"Just add priest"; that should have been the subtitle for [Rec] 2, the sequel to the 2007 not-zombies-but-c'mon-who-ya-foolin' shaky cam horror film. [Rec]
set itself apart from other zombie fare by positing a religious aspect
to the "virus" that sends those infected by it into a rage. American
zombie movies tend to explain via science; the [Rec] series uses demonic possession. So, it makes sense that [Rec] 2 would double down by having a priest lead a SWAT team into the house from the first film.
The original [Rec] was
scary enough. It's been too long for me to recount the details well (I
need to rewatch), but it was definitely the last horror movie I watched
to legitimately scare me. So, I was looking forward to seeing this one
for awhile. All in all, [Rec] 2
is a worthwhile sequel that doesn't deepen the series' mythology at all
but moves the story along logically (and, of course, sets up a sequel).
[Rec] was a zombie movie in a haunted house, and [Rec] 2 takes the obvious sequel route of simple sending even people into the same house.
The
choice to have a priest in the lead, surprisingly, does not reveal any
insight into how this demonic virus came to be. But, his very presence
adds some gravitas to what could be a terrible retread. Jonathan
Mellor is excellent as the priest, his performance a feast of bug-eyed
intensity and yelling Latin sounding things between interjections of "that was our last chance!" and "we can't leave now!"
Aside from a somewhat unnecessary diversion in the middle third (wherein we need to send more people into the house!),
[Rec] 2 moves at a steady clip, carried by this performance. The
shaky-cam style cinematography is more of a hindrance at this point (in
both the series and in cinema in general), making it hard to see much of
the action clearly. It almost emphasizes how faceless and
interchangeable the SWAT team is. But the limited perspective sometimes
works when building up to the various zombie attacks. (Also, the final
third of the movie uses the camera's night vision to great effect.)
The
action is the weakest point of the movie, ultimately, but that is
somewhat inherent in the premise. Every attack by a zombie bears out
more or less the same: 1. "What's that sound?" 2. A silhouette at the
end of a hallway. 3. Screaming! Growling! 4. Either the attacker or the
victim dies. The formula gets tiresome, so thankfully only the first 2/3
of the movie relies on it heavily, while the final 1/3 focuses on the
Big Villain with some novel cinematic twists.
The [Rec] 2 offers
ample tension in its short run time. Any time the story stays in the
house where it’s undefined how many people might be infected and
lurking, the movie feels fresh despite being a retread of the original.
Supposedly, the third movie in the series takes a horror-comedy route,
which seems about right. [Rec] was strong enough to handle a retread in [Rec] 2, but the genre’s limits demand massive changes to stay fresh.
*(I
am trying not to spoil anything, but I will say that the movie cleaves
almost completely evenly into three separate acts. They're not quite
separate enough from each other to be a series of vignettes, but it'
another construct that helps the movie stay relatively fresh for its 84
minutes [another wise choice, keeping these short].)
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