REC 2
Encyclopedia
REC 2 or [●REC]² is the 2009 Spanish horror film
sequel to 2007's REC
. Written and directed by Jaume Balagueró
and Paco Plaza
, both of whom returned from the previous film, the story takes place immediately after the events of the first film, with producing company Filmax International describing it as having "the same claustrophobic concept" as REC but with "new means of transferring fear from the screen to the spectator through the recording lens."
(GEO) team equipped with helmet-mounted video cameras are sent into a quarantined apartment building to control the situation. Amongst the team are Jefe (leader), Martos, Larra, and Rosso (cameraman). After encountering some of the infected, Owen uses religious mantra and rosary to fight them off. It turns out that Owen is actually a priest sent by the Vatican to get a blood sample from the Medeiros girl and aid the other priest in charge of her.
When they get to the penthouse, they find out that the infected can travel all around the building through the air ducts. The Medeiros girl is nowhere to be found. Larra, one of the GEO officers goes into the air duct and finds a sample of her blood – the only one that the original priest took from her. Owen then performs a religious rite, and the blood spontaneously combusts, confirming that it is the blood he's looking for; however, the rest of the blood also sets on fire and Jefe drops it, rendering it useless. They must then get a blood sample from the Medeiros girl herself. Then suddenly a man holding a bag (later shown to be Jennifer's father) shows up and they fire on him and throw him on the floor, noticing some people down there (later shown to be Tito, Mire, Ori and the firefighter). They try to catch them, but they loose Martos and Larra. Then Rosso accidentaly drops the camera while fighting and it's too damaged to record anymore. Then the camera flicks out.
Meanwhile, Jennifer's father, who was outside getting medicine for his daughter (the infected girl from REC
), manages to convince a firefighter to take him into the building. Moments before the building is quarantined, three teenagers named Tito, Mire and Ori are messing around on a roof. When the police quarantine the building, they find them and escort them out to the street. The teenagers gain access to the sealed building through the sewage system by following the firefighter and Jennifer's father; however, police have seen them and seal their exit. Inside, the teenagers find Jennifer's father and the firefighter.
After some deaths from attacks by the infected, the two groups find each other. Then the group find Angela Vidal, the reporter from REC. She has her camera with her. Tito gets bitten by the infected, and they restrain him. Owen then forces him to tell him where the Medeiros girl is. The demon possessing Tito tells him that she is "in the highest." Owen figures out that this means that she is in the penthouse. Jefe, the GEO team leader, argues that they had already cleared that area and did not see anything. The demon then gives a hint that the "light" blinds them from seeing the path. When Angela was asked how she saw the Medeiros girl, she said she saw it through the camera's night vision. Owen deduces that some things can only be seen in the dark. Before leaving, they lock Mire and Ori in a room for protection.
Finally, they go back to the penthouse. Using the camera's night vision as a guide, they enter a secret room leading to a pool of water similar to a well, into which the Medeiros girl pulls Jefe. Owen struggles to get the blood, but Angela uses the shotgun and kills the Medeiros girl. Owen is enraged at Angela for the blood sample, but all Angela wants is to leave the building. She, Owen and Rosso see a helicopter to evacuate the building. Angela tells Owen to authorize the exit, but Owen refuses to do so and must accomplish his mission. Angela, enraged, starts to beat him with the shotgun to force him to do so. Rosso tries to calm her down, but Angela kills him. After telling Owen that she does not need him to get out as she can impersonate his voice, she kills him. She takes his radio and, using Owen's voice, says that the mission is over and that they can let them out. She also tells them that he is staying behind because he is infected and the only survivor is a woman, Angela. When asked how the woman survived, Angela leans towards the camera and smiles with dark, bloodier eyes, revealing that she is infected.
The ending of the original film is shown. Angela is dragged by her feet into the dark but manages to crawl back into the camera's view. The Medeiros girl quickly gets on top of Angela and inserts a worm-like organism into Angela via the mouth. She then hears Owen and the GEO team, and goes into hiding, marking the beginning of the film.
, Jaume Balagueró
and Paco Plaza signed on for a sequel. Principal photography
began on November 10, 2008 and wrapped in December 2008. The film reunites the directors with many of the original cast and crew members of the previous film. It was shot in Barcelona
over six weeks.
