[Rec]² (2009) - 6/10
A SWAT team and a medical officer investigate an apartment complex ravaged by an infectious virus.
Taking place moments after the original film, [Rec]² stars Jonathan Mellor as Dr. Owen, a Ministry of Health official who joins four heavily armed Spanish National Police officers (Ariel Casas, Alejandro Casaseca, Pablo Rosso, Oscar Sánchez Zafra) to infiltrate the ill-fated apartment building from the first [Rec] movie. As the group works to investigate what caused the outbreak, all is not is as it appears to be.
Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza both return to the Director's chairs for this sequel, and [Rec]² feels like an extension of the original film. Whereas [Rec] was a "found footage film" from the perspective of a TV crew, here we see the events through a combination of helmet cameras worn by the police officers, as well as a camera one of them carries.
Though the film visually looks the same, the narrative quality is a step down from the original [Rec] film. The set up is good; the film builds dread early because you know these characters are walking into an absolute charnel house. There are also a couple really great sequences from the POV of the helmet cams. However, the plot seems to run out of gas pretty quickly, and the middle of the movie is follows a group of different characters in what ultimately culminates in a meaningless subplot.
Additionally, you have to suspend your disbelief more in this film. In [Rec], it made sense that the camera man would film the ordeal because he really didn't have anything better to do, and the crap didn't really hit the fan until the end. By comparison, in [Rec]², things are dialed up to a 10 very early on. Despite this, instead of shooting zombies with his submachine gun, one of the soldiers instead stands around holding a big camera and recording his comrades being attacked throughout the course of the film. It just doesn't work logically; the directors should've relied on the helmet cameras way more than they did.
Even with some flaws though, [Rec]² is a decent sequel that follows the same model as Halloween II (1981), continuing moments after the original film. I wouldn't put it at Halloween II's level in terms of quality, but if you enjoyed [Rec], it's worth checking out to see how the rest of the night transpires.
You're Next (2011) - 4/10
A family getaway turns into a nightmare when a group of men wearing animal masks conduct a siege on a vacation home.
You're Next stars Sharni Vinson as Erin, a student who joins her boyfriend Crispin (A.J. Bowen) on a weekend retreat in rural Missouri to celebrate his parents' wedding anniversary. Also attending this getaway are Crispin's three siblings and their partners, bringing the party total to 10. As they sit down to enjoy dinner, the party is viciously attacked by a group wearing animal masks. With communications cut off, the partygoers have no choice but to fight back...
Directed by Adam Wingard, You're Next is a low budget siege film in the vein of something like John Carpenter's Assault of Precinct 13 (1976). Made for only $1M, the film was successful commercially ($27M box office) and currently has a very respectable 6.6 rating on IMDB. I love siege films, horror films, and low budget films. Why didn't I like this?
The shaky cam. The stupid, stupid shaky cam. Unless I mistakenly watched this movie on a boat and not on my living room couch, this film has the most egregious shaky cam I've ever seen. It ranged from frustrating in some scenes, to unbearable in others, and at times included motion interpolation ("soap opera effect"). Even the calm scenes of this movie, the camera was unstable. People have been making movies for over a century and have been able to convey dread, horror, and tension just fine without using this terrible technique - which mostly just succeeds in giving the audience a headache.
I could make this whole movie's review about the camera not being steady, but I've made my point. As far as the plot goes, it was somewhat by the numbers. It was very easy to guess the film's "twist" early on, and once you do, it's just a waiting came for it to be revealed as the body count rises. I couldn't help but feel the movie could've been over in five minutes if either party (good or bad) had a gun. That's more of a nitpick, but once you find out the motivations of the antagonists, their methods aren't very efficient.
You're Next's characters were a mixed bag, as most of them were unlikable, and others were underdeveloped. One character has a survivalist background, but it feels underused; they don't do anything too special. To make matters worse, most of the characters are fairly dense, often splitting up with no weapons when they know the assailants are in the house. Hey, gotta get the bodycount up somehow, right?
Overall, You're Next was a frustrating watch. The seizure-style camera work flat out ruined the movie for me, and the predictable plot didn't help matters. Clearly I am in the minority as this film seems to be loved, so take this review with a grain of salt.
