[REC]2

[REC] is easily one of the scariest movies of the millennium. The sequel, [REC]2, is even scarier. You’re forgiven if you haven’t caught [REC] yet. It is, after all, a low budget Spanish horror film that never had North American distribution. [REC] was a film festival darling, though. So much so that the rights to it were quickly acquired so that a shot-for-shot English language remake called Quarantine could be made. Oddly, the remake, which did quite well, was playing in theatres as the original was still doing the festival circuit.

[REC] was shot with a handheld camera and the technique works exceptionally well. The film begins with a newswoman shooting a fluffy story about what goes on at a firehouse overnight. Everything is pretty boring until the firehall receive a routine call to help a woman trapped in her apartment. When they enter the woman’s apartment, something’s not right. She’s exhibiting some aggressive, rabies-like tendencies and attacks and bites a policeman. Bullets barely stop her and guess what? The guy she bit is acting like he has rabies now too. It gets worse, the military just quarantined the building and the occupants are trapped and forced to fight for their lives inside a creepy apartment complex.

To give much more away would ruin the movie, but let’s just say the outbreak sure as hell ain’t rabies. The action in [REC] is uncomfortably close and the terror comes from every angle. [REC]2 takes place 15 minutes after the first movie ended. A SWAT team is going to enter the building to investigate what happened. This time, the cameras on their helmets are doing the recording.

I had the chance to sit down with co-writers/directors Jaume Balagueron and Paco Plaza before their movie assaulted audiences at the 34th Toronto International Film Festival.

Recording! First off, your movie scared the shit out of me. Congratulations.
Paco: Good!

I’m actually a little paranoid that while we’re talking something is going to jump out of the closet and attack me.
Paco: Relax.

I’ll try. What’s the reaction been to [REC]2 so far?
Paco: We’ve just screened it in Venice and the reactions have been very good, very positive. We’re very happy about that. Being the second part of a film that was very popular—not here, because it wasn’t released—we felt a responsibility not to disappoint the fans. We went to Venice and it was the first contact with a real audience. I think we passed the exam.

I felt you needed to see [REC] to fully appreciate [REC]2…
Paco: You think that?

Well, I don’t think you’d get the ending of [REC]2 if you hadn’t seen the first. That’s just one man’s opinion though.
Paco: We wanted it to be independent—that you can see it by itself. But, you know, there are lots of things, tiny details, if you’ve seen the first one that you’ll enjoy. We wanted to avoid the feeling that you’re missing something if you haven’t seen the first one. That thing you just said really spoiled my morning.

Fuck, I’m sorry I ruined your day.
Paco: We tried to be very careful with that. We wanted new people to see the film. But if we failed, I’m sorry.

Don’t listen to me. I’m sorry. It’s still a terrifying movie and I loved it. The scares you’re doing in the movie are a pretty simple idea. It’s like, guy in a scary mask jumping out and screaming “boo!” But it works every single time in both movies. Every single time you got me and it’s never repetitive. What’s the trick to keeping this fresh in two movies now?
Jaume: I think the most important thing is to always play with the expectations of the audience. Genre movie fans have a culture; they’re always expecting something. You have to play with that. If they’re expecting something, you have to wait. If they’re not expecting, it’s time to bring it. It’s almost like a game.

Do you know it’s going to work when you’re writing, directing and editing the movie?
Paco: I hope it works but you can’t be sure. We are big fans of lots of genre movies. We’ve seen thousands of them. More or less, you try to do the things you think will work for you.

You guys both studied video journalism. Is making movies like [REC] how someone gets a job with a journalism degree these days?
Paco: Huh?
Jaume: I studied journalism because I needed something to study. People told me journalism was a good way to get into directing movies. I worked as a journalist for two or three years at a radio station in Barcelona. But I wasn’t very interested. All I wanted to do was make movies.

Did studying journalism help you sculpt the story and aesthetic style for [REC]?
Paco: No, I think it just came from watching a lot of TV.

Let’s talk about Spanish horror. Is Spain producing the best horror movies in the world right now?
Jaume: No. I think there are some very interesting horror movies being made in Spain. But I also think there are very interesting horror movies being made in Europe and the United States. I think people are always using the “country thing” for hype. I remember 10 years ago it was Japanese and Korean movies. Now it’s Spain. But if you talk to a Spanish person about horror movies in Spain, they won’t know anything about it.

Let’s talk about Quarantine! Was it satisfying seeing Quarantine play pretty big in North America?
Paco: No, I can’t talk about Quarantine. He can. Jaume: I saw it. For me, it’s a very weird experience. It’s the same movie with different actors. I’m not the person to tell you if it’s good or bad. But it was disturbing for me.

Finally, are you at all concerned your movies will give someone a heart attack?
Paco: I hope not. But if it scares the shit of you… that’s good. That’s what we want.

Words: Michael Mann