[Rec 2]

Picking up in parallel from where its 2007 progenitor left us hanging, [Rec]² postpones newscaster Ángela’s (Velasco) plight to document the mission of a small SWAT team under the command of Ministry of Health specialist, Dr Owen (Mellor). They must scale a quarantined apartment block in order to retrieve a blood sample that may hold the key to the infection’s antidote. Everything is going well until one of their men is bitten by a rabid woman, instantly contracting the illness himself. The operation quickly degenerates into a fight for survival against the tower’s zombified residents as the men discover that there are powerful forces at play beyond their imaginations.

The ‘camcorder horror’ subgenre is currently enjoying a peak in popularity following last year’s sleeper hit, Paranormal Activity. This latest entry marks a much-anticipated appendage to the original [Rec] which boasted the most visceral video experience since Blair Witch. With the same production team behind the lens, [Rec]² does not disappoint in delivering a cinematic ride as raw and tense as the first. Yet the directors are bold enough to give this film a different trajectory: diverging from simple shock value and gore to flesh out the explanation of the infection’s religious and pseudo-scientific origins hinted at in the original’s climax. But fear not, thrill-seekers; the scares still come in thick and fast! In fact, the frights and revelations take us right up to the closing shot, with an ending that unsubtly screams ‘sequel’.

Living up to expectations, fans of the first film should relish this continuation of one of the edgiest horrors around, and whilst newcomers may lose some of the series’ contextual richness, both crowds will doubtlessly squirm in [Rec]²’s sheer claustrophobic terror.

Owen Rye