THE RAGE PART II **** UK 2023 Dir: Joshua Cleave. 42 mins
THE RAGE PART II directly picks up straight after the events of the first film THE RAGE (2017).
Chemical scientist Will Ashley (Rusty Apper) along with 2 soldiers Danny Romero (Nathan Head) and M.C. (Stuart Davies) are sent to the Bio lab where the Rage virus was accidently released. Discovering the bodies and various remains of other victims of the Ragers they must make their way to the laboratory to recover important top secret data. Upon recovering the secret data they must now fight their way through the Ragers, but with every path blocked the only escape seems to be a underground tunnel system. Now with a plan in place they will soon discover that the infected aren’t the only enemy.
Of course the Bio lab, a key location from THE RAGE is once again being used here plus a new location of the The Williamson Tunnels in Liverpool being used for the latter part of the film. The Williamson Tunnels are a series of extensive subterranean excavations created in the 19th century and even though they are now part of a Heritage Centre they are suitably creepy. You can just imagine the characters fear of going from the lit up office building and then down into the dark depths of the tunnel where more Ragers are quietly lying in wait for their next victim.
Joshua Cleave once again employs the use of the GoPro to great effect giving us the point of view of the main character (in this case Will) as he makes his way through the Ragers. There is also more character development in this film compared to the first film. Will may be the lead character of this one but the balls to the wall approach of M.C. towards the situation is a highlight. Like the first film these zombies or infected are fast movers much like those seen in the hit 2002 movie 28 Days Later. You get to see more of the Ragers this time around as well with some excellent special effects thrown in to appease those gorehounds out there.
Naturally all of this costs money and THE RAGE PART II had raised £2,000 through an Indiegogo crowdfunder campaign but it certainly has the look of a film of a higher budget. THE RAGE PART II has great story development and drops breadcrumbs through out of who is behind the virus and what they actually do at the Bio lab, but again leaving you wanting more.
If you have a Virtual Reality headset like the Oculus I highly recommend watching THE RAGE (2017) and THE RAGE PART II (2023) through it to really immerse yourself in the story of both films and because of the films use of POV shots its like you are the main character.
Joshua Cleave wrote, Produced and Directed this sequel to THE RAGE (2017) and it will be interesting to see where he takes the story of the Ragers next whether that be doing it as another short film, a feature film or perhaps develop the story into a web-series. Either way whatever he decides I for one will be keen to see the next chapter.
Review by Peter ‘Witchfinder‘ Hopkins