Hoping to further show what really happens behind the scenes of police and SWAT invasions and medical emergencies, Filmas Entertainment, in conjunction with Magnet Releases, is set to shock audiences around the world again with its newest release, ‘[REC] 2.’ Following in the footsteps of its 2007 predecessor, ‘[REC],’ Spanish directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza once again brilliantly capture the fear people face when placed in traumatizing situations. The two also show ordinary people’s on-going desire to capture their terror of authority and uncertainty of medicine and religion on camera to show to the world.
‘[REC] 2’ is uniquely different, and a welcome change, from most other horror sequels, as it closely follows, and relates to, the same events and characters from the first movie. The sequel starts off with an official from the Ministry of Health and a team of Grupo Especial de Operaciones (GEO) entering the quarantined apartment building fifteen minutes after the first movie ended, set to control the infection. The GEO team also brings in video cameras to record the events that unfold.
The health inspector leads the team into the building’s penthouse where the infection began. There, the GEO team is surprised to learn that the inspector is actually a priest. His job is to find the Medeiros girl, seen in the penthouse at the end of the original movie, and obtain a sample of her blood. The Vatican wants the sample, so it can use it to find an antidote to cure the infection.
While one of the GEO team members does indeed find the last sample of the girl’s blood, some of it is accidentally dropped on the floor while the priest performs a religious rite to determine if it’s useful. With none of the girl’s blood left to defeat the demon inside of her, the priest and the GEO team are left to fight the infected tenants.
After the surprising critical and commercial success of the first ‘[REC],’ Balagueró and Plaza said they decided to bring back the same idea with a new twist and new fear to scare audiences, and they undoubtedly succeeded. They also said they themselves wanted to continue the storyline to see what new secrets and mysteries they could come up with to enhance the plot.
The two definitely made the right decision to continue the same story from the first movie, as audiences were left wondering what happened to those infected. Questions were also raised on how the infection could be contained, and how the government would handle the situation, which were rightfully main themes touched upon in the sequel. With the return of several of the original movie’s stars, including main actress Manuela Velasco, who played reporter Angela Vidal, as well as adding new actors, Balagueró and Plaza were impressively able to answer some of the questions left by ‘[REC]’s cliffhanger ending.
The only thing lacking in creativity in ‘[REC] 2’ was the ending. While Balagueró and Plaza, along with Manu Díez, also helmed the script, the ending wasn’t as innovating as the original. While ‘[REC] 2′ also ended in a cliffhanger, much like its predecessor, the three didn’t seem to bring any originality to it. With the success of ‘[REC],’ it seemed as though they knew ‘[REC] 2’ would be a guaranteed triumph. Filmax also announced in May that it will produce two more ‘[REC]’ movies over the next two years, so it seemed like the three writers knew they just had to put in any type of somewhat cohesive ending to connect it to the next sequel.
While some people may not enjoy sitting through another foreign movie, having to read subtitles for an hour-and-a-half, those who enjoyed the first movie will definitely want to see ‘[REC] 2.’ However, with some profanity, nudity and multitudes of violence and gore, the movie is understandably aimed at adults who enjoy the horror genre.
Anyone who enjoyed the first ‘[REC]’ will be able to see the sequel soon. It was announced in that Magnolia Pictures acquired the U.S. rights for the movie, and will give it a limited theatrical release, starting on July 9. The studio also released it via Video on Demand on June 4, while Sony Home Entertainment will release the DVD in October.
Written by: Karen Benardello
