''Rec 2'' (stylized as ''
€¢REC²'') is a 2009 Spanish
found footage horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
sequel to 2007's ''
Rec
REC or Rec is a shortening of Recording, the process of capturing data onto a storage medium.
REC may also refer to:
Educational institutes
* Regional Engineering College, colleges of engineering and technology education in India
* Rajalakshmi E ...
'' and the second installment of the
''Rec'' film series. The film was written and directed by
Jaume Balagueró
Jaume Balagueró Bernat (; born 2 November 1968) is a Spanish film director widely known for his horror films, most notably the acclaimed ''REC'' series.
Early life
Balagueró was born in Lleida, Spain, and grew up in Barcelona. He studied ...
and
Paco Plaza
Francisco Plaza Trinidad (born 8 February 1973), simply known as Paco Plaza, is a Spanish filmmaker known for his works in the horror genre. He is the co-creator of the ''REC'' zombie film franchise.
Career
Francisco Plaza Trinidad was born on ...
, both of whom returned from the previous film. The story takes place immediately after the events of the first film and follows a team of soldiers assigned to protect a scientist supposedly sent to investigate the cause of the outbreak, but who may already know more about it than he claims.
Several actors from the first film reprise their roles, mostly briefly appearing as infected versions of their characters. The film was followed by ''
Rec 3: Genesis''.
Plot
Dr. Owen (
Jonathan Mellor
Jonathan Mellor (born 27 December 1986) is a British long-distance runner. He competed in the 3000 metres event at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the fifteenth edition of t ...
), an official from the
Ministry of Health, and a heavily armed
GEO
Geo- is a prefix derived from the Greek word ''γη'' or ''γαια'', meaning "earth", usually in the sense of "ground or landâ€.
GEO or Geo may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''GEO'' (magazine), a popular scientific magazine ...
team of four (Fernandez, Martos, Rosso and Larra) equipped with video cameras are sent into a quarantined apartment building to find out what happened to its inhabitants, who have been rendered infectious and violent by a contagious virus. Ascending to the attic (where the first film ended) and finding it unoccupied, they return downstairs to investigate a disturbance and are attacked by infected residents.
During the investigation, Martos is infected while encountering some of the possessed residents. Owen then uses religious mantra and a
rosary
The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...
to hold him off in a room. He reveals that he is actually a priest sent by the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
to get a blood sample from a possessed girl named Tristana Medeiros, the root of the infection. The GEO operators search the apartment where Medeiros was held and find the body of Father Albelda, the original priest charged with the case of Medeiros's possession. They then find a sample of Medeiros's blood taken by Albelda, but lose it to Fernandez's improper handling. Owen tells them that the only way to accomplish the mission now is to get a blood sample from Tristana herself. They are attacked by a group of infected, and Larra, separated from the others and cornered into a room, commits suicide.
The father of Jennifer persuades a firefighter to help him enter the building through the sewers. They are unknowingly followed by three teenagers, Tito, Mire and Ori, and the police seal their exit. Jennifer's father is bitten and infected and killed by Owen and the GEO team, while the firefighter is attacked by Martos and killed accidentally by Mire, who kills Martos right after. After Tito is infected, Owen, Fernandez and Rosso find the group. They lock Mire and Ori in a room and encounter reporter Ãngela Vidal (
Manuela Velasco
Manuela Velasco DÃez (born 23 October 1975) is a Spanish actress and television presenter. She is known for playing Ãngela Vidal in the horror franchise ''REC'' (2007–2014), which won her a Goya Award—Spain's equivalent to the Oscars— ...
) shocked but safe. The group questions the possessed Tito and deduce from his cryptic answers that Medeiros is in the penthouse and that certain areas are only accessible in total darkness aside from
infrared
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
light.
The group finds a hidden door using the night vision on Ãngela's camera. They are attacked by Medeiros, who kills Fernandez, and attacks Owen before Ãngela blows her head off with a shotgun. Owen is enraged because he needed the blood sample, but the unnerved Ãngela can only think to leave the building. When Owen refuses to authorize their exit, Ãngela attacks him and kills Rosso when he attempts an intervention. It is revealed that the demon possessing Tristana has now possessed Ãngela. Ãngela kills Owen and imitates his voice to contact the authorities. She tells them that the mission has been accomplished, that Owen must stay inside due to being infected, and that the only survivor allowed to leave is Ãngela. A flashback then reveals what happened right before the story's beginning: Ãngela was captured by Medeiros and had a
vermiform
Vermiform (ˈvərməˌfôrm) describes something shaped like a worm. The expression is often employed in biology and anatomy to describe usually soft body parts or animals that are more or less tubular or cylindrical. The word root is Latin, ''ve ...
organism orally transmitted into her. As the response team arrived, Ãngela went into hiding.
