rec 2

I like Jaume Blaguero and Paco Plaza's [REC] so much that I wish I disliked Quarantine, the beat-for-beat American remake, more, but I just can't bring myself to it. Sure, it's unoriginal, but because it hems so close to the magnificent [REC] it ends up being actually pretty decent despite the remake stigma. But what of Quarantine 2, you ask? How will it fit into the [REC]-verse?

Shock 'til You Drops' source tells us Sony's Screen Gems has just hired Ghost Ship writer John Pogue to both write and direct the Quarantine sequel. However, it looks like Q2 is not going to be a remake of [REC] 2. The first films may have been almost identical, but it looks like horror fans are in for a breath of fresh air on both ends as the two projects have nothing to do with one another. [REC] 2 takes place immediately after the events of the first film and is, for the most part, still confined to the same virus-infected apartment building, only it ups the sequel ante considerably with some characters and twists and turns that are best left unsaid.

Quarantine 2, on the other hand, is going to break free from its title action with a jump from the apartment building to an airport setting. I actually think that's a pretty cool idea (especially since it's not a remake) as I can imagine the larger area to be quarantined could make for some really great set pieces. There's only one problem, though. Shock also reports that Q2 is being shaped as a straight-to-video film. That obviously doesn't mean it'll be an inherently small, but grand production design isn't exactly what STV films are known for. Either way, put me down for 'mildly interested.'

[Written by Luke Mullen.]

First, there was [REC] and it was good. Then there was Quarantine which wasn't too bad and hopefully alerted some people to the existence of [REC]. And then there was [REC] 2, the long-awaited sequel that US fans are still clamoring to see. A few of the lucky ones may have been able to catch it at the Toronto film festival or here in Austin at Fantastic Fest, but the majority of horror lovers have had to patiently await some news of a US release.

Sadly, I have no such news. As Bloody Disgusting reported, after its premiere at Toronto, Sony picked up the rights to distribute [REC] 2 on home video. With no indications of a theatrical release, it looks like we're at Sony's mercy to see the sequel finally hit American shores.

But wait! There may be hope yet!

Even though I got my start writing about horror by creating a blog called Horror's Not Dead, I don't jive with the idea that good horror is becoming an endangered species. Sure, who is actually making and delivering good horror is always in a state of flux, but considering the sheer crop of films to choose from is constantly on the rise, there will always be gems to found. Now before getting to the list proper, let's explain my own personal criteria for what qualifies as a 2009 film.

Basically, what matters is if the film was given its widest release during the course of the year. For example, despite being first shown publicly years ago, I consider Trick 'r Treat an eligible title, as 2009 finally found it going wide (albeit straight-to-video). Daybreakers, on the other hand, played a few festivals in 2009 but will not have its wide release until 2010. Conversely, most people in America won't see [REC] 2 until 2010 or beyond, but it went wide in its native Spain in 2009, thus it is eligible. Make sense? On to the show!

10. Paranormal Activity
I went back and forth on excluding Paranormal Activity from my Top 10 list because, really, it didn't do much for me in the scare department. I found it pulse pounding to watch for the first time, but it has scarcely popped into my brain since then. However, I do remain in awe of what Oren Peli accomplished with a mere $15,000. I have a lot of respect for the process that goes into engineering any thrill ride, so to speak, so even if it didn't severely impact me, it still commands a placement.

9. Thirst (my review)
Chan-wook Park's Thirst is, hands down, not only the best vampire film of the year, but I'd put it in league with another similarly atypical fang-set film, Let the Right One In. It's not particularly scary, but it is a deft, engrossing blend of lust and violence that gets back to the eroticism of the vampire that no film (or TV show) has properly explored in years. If you're feeling burned out on vampires these days, and that would be perfectly understandable, at least put this in your Must Watch queue simply because it's another brilliant film from the mind of the man who gave the world Oldboy.

[REC] 2 (review) is a Godsend as far as sequels go. Even though it takes place in the same virus-infected apartment building found in the original Spanish film, it doesn't retread the same ground. It charges forward guns blazing, evolving and re-inventing itself whenever and where it needs to. It's not as scary as the first film, mind you, but its energy is as infectious as the fictional disease that turns the innocent into raving maniacs. And now you can see the first five minutes of it from the comfort of your own...whatever you're sitting on while you read this!

The video comes by way of the French site Allocine and should give you a nice taste of what the movie is about without spoiling anything. Check it out:

I like that the original [REC]'s real-time unraveling of an apartment building under quarantine for a mysterious virus that turns the infected into fluid spewing, flesh clawing maniacs is logistically conducive to a sequel. I really like that returning filmmakers Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza can pick up from the second they left off and tell another (almost real-time) story still shot entirely in the first-person perspective without being confined to a single camera's viewpoint thanks to our new story proxies by way of a doctor and his four SWAT-team escorts. And I absolutely love how [REC] 2 not only upgrades some aspects of the apartment, of the virus, and of the victims, but it completely overhauls the presentation of the proceedings. Yet I still have one nag.

