[Rec] 3 Genesis (Review)

[Rec] 3 Genesis

[Rec] 3 Genesis (2012)

Directed by Paco Plaza

Talk about a knight in shining armor and a chainsaw wedding.

Welcome to Rec 3.

I've watched the Rec series and oddly enough I've reviewed the first 2 flicks differently. Rec I gave 2 spinkicks while I gave Rec 2 3 spinkicks. With Rec 3, I'll admit the trailer had me intrigued. Zombie virus walker chaos at a wedding? Sounds like fun. And that's what Rec 3 Genesis is. Cliched, over the top splatterfest comedic fun, nothing more, nothing less.

The fact that Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaguero have split directorial duties is interesting here. With Plaza's entry we get a some gore soaked splattery AND ridiculousness that is far from the world of the serious horror of the first two. The fact that it is different and has a more horror-omedy tone is refreshing. The one thing you don't want in your series is to NOT be repetitive (See Saw). I'm pretty sure Rec was turning into the Spanish equivalent of that and I'm glad Plaza goes into some chaotic horror funnies.

But it's still cliched, generic and nothing new to the infected corpse genre. It also adds a new explanation to the mythos which I kinda didn't care for. But what I did love was a movie that utilized the shaky cam, cinema verite, 1st person POV in a way that felt natural and in the big twist of Rec 3, Plaza goes back to showing us a movie in a traditional way. Put away those barf bags.

Rec 3 Genesis is a movie refreshing enough to spike the reception's punch bowl but sometimes you want the hard stuff. It's a delicate balance that plays off in a way where at the end of the day you want to be entertained and it does just that.

Boring Plot-O-Matic

A couple's wedding day turns into a horrific events as some of the guests start showing signs of a strange illness. 

Awesome Review-O-Matic

As I always do, let's start off with what the formula for shot on video, POV horror films.

1.) The camera "person" films everything
2.) His friends become part of the video
3.) Something sinister starts to scare them
4.) The film ends with "the final shot" that gets the audience shocked

1.) The camera "person" films everything

It may be the longest opening scene before the credits but at 20 minutes and the climactic shit hitting the fan, it really does set up. We see Koldo (our groom) and Clara (the bride) go through their nuptials before they head off to their reception with their families. Various characters are introduced from both respective families but drunk uncle is taken to a a whole new level and all hell breaks loose.

Koldo's cousin records everything with his HD cam while a Guillermo del Toro lookalike (from Filmmax, a hidden joke) is the videographer. As the couple splits up amid the chaos we're left with a rag tag group including "Royalties" a guest who records songs that break copyrights.

2.) His friends become part of the video

With their friends and families fleeing from the carnage, we meet a variety of Koldo's and Clara's friends but not for long. It's fun to see the douchebaggy friends, Clara's French slut friend and grandparents. We don't get to know them that well but long enough to see who starts to be the people we really should applaud when they get decapitated.

3.) Something sinister starts to scare them

Well scare wouldn't be exactly what they're doing. More like chasing after the guests like they're turkeys on legs. Mass chaos and pure splatter moments are had as necks are ripped, heads are chainsawed, swords get squishy into various body parts and all sorts of mayhem ensues.

They're are some hilarious moments as Koldo goes into knight in shining armor mode literally. He dons a Ezio Auditore outfit and does his best Assassins Creed impression. Our bride makes chainsaws sexy and does some carving of her own.

Somewhere in the movie, priests utter Bible verses and it seems the infected are more religious than we first imagined. It's these religious overtones that play a big part in the escape. I'm not sure why Plaza added this in, but I felt like it didn't really work. We got hints of it in the first 2 Recs but it was full blown here and the mystery of the infected seem to disappear.

But clearly the fun is in the reunion between man and wife and Koldo and Clara kick ass as you know, love conquers all.... 

4.) The film ends with "the final shot" that gets the audience shocked

Which leads us to a helluva ending. I'm not going to say anything about it but it's pretty shocking and crazy WTF moment.

***********************************************

Rec 3 is clearly the lull before the storm. I'm hoping  Jaume Balaguero will go all out crazy with Rec Apocalypse to end this series on a good note. Most horror fans, bloggers and critics are caught in the middle with Rec 3 as it pulls into a totally different direction than the first 2. But you have to admit, from the traditional filmmaking and the POV mixed in and a wedding day that you won't soon forget it really does pack some line dancing hilarity and oozes kegs of blood.

