Release Date: August 2, 2011
Studio: Sony / Stage 6
Genre: Horror / Suspense
Rated: R    1 hr 26 mins

Quarantine 2: Terminal

Reviewer: Rottenbucher

*Comments:

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Quarantine was a pretty crummy remake of the impressive Spanish film Rec.  The American version was actually tamer and had the distinction of being one of the “found footage” genre’s worst.  (The vastly overrated Paranormal Activity franchise now holds the title.) So on the base level, the sequel should be a stinker, right?  Wrong!  Quarantine 2: Terminal not only outshines the original, but also isn’t a remake of or even based on Rec2.  In fact, outside of the connection to the rabid fiends and one aspect of the first film, Quarantine 2: Terminal is almost completely a standalone yarn. And fear not, it’s not akin to the Snakes on a Plane spoofing Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane either.

Flight attendants Jenny (Mercedes Masohn) and Paula (Bre Blair) are making the most of a nearly empty red-eye. Aside from a couple trying to film their attempts to make the mile high club, everyone is pretty reserved or snoozing.  Handsome elementary teacher Henry (Josh Cooke) is worried about his hamsters he brought aboard, but watching the web-cast of a news report about an ongoing quarantine in Los Angeles and peaking down Jenny’s blouse seems to dominate all of his attention.  So much so, that he is unaware one of his hamsters bit one of the passengers. Said passenger soon becomes deathly ill and then instantly goes insane, causing the plane to have to make an emergency landing.  With no open terminals and the tower telling the plane to simply sit on the tarmac, the pilots take matters into their own hands and dock the plane at an empty terminal.  Soon the terminal is quarantined and the sickly and psychotic passenger is on the loose and spreading his grotesque disease.

Built on FAA/TSA apprehensions, a laundry list of associated air travel phobias and milking every survival horror device known, Quarantine 2: Terminal exploits everything it can to build tension and terror. The film takes off and does not let up until the credits. Masohn does a great job at carrying the vast majority of the film while the rest of the cast gracefully follows her impressive lead. John Pogue (writer of the Skulls series, Ghost Ship, and U.S. Marshalls) hits one out of the park on this directorial debut. With minimal gore and sets that are barely lit, it would appear that Quarantine 2: Terminal had very little budget. But the fact is Pogue does what a horror director is supposed to do: build tension.  He graciously exploits the shadows and almost effortlessly locks the audiences view to the screen.  Even with the roars of the rabid fiends in the distance, the shadows are actually scarier than any slobbering ghoul.

With the exception of a few instances of limp dialogue and some telegraphed moments in the plot, Quarantine 2: Terminal is one of the rare instances when a sequel is vastly superior to the original.  Even rarer is the fact the film had an extremely limited theatrical showing before being ungraciously dumped to DVD, leaving most to think Quarantine 2: Terminal is just another nauseating direct-to-DVD-sequel cash-in.  It is not.  If you were mildly entertained by Quarantine, Quarantine 2: Terminal has the bite you were originally looking for.  Recommended.

CAST:

Mercedes Masohn:  Jenny
Josh Cooke:  Henry
Mattie Liptak:  George
Noree Victoria:  Shilah
Bre Blair:  Paula
Ignacciao Serricchio:  Ed

DIRECTOR:

John Pogue

August 6, 2011