, out of competition. It was also shown at the Midnight Madness portion of the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
, as well as the 2009 Fantastic Fest
in Austin, Texas
, and the 2009 Sitges Film Festival. It went on general release in Spain the first weekend of October, going to #1 in the Spanish box office and achieving the best opening weekend of the year for a Spanish film.
REC 2 was released in New Zealand theatres by Vendetta Films on November 13, 2009. The marketing budget for the film, NZ$7500, was used to create a website, where the remaining $5000 marketing budget would be given away to the member of the public who was judged responsible for the most good publicity generated for the release of the film. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
will release the film on DVD
in October 2010. In March 2010 Magnolia Pictures acquired the rights for the US market and will screen the film in a theatrical release in July 2010. The distributor Magnolia pictures will screen the film on Video on Demand platforms on 4 June 2010 and released the film only on DVD. Magnolia has the film set with a release on 9 July 2010 and released on 30 March 2010 the UK trailer.
The film was released on May 28, 2010 in the UK. It is part of the Terror in the Aisles 4 at the Portage Theater
in Chicago, Illinois.
gave the film 4/5 and called it "The greatest zombie sequel since Dawn of the Dead." Empire magazine also awarded the film 4 stars. Simon Cook summarised the film as "A hectic, hellish sequel that blends daring new ideas with a primal zombie wallop." Not all critics were as positive; the Daily Mirror awarded the film 2 stars, with reviewer David Edwards stating it was "a bit of a W[rec]k."
announced that "...Filmax will produce two new [REC] films in the next couple of years called [REC]3 Génesis and [REC]4 Apocalypse from the same directors as the first two [REC] films." [REC]3 Génesis will be directed by returning director Paco Plaza. The third film will take place miles away from the setting of the first two installments after the infection has left the building. It will also contain prequel elements, documenting the original infection. The film will be released on March 30, 2012. REC 4: Apocalypse will be directed by returning director Jaume Balagueró
; this film will end the saga with the infection spreading to unknown proportions. The film has an expected release date of fall of 2012 or 2013.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
sequel to 2007's REC
REC (film)
REC is a 2007 Spanish horror film co-written and co-directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza.The film was released in Spain in November 2007. Balaguero and Plaza previously directed the 2002 documentary OT, The Movie. REC was filmed using shaky camerawork...
. Written and directed by Jaume Balagueró
Jaume Balagueró
Jaume Balagueró i Bernat , is a Spanish film director widely known for his horror films.- Life :Jaume Balagueró was born in Lleida, and grew up in Barcelona. He studied communications and photography at the University of Barcelona, graduating in 1991 with a degree in Communication Sciences...
and Paco Plaza
Paco Plaza
Paco Plaza is a Spanish film director best known for writing and directing REC and REC 2 with Jaume Balagueró. He then went on to direct the REC series prequel REC:Genesis by himself while Jaume Balagueró directed the sequel REC Apocalypse....
, both of whom returned from the previous film, the story takes place immediately after the events of the first film, with producing company Filmax International describing it as having "the same claustrophobic concept" as REC but with "new means of transferring fear from the screen to the spectator through the recording lens."
Plot
Dr. Owen, an official from the Ministry of Health, and a Grupo Especial de OperacionesGrupo Especial de Operaciones
The Grupo Especial de Operaciones , commonly known as GEOs, are the Special Operations Forces of the Spanish Cuerpo Nacional de Policía of Spain. They are stationed in Guadalajara near the capital, Madrid. The GEO has response capabilities and is responsible for VIP protection duties, as well as...
(GEO) team equipped with helmet-mounted video cameras are sent into a quarantined apartment building to control the situation. Amongst the team are Jefe (leader), Martos, Larra, and Rosso (cameraman). After encountering some of the infected, Owen uses religious mantra and rosary to fight them off. It turns out that Owen is actually a priest sent by the Vatican to get a blood sample from the Medeiros girl and aid the other priest in charge of her.
When they get to the penthouse, they find out that the infected can travel all around the building through the air ducts. The Medeiros girl is nowhere to be found. Larra, one of the GEO officers goes into the air duct and finds a sample of her blood – the only one that the original priest took from her. Owen then performs a religious rite, and the blood spontaneously combusts, confirming that it is the blood he's looking for; however, the rest of the blood also sets on fire and Jefe drops it, rendering it useless. They must then get a blood sample from the Medeiros girl herself. Then suddenly a man holding a bag (later shown to be Jennifer's father) shows up and they fire on him and throw him on the floor, noticing some people down there (later shown to be Tito, Mire, Ori and the firefighter). They try to catch them, but they loose Martos and Larra. Then Rosso accidentaly drops the camera while fighting and it's too damaged to record anymore. Then the camera flicks out.
