[REC]2: 25 of 31 Horror Movies I've Never Seen

By now, if you've read any of these little reviews, you should realize that I'm not terribly fond of the "found footage" genre of film making.  Generally, I find it to be a cheap way of telling a story that capitalizes on even cheaper thrillers and sudden jump cut editing.  I realize that there is a certain freedom that it allows to the filmmaker, to use said jump cuts for example, but something about that shaky camera style just does not do it for me.  However, every so often I see one of these films that either reaffirms my distaste, or surprises me in a good way.  Back in 2007, that film was Spanish made [REC], remade in America as the utterly forgettable Quarantine.  I enjoyed [REC] quite a bit and found it to be a very refreshing spin on the classic infection story.  Somehow, though, the sequels evaded me and when Paranormal Activity came out I decided I was completely done with "found footage" horror movies.  Luckily, a friend of mine refreshed the idea of [REC] and convinced me to take the time to watch the 2009 sequel [REC]2 which I finally, not so begrudgingly, have.

[REC]2 not only picks up on the tail of [REC] but shifts the genre in the most awesome way possible.  In the first film we are lead to believe that it is merely some crazy mutation of rabies that causes the outbreak of infected violent people in the apartment complex.  In the second film, we join an elite squad of SWAT type men who go into the building with a Doctor from the National Health Department.  We discover, after the first encounter with an infection victim, that things are not as they seem.  The Doctor is a Priest from the Vatican and the infection is in fact a mass Demonic Possession.  From there it's all about survival and finding the blood from Teresa Madeiros (the original possession victim) to attempt to synthesize an antidote.

WTF?  So, not only is this film a "zombie like" infection movie, it's also about demons.  Well who didn't invite me?  The film is like a modern, found footage, Demons, which to some may salt it's credibility as a horror film, but for me piques my interest intensely.  I have a soft spot for Euro Demon movies and man does this one deliver.  Blood vomiting, voice changing, levitation, frighteningly fast moments of violent frenzy; [REC]2 delivers and delivers until at the incredibly twisted climax you realize "There has got to be a third one of these coming soon."

The actors playing the squad are riff off of each other quite well and the opening scene in the van reminded me a little bit of the helicopter scene in Predator.  They do a good job of creating that sense of camaraderie that comes with working in a tight knit group.  The Doctor/Priest, played with an obsessive intensity by Jonathan D. Mellor, provides that motivation that drives the story towards it's incredibly edited (eat your heart out Paranormal Activity) and incredibly creepy ending.

Since, no movie seems to escape me unscathed, I do have to say that there are a few moments that are utterly cheese balled and pulled me out of the movie.  Luckily, the film still has so much going for it that it sucked me back in almost as fast as it took me out or this would have been a much more negative review and since I've already mentioned that I find the ending twisted, creepy, and incredibly edited, AKA really dang good, I guess it's time to watch the third one and see where it goes from there.

4 out of 5 skulls.