Rec 2 (2009)

Back in 2007 when the cinema verité style of filmmaking was still reasonably fresh, writer/director Jaume Balagueró released his Spanish language horror film effort to huge critical acclaim. It was an excellent film in every way with many truly frightening scenes. Fast forward a few years and we are treated to the inevitable sequel that was hugely anticipated by the fans of the original. Suffice to say it’s a huge disappointment that seems to have forgotten the elements that made the original so popular.

The sequel picks up exactly where the original film ended but this time the action follows a team of Spanish police as they are tasked with entering the building to escort in a medical officer and to search for survivors. They are almost immediately set upon by the infected inhabitants leading the loss of one of the team. After pressing the medical officer for answers it seems as if things are not as they seem and the cause of the infection is much more sinister than a simple infection.

The actual story behind the action of Rec 2 is very good as it ends up going in a completely unexpected direction. There is a much more complex film with many more plot points than the original that even brings in a supernatural element to the story. The problem lies with the films execution; to put it bluntly it plays out more like an action computer game than a film. Gone are frightening scenes of the original that have been replaced by countless action scenes that simply don’t work and are almost incomprehensible at times due to the overuse of shaky cam. The camera point of view shifts at various times from soldier to soldier which almost feels as if you are changing character in a first person shooter game. I really can’t stress enough how similar this looks to the countless zombie games that are flooding the market. Balagueró has actually managed to come up an interesting back story for the infection and if he focused on the slow building tension and scare tactics of the original then this sequel would have been every bit as good as the original. The final twenty minutes are excellent as the plot unfolds without the silly action scenes. Sadly it’s not enough though and we end up with a severely inferior sequel despite the good ideas.

Rec 2 is a huge disappointment that ends up feeling like you are watching someone play a computer game. It’s unfortunate as it has an interesting back story and some nice ideas but suffers from its execution. More of an action film than a horror; this comes no where near to matching the quality of the original.

4/10

The Howling (1981)

The werewolf sub-genre is one that Hollywood has always struggled with. Despite their being a plethora of such films, most of them are beyond awful with very few of them actually providing good entertainment. One of the few is Joe Dante’s much loved 1981 film called The Howling, a film that manages to strike just the right balance between comedy and horror in order to be a success.

The story focuses on a female newsreader that has a near fatal and strange encounter with a serial killer that is obsessed with her. In order to help her overcome her ordeal, her psychiatrist sends the newswomen to a rehabilitation retreat but it soon becomes apparent that her fellow inhabitants may not be what they seem and there may be an ulterior motive for her being sent to the retreat.

Director Joe Landis has managed to create a fun and entertaining film because despite it being primarily a horror film it never takes itself too seriously. Admittedly the basic premise is nothing new, a person being sent away only to a retreat only to find out the inhabitants are not quite human has been done countless times before but The Howling is so well written that it still manages to seem fresh. A lot of people forget that this film was released before its much more famous cousin An American Werewolf in London and was undoubtedly an inspiration for the special effects in that film. Obviously there was no CGI available at the time so the transformation scenes all had to be done using practical effects and they look great. Yes the werewolves themselves look a little hokey and not in slightest bit frightening but it doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of the film. Perhaps the only real downside is that it takes a little while to get to the main storyline but once the werewolves start attacking it’s good old fashioned horror fun despite it not being frightening in the slightest.

The so called twist is painfully obvious and the storyline has been done to death but Joe Landis has made his film with a sense of fun which provides solid entertainment throughout.

7/10