Meanwhile, Jennifer's father, who was outside getting medicine for his daughter (the infected girl from REC
REC (film)
REC is a 2007 Spanish horror film co-written and co-directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza.The film was released in Spain in November 2007. Balaguero and Plaza previously directed the 2002 documentary OT, The Movie. REC was filmed using shaky camerawork...
), manages to convince a firefighter to take him into the building. Moments before the building is quarantined, three teenagers named Tito, Mire and Ori are messing around on a roof. When the police quarantine the building, they find them and escort them out to the street. The teenagers gain access to the sealed building through the sewage system by following the firefighter and Jennifer's father; however, police have seen them and seal their exit. Inside, the teenagers find Jennifer's father and the firefighter.
After some deaths from attacks by the infected, the two groups find each other. Then the group find Angela Vidal, the reporter from REC. She has her camera with her. Tito gets bitten by the infected, and they restrain him. Owen then forces him to tell him where the Medeiros girl is. The demon possessing Tito tells him that she is "in the highest." Owen figures out that this means that she is in the penthouse. Jefe, the GEO team leader, argues that they had already cleared that area and did not see anything. The demon then gives a hint that the "light" blinds them from seeing the path. When Angela was asked how she saw the Medeiros girl, she said she saw it through the camera's night vision. Owen deduces that some things can only be seen in the dark. Before leaving, they lock Mire and Ori in a room for protection.
Finally, they go back to the penthouse. Using the camera's night vision as a guide, they enter a secret room leading to a pool of water similar to a well, into which the Medeiros girl pulls Jefe. Owen struggles to get the blood, but Angela uses the shotgun and kills the Medeiros girl. Owen is enraged at Angela for the blood sample, but all Angela wants is to leave the building. She, Owen and Rosso see a helicopter to evacuate the building. Angela tells Owen to authorize the exit, but Owen refuses to do so and must accomplish his mission. Angela, enraged, starts to beat him with the shotgun to force him to do so. Rosso tries to calm her down, but Angela kills him. After telling Owen that she does not need him to get out as she can impersonate his voice, she kills him. She takes his radio and, using Owen's voice, says that the mission is over and that they can let them out. She also tells them that he is staying behind because he is infected and the only survivor is a woman, Angela. When asked how the woman survived, Angela leans towards the camera and smiles with dark, bloodier eyes, revealing that she is infected.
The ending of the original film is shown. Angela is dragged by her feet into the dark but manages to crawl back into the camera's view. The Medeiros girl quickly gets on top of Angela and inserts a worm-like organism into Angela via the mouth. She then hears Owen and the GEO team, and goes into hiding, marking the beginning of the film.
Cast
- Jonathan Mellor as Dr. Owen
- Óscar Sanchez Zafra as "Jefe" (the Boss)
- Ariel Casas as Larra
- Alejandro Casaseca as Martos
- Pablo Rosso as Rosso
- Pep Molina as Jennifer's father
- Andrea Ros as Mire
- Àlex Batllori as Uri
- Pau Poch as Tito
- Juli Fábregas as Bullfighter
- Ferran Terraza as Manu
- Claudia Silva as Jennifer
- Martha Carbonell as Conchita Izquierdo
- Jorge-Yaman Serrano as young policeman
- Chen Min Kao as Japanese man
- Akemi Goto as Japanese woman
- David Vert as Álex
- Manuela VelascoManuela VelascoManuela Velasco is a Spanish TV presenter and actress. She was born in 1975 in Madrid, Spain.Velasco was made famous by starring in the lead role of the Spanish horror film REC and its sequel, REC 2.-Selected filmography:...
as Ángela Vidal
Production
Following the success of RECREC (film)
REC is a 2007 Spanish horror film co-written and co-directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza.The film was released in Spain in November 2007. Balaguero and Plaza previously directed the 2002 documentary OT, The Movie. REC was filmed using shaky camerawork...