Cast
Production
Following the success of ''
Rec
REC or Rec is a shortening of Recording, the process of capturing data onto a storage medium.
REC may also refer to:
Educational institutes
* Regional Engineering College, colleges of engineering and technology education in India
* Rajalakshmi E ...
'',
Jaume Balagueró
Jaume Balagueró Bernat (; born 2 November 1968) is a Spanish film director widely known for his horror films, most notably the acclaimed ''REC'' series.
Early life
Balagueró was born in Lleida, Spain, and grew up in Barcelona. He studied ...
and Paco Plaza signed on for a sequel.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began on 10 November 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 ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
over six weeks.
Release
The
film premiere
A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition.
A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its fi ...
d at the
66th Venice International Film Festival
The 66th annual Venice International Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, was held from 2 to 12 September 2009, with Maria Grazia Cucinotta serving as the festival's hostess. The opening film of the festival was '' Baarìa'' by Giuseppe Torn ...
, out of competition. It was also shown at the Midnight Madness portion of the
2009 Toronto International Film Festival
The 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 10 and September 19, 2009. The opening night gala presented the Charles Darwin biography ''Creation''. ''The Young Victoria'', based ...
, as well as the 2009
Fantastic Fest
Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Alamo Drafthouse, Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim McCanlies, writer of ''The Iron Gi ...
in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
,
and the 2009
Sitges Film Festival
The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantà stic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...
. It went on general release in Spain the first weekend of October, going to No. 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 theaters by Vendetta Films on 13 November 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 (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation.
Background
SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...
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 28 May 2010 in the UK. It is part of the Terror in the Aisles 4 at the
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. The Portage Theater opened on December 11, 1920 as the Portage Park Theatre (the former name ...
in Chicago, Illinois.
Reception
''Rec 2'' received generally positive reviews. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has a "fresh" 68% rating based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 6.21/10. The site's consensus states: "It lacks the surprising jolt of the first installment, but ''
EC2'' almost maintains the original's chilling momentum – and proves not all horror sequels were made equal".
Reviewing the film in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Jeannette Catsoulis praised the sound design and the directing, but criticised the sequel's lack of terror found in the original film, and its anti-Catholic sentiment and repetitive staging.
''
Little White Lies'' gave the film 4/5 and called it "The greatest zombie sequel since ''
Dawn of the Dead''".
''
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' also awarded the film 4 stars, saying: "Here’s a horror juddering with such in-your-face malevolent energy, it’s like being caught in a first-person shooter possessed by the devil".
However, the ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...
'' awarded the film 2 stars, and reviewer David Edwards stated it was "a bit of a W
ec."
Sequels
On 3 May 2010,
Bloody Disgusting
Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. ...
announced that "...Filmax will produce two new ''
EC' films in the next couple of years called ''
EC3: Genesis'' and ''
EC4'' with the same directors as the first two films."
''Genesis'' was released on 30 March 2012, and centers on an outbreak in a distant location from the original apartment building, also having prequel elements. ''
EC4'' ended the saga with the infection spreading on a ship. The movie was released 31 October 2014 .
See also
*
List of Spanish films of 2009
A list of Spanish-produced and co-produced feature films released in Spain in 2009. When applicable, the domestic theatrical release date is favoured.
Films
Box office
The ten highest-grossing Spanish films in 2009, by domestic box office ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
Facebook Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rec 2
2009 films
2009 horror films
2009 independent films
Apocalyptic films
Demons in film
Films about infectious diseases
Films directed by Jaume Balagueró
Films directed by Paco Plaza
Films set in apartment buildings
Films set in Barcelona
Films shot in Barcelona
Films with screenplays by Jaume Balagueró
Found footage films
Rec (film series)
Religious horror films
2000s supernatural horror films
Spanish independent films
2000s Spanish-language films
Spanish sequel films
Spanish supernatural horror films
Filmax films
Castelao Producciones films
2000s Spanish films