[REC]4: APOCALYPSE (review)

[REC]4: APOCALYPSE

Starring Manuela Velasco

When Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza’s Spanish horror film, [REC], was released in 2007, it completely changed the horror game. Being one of the first films to re-launch the interest in the found footage subgenre, [REC] was fresh, creative, and most importantly, terrifying. [REC] and its sequel [REC]2 followed journalist Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) as she became trapped in a quarantined apartment building where a deadly virus was quickly turning its residents into angry, strong, and hungry zombie-like creatures. The third film in the series, titled [REC]3: GENESIS, left the beloved heroine, and instead focused on a wedding where the virus simultaneously outbreaks. While the film was fun, it ultimately disappointed fans that were looking to find out what happened to Angela. The fourth film in the series, [REC]4: APOCALYPSE, brings back both the return of director Jaume Balagueró (who did not join Plaza in directing the third instalment) and the fateful journalist herself.

As the film opens, we return to the deadly apartment complex in which the first two films took place. A group of soldiers remove Angela, who appears to be the only survivor. Hours later, Angela awakens on a high-security freighter in the middle of the ocean. A group of scientists plan to run experiments on her, but what they do not anticipate is that this enclosed space, in the middle of the ocean, may be the best place for the next outbreak.

In APOCALYPSE, viewers will find all the things they’ve come to love about this great franchise, including excellent heroines and gory creature-slashing scenes. Like its predecessor, the film abandons the found footage style, instead opting for a regular linear narrative. It is important to remember that when the first film was made in 2007, found-footage wasn’t as overused as it is today; so Balagueró decided to abandon what many are now calling a gimmick.

[REC]4: APOCALYPSE may not be the most clever of horror films, but it’s definitely a lot of fun. And while the film abandons the religious motifs found in the other three films, it continues to give life to a rapidly dying genre.

Your turn!

How many sheep would you give [REC]4: Apocalypse?

[kkstarratings]