, Jaume Balagueró
Jaume Balagueró
Jaume Balagueró i Bernat , is a Spanish film director widely known for his horror films.- Life :Jaume Balagueró was born in Lleida, and grew up in Barcelona. He studied communications and photography at the University of Barcelona, graduating in 1991 with a degree in Communication Sciences...
and Paco Plaza signed on for a sequel. Principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
began on November 10, 2008 and wrapped in December 2008. The film reunites the directors with many of the original cast and crew members of the previous film. It was shot in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
over six weeks.
Release
The film premiered at the 66th Venice International Film Festival66th Venice International Film Festival
The 66th annual Venice Film Festival held in Venice, Italy, was opened on September 2, 2009 by Baarìa - La porta del vento. International competition jury, led by Ang Lee, awarded Leone d'Oro to Lebanon...
, out of competition. It was also shown at the Midnight Madness portion of the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
2009 Toronto International Film Festival
The 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival, was held held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 10 and September 19, 2009. The opening night gala presented the Charles Darwin biography Creation...
, as well as the 2009 Fantastic Fest
Fantastic Fest
Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse, Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim McCanlies, writer of The Iron Giant and Secondhand Lions. The festival focuses on genre films such as horror,...
in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, and the 2009 Sitges Film Festival. It went on general release in Spain the first weekend of October, going to #1 in the Spanish box office and achieving the best opening weekend of the year for a Spanish film.
REC 2 was released in New Zealand theatres by Vendetta Films on November 13, 2009. The marketing budget for the film, NZ$7500, was used to create a website, where the remaining $5000 marketing budget would be given away to the member of the public who was judged responsible for the most good publicity generated for the release of the film. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
will release the film on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in October 2010. In March 2010 Magnolia Pictures acquired the rights for the US market and will screen the film in a theatrical release in July 2010. The distributor Magnolia pictures will screen the film on Video on Demand platforms on 4 June 2010 and released the film only on DVD. Magnolia has the film set with a release on 9 July 2010 and released on 30 March 2010 the UK trailer.
The film was released on May 28, 2010 in the UK. It is part of the Terror in the Aisles 4 at the Portage Theater
Portage Theater
Located at Six Corners in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago's Northwest Side, the Portage Theater is one of the oldest movie houses in Chicago. Designed by Mark D. Kalischer and Henry L. Newhouse, the Portage Theater opened on December 11, 1920 as the Portage Park Theatre...
in Chicago, Illinois.
Reception
REC 2 received generally positive reviews with a "fresh" 69% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 61 reviews. Some critics, however, have given the film very high praise: Little White LiesLittle White Lies
"Little White Lies" is a popular song.It was written by Walter Donaldson. The song was published in 1930. It was recorded on July 25, 1930 by Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians with vocal by Clare Hanlon and The Waring Girls...
gave the film 4/5 and called it "The greatest zombie sequel since Dawn of the Dead." Empire magazine also awarded the film 4 stars. Simon Cook summarised the film as "A hectic, hellish sequel that blends daring new ideas with a primal zombie wallop." Not all critics were as positive; the Daily Mirror awarded the film 2 stars, with reviewer David Edwards stating it was "a bit of a W[rec]k."
Sequels
On May 3, 2010, Bloody DisgustingBloody Disgusting
Bloody Disgusting is a website that covers horror movies with reviews, interviews and news. It is currently run by Brad Miska, and Tom Owen. According to one source, the site has 1.5 million unique visitors and 20 million page views each month. It is widely considered to be the "world's most...
announced that "...Filmax will produce two new [REC] films in the next couple of years called [REC]3 Génesis and [REC]4 Apocalypse from the same directors as the first two [REC] films." [REC]3 Génesis will be directed by returning director Paco Plaza. The third film will take place miles away from the setting of the first two installments after the infection has left the building. It will also contain prequel elements, documenting the original infection. The film will be released on March 30, 2012. REC 4: Apocalypse will be directed by returning director Jaume Balagueró
Jaume Balagueró
Jaume Balagueró i Bernat , is a Spanish film director widely known for his horror films.- Life :Jaume Balagueró was born in Lleida, and grew up in Barcelona. He studied communications and photography at the University of Barcelona, graduating in 1991 with a degree in Communication Sciences...
; this film will end the saga with the infection spreading to unknown proportions. The film has an expected release date of fall of 2012 or 2013.