Dir: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza (18, 85 mins)
***
words: Tom Barnett
[.rec] is held in very high regard by a number of very discerning film fans, though it never really broke into the mainstream in the way that other shakeycam point-of-view films of the same spirit (such as Cloverfield) did.
The original followed a TV crew who ended up in a house filled with infected bitey people, before they faced the original infected bitey person who had a religious axe to grind – we’ve all been there before. It was tense and the concept itself was also strong enough to allow you take a leap of faith where necessary, and critically it was received very well.
The sequel is set around 15 minutes after the original finished. The block of flats from [.rec] has been sealed off by the authorities and a team of Spanish SWAT guards are entering to discover exactly what’s going on – as well as a representative from the “Department Of Health” (or, er, the Vatican). The character development of these guards essentially exists in the form of discussing Spanish football legends such as Mario Kempes for around about 35 seconds and then before you can successfully pronounce Jaume Balagueró all hell has broken loose in one of the most perfect, tense opening half hours I’ve seen of any film, the obscene levels of tension bringing you right in.
The claustrophobic cinematography is stunning and the narrative crescendos perfectly; bizarrely, the film’s biggest failing is the physical subtitles themselves, as whenever someone breaks off mid-sentence you know someone bitey is going to get involved. A flaw, but not a fatal one.
In a clever plot device it becomes apparent that there’s another group of unarmed people in the building with less of an idea what they’re doing; the logical and traditional step would have been to follow their progress in the first act, yet showing the fear and downfall of these heavily armed guards instead ramps up the tension. As it turns out the film’s most disappointing moments (or rather, the majority of its second half) surround this alternative group; while the character development for the guards is limited at best, this is a concept that seems to have been entirely overlooked for these three kids and when they run into trouble it’s hard to feel any real empathy.
While [.rec] was a thriller with horror elements, [.rec]2 is a straightforward horror film. It’s one of the scariest, tensest films I’ve seen for a while; however, it’s not for everyone, and if you’re the type of filmgoer who overly cares for plots and characterisation then this probably isn’t for you. If you enjoy a fright, shakeycam filmmaking (of which, in terms of technique, this is the zenith) and ridiculous levels of tension, then it may well be worth the investment.