REC2 Movie Review
REC2 Movie Review
REC'ed him? Damn near killed him!
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Taking place just 13 minutes after the first REC movie concluded, REC2 hits the ground running and never lets up for even a second. It was so exhilarating, intense, and downright gory, I can even forgive the ensuing shaky-cam coma. (Honestly, I was downing headache and motion-sickness meds hand over fist after this flick! But it's still better than first one, which I could not entirely stomach.) Now please forgive me for the spoilers about to come.
If you remember the ending of the first REC, on-camera reporter Angela was dragged away by the virus-riddled Patient Zero into a pit of darkness. We don't see her right away when REC2 opens up, but she makes an appearance later on. Returning writer-director team Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza turn the tagline "One witness, one camera" on its head and this time follow a variety of witnesses and their different camera feeds. Much as I don't like shaky-cam, I've got to hand it to DP Pablo Rosso for making it look so real while at the same time remembering this is a film and the drama and suspense need to be seen.
As the story unfolds, we quickly learn that the policemen, firemen and the unsuspecting TV crew that went inside the now tented and quarantined building were lost and a small SWAT team is dispatched to handle the situation. Not everyone on the team is what they appear to be, and when the first rather devilish deviation pops up spewing something even worse that pea soup, you know all rules are out the window and you'd better just hang on and enjoy.
Enjoy, I did! I much prefer a supernatural thriller to a more reality-based one, but REC2 offers up the best of both wicked worlds and it spares no lives as good guys and bad guys alike go splat (yep, there's another shocking death scene staged around that iconic staircase!). The demon aspect is really creepy-crawly, and while The Exorcist head-nods are obvious, one can't help but wonder if the star of the American remake, Jennifer Carpenter, might have inspired this sequel from her role as possessed teenager Emily Rose (in The Exorcism of - [2005]).
There are some really well-done first-person shooter game moments, as well as a bookend zombie death-scene similar to one with… shall we say, "flare"… in the latest Romero movie, Survival of the Dead. As in the first REC, monster makeup effects are beyond reproach.
REC2 is one of the better big-screen horror movies of 2010, so if you have a chance to check it out, take it — and check your headache at the door.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
Latest User Comments:
| Ha, I appreciate the Chris Farley quote. I skipped most of the spoilers and read the beginning and end. I had mixed thoughts on a sequel, but the first movie needed some sorta closure I guess. I'll still check it out. | |
| 06-21-2010 by CakeMurphy | discuss |