[REC] 2 is not scary. Not one bit, actually. Even after 4 or 5 viewings (and the American remake, Quarantine), [REC] still turns my circulatory system into a NASCAR event, but none of that pulse dominating terror and anticipation is matched in the sequel. But what Balaguero and Plaza don't deliver in the fear department, they deliver in the idea department. [REC] 2 may not be scary, but it damn sure has more concept and convention re-toolings than you can shake a rail-thin, pale-white, string-haired woman wielding a claw hammer at.

Well, you've already seen what Weinberg and Hall were most looking forward to with regards to Fantastic Fest 2009: The Fantast-ening, and I fall somewhere in between, having already seen some damn good films and yet eagerly anticipated a great deal more -- and that's not to mention the Secret Screenings!

I'm putting my picks in alphabetical order, because numerical order would be like asking me to pick a favorite child that I haven't even met yet. Or something. Whatever. On with the list!

District 13: Ultimatum

What is it? -- A sequel to 2006's severely kick-ass District 13 (or B13 in the States), in which the eponymous ghetto is once again in danger... unless a certain cop (Cyril Raffaelli) and a certain vigilante (David Belle) team up once more to eliminate the threat.

Why am I excited? -- "Parkour!"

Fantastic Fest may be in its fifth year as one of the World's Coolest Film Festivals, but as far as I'm concerned this is year one. That's because this is my first crack at the geek mecca held annually in Austin, TX, and since the entire world revolves around me, I think we can all agree to reset the counter. No? Fine. At least indulge these picks for my Top 5 Most Anticipated Films at Fantastic Fest Five.

5. Rampage, Directed by Uwe Boll (Canada)
That's right, out of the 100+ films at Fantastic Fest, one of my top 5 is the latest from House of the Dead and Bloodrayne mastermind Uwe Boll. Never mind the fact that the notorious German is going to be present to do a Rampage Q&A (his appearances are, as legend tells, phenomenal, hilarious, maddening insights into his, uh, talents), I've actually heard very good things about the film.

Programming Description: "Fed up with his dead-end life, Bill constructs a full-body kevlar armor suit and rampages through the streets of his hometown killing everyone in sight, particularly the barista that failed to make him a proper macchiato."

Extent of Exposure: I've only read the description, seen the poster and heard a detail-less thumbs up.

HorrorSquad papabear Scott Weinberg is currently at the Toronto International Film Festival getting an early perusal of all kinds of films the rest will have to wait months to see. And to make the wait even worse, it seemed best to bring over a few excerpts from Weinberg's FEARnet reviews of three highly anticipated genre films.

Daybreakers, Directed by the Spierig Brothers, 2009
In other words, if Undead showed you that the filmmakers grew up on great, gory zombie flicks and starry-eyed sci-fi invasions, then Daybreakers indicates that they also really dug John Carpenter, Richard Matheson, Raymond Chandler, and Philip K. Dick. (The eye-dazzling city-scapes found here show a lot of Blade Runner-ish influences, and that's only one of the surface touches.) It's a rock-solid afternoon matinee sort of movie, packed as it is with so many disparate genre influences, not to mention a fine Ethan Hawke performance (as Dalton), and a truly fun turn by Willem Defoe as a vamp-hunter with a big secret. Best of all, everyone from the stars and the directors down to the set designers seem to approach Daybreakers with a cock-eyed grin, but the flick also takes it own universe just seriously enough.

Read his full thoughts here.

So Peter got all excited for the first wave of announced titles for Fantastic Fest, despite having never been before. Then Scott brought the love when it came to the second announcement, having been time and time before. And now it's my turn to assure you that, after having only attended last year, I really, truly can't wait for this year's festivities to kick off, and the most recent reveal of what's on the slate certainly didn't hurt my interest.

The controversial Antichrist will make its U.S. premiere, as will [REC] 2 (hec yeah!). The director of Ninja Assassin will be there with his film, the stars of Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant will be there with theirs (read: John C. Reilly), and the very clever Hirsute bodes well for the shorts program to boot. And there'll even be a couple of secret screenings that we can only hope our fellow Twitter types will have the courtesy not to spoil prior.

Check out the rest after the jump. 17 more days!

- [REC] 2 has a final trailer and a (mostly) positive first review.

- The Ward, John Carpenter's return to theatrical horror gains a few cast members: Joining psychward stars Amber Heard and Danielle Panabaker are Mika Boorem, Laura-Leigh, Sydney Sweeney, Dan Anderson, Susanna Burney, Sali Sayle, Lyndsy Fonseca, and the great Jared Hariss.

- Lionsgate will distribute the After Dark Films production Husk, which will be a feature length adaptation of a short film about killer scarecrows. Devon Graye (the teenage Dexter) is set to star. See the original short below.