[REC] 2

"[REC] 2" begins directly where the first film left off. As reporter Angela Vidal is being dragged off into the darkness, a swat team, led by an agent of the Ministry of Health is infiltrating the building. As it turns out, the Ministry of Health agent, is actually a priest, and has been sent to extract a blood sample, in an effort to develop an antidote to "the virus".

You'll quickly notice the difference between the two films. [REC] 2 takes a concept that was quickly touched upon at the end of [REC} and expands on it for the length of the film. I'm talking, of course, about the religious subtext. The suggestion that the virus, is somehow related to demonic possession. In the ending of the first film, it wasn't laid out in black and white. You could clearly see that they were trying to make a connection, but it was never actually explained in gory detail. My interpretation of the ending, was apparently way off. I thought what they were trying to say, was that the scientist had proven that what people had once thought was demonic possession, was actually a biological virus, much like the zombie virus. Apparently though, what they were saying is, possession it's self is the virus. That demonic possession can be spread communicably. I'll give them one thing, this is definitely a different kind of take on this sub genre of film. Never have I seen anyone try to even link these two things together.

For the most part, this approach works. It's a shock to the system at first, and several of the scenes that involve the zombie-demon communicating through the random infected were a bit over the top. One scene in particular is very reminiscent of the exorcist, in tone, and appearance. Once you really get into the story though, it settles in, and you're able to engage in the film despite everything you thought about the original being shaken to it's core.

"[REC] 2" is creepy, brutal, and claustrophobic. There were several jump scares, where a zombie-demon made an unexpected appearance that nearly made me piss my pants. There's a split in the middle of the film, where the swat team's camera dies, and we're introduced to another set of characters. These characters, not only eventually meet up with the characters from the beginning of the film, continuing the story seamlessly, but they're also rejoined by Angela, from the first film. I thought it was a pretty clever plot device, and it definitely elevated my experience.

Some purists may not be able to handle the drastic switch, from zombie movie, to unique possession movie, but it's a hell of a ride. In my opinion, it's every bit as spooky, and intense as the first film, and it expands on the story. Isn't that what a sequel is supposed to do?

7.5/10