawling on the ceiling or one of the children who accidentally was locked in the apartment eventually getting possessed. This brings me to another point of admiration for REC 2’s creative direction. That being the manner in which camera footage and perspective is utilized and presented. You have just about every SWAT team member being equipped with a head camera so it switches from time to time between officers which might sound annoying on paper, but the execution was carefully thought out making for an engaging viewing experience. 

We also have these curious teenagers who venture into the apartment building also equipped with their own camera adding a new unique angle to the whole thing. Without ever feeling confusing between the various interweaving character points of view, REC 2 does an excellent job at injecting variety to its central setting narrative.

Now for the main story itself, the priest has to get a blood sample from the source of the infection (a girl that was shown in the previous movie). But the way in which he tries to find her is pretty fascinating. This mysterious demonic force has taken over the infected in the building resulting in the priest having to call it out of each victim with a cross to order it to reveal its location. It's actually pretty cool seeing how this team barely surviving the night has to literally capture these infected murderous people in order to communicate with some otherworldly unholy presence. 

Now it may sound as if perhaps too much is being revealed in this sequel about the virus as opposed to the first movie’s perfectly ambiguous nature. However, although much is indeed revealed, you still never really get the full story behind the source which is what I like because it adds new layers to the mystery without killing the excitement of the unknown. This is a tough line to walk but I feel the sequel did a more than solid job at pulling it off. Here comes the crazy part (or crazier part). The TV reporter, who we as the audience assumed to be dead at the end of the first movie, pops up close to the ending of this movie very much alive. The remaining SWAT team and the priest had to make sure that she wasn't infected, and considering that she looked normal, they let her follow along with them. 

In another cool creative concept introduced in the movie, the camera's night vision feature starts to reveal elements in the environment that aren’t able to be seen by the human eye. For example: when our last remaining characters were in the room from the ending of the last movie looking for the demon, the night vision revealed a well located there. However, in the regular camera light, this mysterious well turns out to be just a normal old sink. And...it gets crazier. When the Swat guy leans over the sink, through the night vision perspective, the well is shown and a hand comes out of it grabbing him in. When the normal light on the camera is turned back on, the only thing that can be seen is the sink by itself resulting in the crew completely freaking out.

Scenes and concepts like these explored were equally freaky as they were intriguing. So without spoiling the actual ending to the movie, I'll just end the review by saying REC 2 is one of the best sequels to a horror movie that I've seen in years. It's thrilling, intense, fascinating at times, and all around entertaining from beginning to end. The only problem that I had was that the demon itself would laugh in a very cheesy and generic fashion which felt kinda off to me and didn’t match the tone and direction of the rest of the movie. It kinda took me out during those scenes, but everything else was very well executed making this a top tier title in the found footage genre. I definitely recommend checking this one out while obviously throwing in the first movie as a must-watch for a fantastic double-feature experience.

Rating: 9/10