The other night I was one of the lucky 1,000 people to see the premiere of Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza’s REC 2, the explosive and energetic sequel to the Spanish horror film that is a favorite among many horror fans. We caught up with the directors who chatted about the first screening, where the idea came from and how to make a scary movie.

Plaza explains that while the film screened at Venice, this was the true premiere for them. “The first one was in Venice a couple weeks ago. [Last night] was the first screening with a real audience - young people and supporters of the genre. So, for us it was a treat and the first important screening with an audience.”

Ever since I saw REC back at the AFM market in 2007, I have been wondering where the idea came from. Balaguero explains that a casual conversation over drinks turned into a legendary night. “The idea for REC came during a conversation between us around horror movies,” he explains, “[We were] drinking on a terrace in Barcelona and talking about horror movies, which ones we like and don’t like, and trying to find out the way to make a more effective horror movie - more scary. We had the idea of the TV language, subjective camera and real-time narrative, like in the TV shows…reality shows. We were excited about the idea and interested in making the film as an experiment, but very cheap, something fresh, with our friends. We made it together because the idea came from both of us. ”

Being that both Spanish directors have worked previously with Filmax, they explained that it wasn’t all too hard to get them on board to produce. “Yeah, in fact we’ve made films with Filmax, I’ve made three before,” Balaguero explains. “We went in with the idea and they were excited about it because it was very different and cheap. We could make it very cheap, quickly and make it fresh. They were very interested.”

Plaza adds that because it was cheap, they weren’t worried if it flopped. But no worries, it performed well over expectations. “It [made] 8x the budget of the film. Even if it were a failure, it wouldn’t be a problem for them because it was cheap. We were overwhelmed with the reaction.”

Speaking of success, the duo had openly stated they wouldn’t come back for a sequel, yet they did.

“The excitement of the audience [brought us back],” explains Balaguero adding that he wanted to throw an even bigger party. “People were really excited about the movie and we were ecstatic with the reactions. People were enjoying the party, the party was finished and we wanted to make a new party and invite them to our new party. This time [it would be a] longer party with more cranes, more music and more fun.”

The night before the duo teased that a third film might even happen, they chat a little more about their involvement. “It’s impossible not to [think about a sequel] because in making the film we spent a lot of time together,” Plaza exclaims. “I still don’t think we are going to make it,” adding, “But we do have some ideas.” Plaze also explained that Filmax doesn’t need their permission to greenlit a third film, but they’d be involved at some capacity. “<>They don’t need our permission…[we’ll] probably well be involved as credit producer or executive producer.”

One of the more interesting aspects of our chat is where we talked about making a movie scary. What does it take? Both Balaguero and Plaza knew exactly what it took, and it begins with making the situation realistic.

“It depends, there are a lot of elements that have to do with this aspect of the movie,” Balaguero tells us. “One thing probably most important is the credibility. If you believe the characters in the movie you believe the story. When you are seeing the movie you are feeling what’s true, and for a couple of hours living that story inside [the screen],” he continues, “and you forget the real life and think that you are living that story. Then the movie can be scary or whatever you want. That’s the most important thing, credibility, the characters have to be believable.”

“That’s the only thing, you [the viewer] believing that they [the characters] are real people,” adds Plaza. “If you believe these people exist and when they are in danger you’ll feel for them.”

**Editor’s Note: Heavy spoilers follows**

REC 2 really kicks things up a notch, in fact, the zombies are actual a bunch of demons that have possessed the human host. It’s a concept that was quite dangerous to tinker with, as it easily could have been cheesy.

“There was a danger, we knew it,” Plaza tells Bloody Disgusting. “There was a thin line and we were conscious that we were pushing it. We decided that a strategy in terms of their reaction, we wanted it to be the reaction you would have in the situation. We have one of them laughing and saying ‘bullsh*t.’ The other one is saying ‘well I don’t care, just tell me what to do,’ because it would be dangerous if they just assumed it was real. We needed the audience to empathize with those characters and feeling that their reactions are real. When [the characters] believe you will as well.” He adds with a smile, “We knew we were playing with fire, no?”

“Yeah. At the same time, we all want to make a movie that would be taken serious by the audience,” Balaguero adds. “They can interact with a movie - laughing, clapping, screaming, all those things, you know? We presented this as a big homage to the genre with demons and infected, with all these things we love in the genre.”

In the climax of the film we learn that not everything can be seen in the light, a new concept that took REC 2 to uncharted territory.

“Mostly in the first one [we are given this idea] and then when we were talking about the end we begin to fantasize that Medeiros lives in the dark, but not in dark place, but IN the dark,” Balaguero explains. “We only show it in the first one with night vision, and in this one we had the clue to say she can only be seen in the dark and the path to her, as the priest finds out, are secret places that only exist when it’s dark. We thought it was a beautiful ideas to play with. At the same time it’s very visual and very simple but it really works.”

While no explanation is given as to the demon’s goals, the directors have their own ideas. “I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it, it’s too scary,” explains Balaguero. “I guess just to spread evil, evil is everywhere.”

Plaza adds, “If the demon is out of the building, the infection would spread around the world. The demon wants to leave the building.”

As most of you saw in REC, the demon woman is incredibly skinny, the directors explain how it was created.

“It’s amazing and similar to the way he looks in real life, except the make-up and prosthetics, with the bobs,” says Plaza, “but he’s really, really tall and a skinny, skinny person. He has played in a lot of horror films. He’s a big horror fan and loves to be the monster in films. He has this stunning presence. The creature was built from his shape.”

One of the best parts of REC 2 is that it’s a quick watch and at no point are the viewers bored. We asked if they made a conscious effort to make to short.

“Sure, sure. We were obsessed with the idea of making pure entertaining,” Balaguero adds with a smile. “[There’s] no time to be bored, no time to think about nothing. Scares, stress, tension…because in terms of horror movies, the genre, this is the essence of all of that.”

REC 2 opens in Spain this October with Sony Home Entertainment releasing here in the States next year.