Scary [REC] 2 Undone by Demonic Silliness
With residents, first responders (including a pair of firemen) and noted television reporter Ángela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) potentially trapped inside, a SWAT team is ordered to escort the mysterious Dr. Owen (Jonathan Mellor) inside a sealed-off apartment building containing an out of control virus. What they find goes way beyond medical science entering into the realm of the supernatural, and as the body count rises the survivors begin to wonder if there’s any chance anyone is going to leave the premises alive.
The virus continues to spread in [REC] 2 © Magnet Releasing
Picking up immediately after the events of the first film, [REC] 2 drops viewers inside a tense and suspenseful meat grinder with virtually no pretense and buildup whatsoever. Other than the couple of minutes it takes to setup its multiple camera format (the SWAT team includes a cameraman who has the ability to tap into the feeds of the shoulder units carried by his comrades) things go from fast to faster immediately, returning directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza putting their foot on the gas pedal right from the start.
By doing this the filmmakers produce a whirlwind opening 35 minutes that’s as tense and as terrifying as anything to be found in the almost instantly classic original. Once again the camera eye view of the proceedings creates a claustrophobic atmosphere where everything and anything can happen, the feeling that a virally infected human is about to pounce imbuing every second with ferocious suspense.
Unfortunately, for those not yet initiated into the [REC] universe either by the 2007 import or the very good 2008 American remake Quarantine a lot of this is going to make little sense. Why is the building closed off? What happened to the people who were supposedly trapped inside? These questions and others are given cursory treatment at best, Balagueró and Plaza assuming viewers will already know the answers before choosing to buy a ticket and get on their blood-soaked rollercoaster ride.
For my part I don’t really have a problem with that. What I do take issue with are some bizarre plot twists making this sequel some weirdly unsettling first-person amalgam of Aliens, The Exorcist, The Hidden and 28 Days Later. I also had huge problems with a middle 25 minutes or so where the focus strays from the SWAT team and Dr. Owen and focuses instead on a trio of teenagers who somehow manage to sneak their way into building with, of course, their very own video camera. While there are a couple of decent scares (and one awesome stray gunshot) during this sequence the overall effect of this detour is rather annoying, the constant whimpering enough to make me wish all three would fall victim to the virus and die.
Things do ramp up again in a good way during the homestretch, Dr. Owen and the SWAT survivors joining forces with an unexpected ally to return to the attic and search for the demonic root of this building’s escalating problems. There are some unique visuals that had me creepily unhinged, the camera going back and forth from normal to night vision revealing gruesome sights that had my palms dripping with sweat. I was eager to discover what was going on even though a part of me wanted to cover my eyes in abstract fear, and as the body count rose and the heroes started to fall my heart shot to my throat with all the force of an atomic bomb.
And what was going on? While telling would be unfair, I still cannot help but admit to being ultimately dissatisfied by where the directors took their gruesome little tale. I’d go so far to call the last scenes silly save for the fact I am slightly curious where they plan on taking things next (another sequel has already been announced). But the blatant cliffhanger is unfortunate, and while this return trip to Balagueró and Plaza’s netherworld isn’t without its gloriously scary positives I’m not sure they’re quite enough to make the journey to [REC] 2 worthwhile.
Film Rating: êê1/2 (out of 4)
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