Three out of
Five stars
Running time:
85 mins
Tightly constructed sequel that takes the original in an unexpected direction while delivering the requisite amounts of shock and gore, though it lacks the first film's focus on character and is significantly less terrifying as a result.
What's it all about?
Spanish writer-directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza reunite for the sequel to their 2007 zombie horror, which begins just 15 minutes after the events of the first film when health official Dr Owen (Jonathan Mellor) takes a military assault team (Oscar Sanchez Zafra, Ariel Casas, Alejandro Casaseca and Pablo Rosso) into the quarantined building to find out what's going on. However, when the team are swiftly attacked by what appear to be ravenous zombies, it quickly becomes clear that Owen knows more than he's letting on about the origins of the outbreak.
Meanwhile, three thrill-seeking teenagers (Andrea Ros, Alex Batllori and Pau Poch) decide to break into the building and film what they see, hoping for fame, fortune and something to liven up their Facebook pages.
The Good
The decision to continue straight on from the original film pays off nicely, dispensing with the build-up and jumping straight into the action, complete with all the gore that a slightly bigger effects budget will allow. Similarly, the script expands the mythology of the film in a way that moves it out of the territory of the zombie movie without diminishing the attacked-by-something-scary-every-few-minutes aspect.
The performances are fine, though the sequel lacks the original's focus on character so it's hard to care whether the characters live or die when you don't get to know them. The late introduction of the teenagers remedies this somewhat, though one of them has an unfortunate resemblance to Superbad's McLovin, which results in unintentional giggles.
The Bad
The film's biggest problem is that it's noisy and chaotic where the original was suspenseful and terrifying. Similarly, the decision to make the film about something other than zombies requires the audience to work too hard in the suspension of disbelief – zombies and demonic possession are one thing, but when the climax involves object-swallowing patches of darkness, that's a different matter.
Worth seeing?
[REC] 2 is a passable sequel that delivers the required amounts of shock and gore and paves the way nicely for [REC] 3 but it's nowhere near as intense or as terrifying as the original film.