I think the fun in Rec 3 is mixing those two together and somehow the series feels Rec-ish but has something new to offer. At 120 minutes, it's not like we had scenes of drawn out nothingness. Everything in Rec 3 is paced with some scares and funions, the acting is delightful and the gore and splatter are plentiful.

What's not to like? Thank goodness they didn't start dancing Gangnam Style. I would have just shut the movie off right then and there.

 The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis

I got the jokes, the kills were solid and I may mimic that wedding one day. Thanks Rec 3.

Rating:

Check out the trailer below.

Categories: [rec], 2012 horror movies, cinema verite, gore, pov horror, rec, rec 2, rec review, spanish horror, splatter, zombies

Rec 3: Genesis Trailer shows the wedding from hell

Every once in a while I get excited about a horror movie. I wrote my Best of the Rest 2011 list and I've yet to see most on that list. But when it comes to the Rec series, I have to say it hasn't disappointed me as of yet. I gave the original Rec, 2 spinkicks and Rec 2 3 spinkicks. Could Rec 3: Genesis get the elusive 4?

After watching the trailer, you gotta admit, it looks fuckin awesome.It takes place at a wedding in broad daylight. Shaky cam POV is back, so is the over the top gore and a bride and groom surviving until death do us part. It's a sequel but from the plot summary, it will release info on what the virus or whatever it is, that has been unleashed.

Director Paco Plaza helms this 3rd flick and the film stars Leticia Dolera and Diego Martin. Our bride has a cute final bride look to her and you know the wedding reception is going to be one hell of a party. I'm kinda hyped.

It sucks the guests won't be able to line dance.

Check out the trailer. Via Bloody Disgusting.

Categories: cinema verite, pov horror, rec, rec 2, rec review, spanish horror, zombies, zombies pov

Rec 2 (Review)

Rec 2

Rec 2 (2009)

Directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza

I've admitted countless times I hate POV horror movies. Diary of the Dead and Cloverfield were pieces of crap in my opinion. But recently, I've been seeing some cinema verite/1st person POV horror that's been solid.

Evil Things ended up #18 on my Top 20 Horror Movies of 2009. I gave the original Rec (review here) 2 spinkicks. It was scary as hell but just dizzying and generic zombie sorta stuff. There were good moments and I wrote:

"The 1st 20 or so minutes sets up the chaos to come. The 2nd 30 is so minutes is everybody trying to find out what the fuck is going on and the final 20 is a survival horror at its best."

So going into Rec 2, I knew the SWAT team was going to get involved, we were going to get some possessed zombie kills and I was gonna get nauseous again. Cue the Dramamine.

Rec 2 is a superior movie to the original. It's amped up the infected, brought in the heavy weaponry via SWAT officers and thrown in some crazy Spanish hipsters who get exactly what they deserve. What you end up with is a sequel that twists and turns you on every scene and makes you big gulp in complete darkness.

After the flick ended, I tweeted...Wow just wow. That says it all.

Boring Plot-O-Matic

The highly anticipated sequel to one of the scariest films of all time, [REC] 2 picks up 15 minutes from where we left off, taking us back into the quarantined apartment building where a terrifying virus has run rampant, turning the occupants into mindlessly violent, raging beasts.

A heavily armed SWAT team and a mysterious government official are sent in to assess and attempt to neutralize the situation. What they find inside lies beyond the scope of medical science—a demonic nightmare of biblical proportions more terrifying than they could have possibly imagined. Above all it must be contained, before it escapes to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting world outside.

Awesome Review-O-Matic

As I always do, let's start off with what the formula for shot on video, POV horror films.

1.) The camera "person" films everything
2.) His friends become part of the video
3.) Something sinister starts to scare them
4.) The film ends with "the final shot" that gets the audience shocked

1.) The camera "person" films everything

Continuing right after Rec, SWAT is called to our quarantined building. Their orders are to take a "medical" official to the building and see what's what. So who films everything? In Rec 2, Rosso a SWAT team officer is told to film so as to document what's going on. Soon our SWAT team are going up all the same places we saw our tenants did in the original.

Plot is explained as we find out whats up with these zombies. Seems our med guy is a priest and we've got a Vatican conspiracy, demon infection and the Medeiros girl being Agent 0. You know its the rehashed plot from part 1. Soon our crew is being attacked but they fire back with machine gun kellys and are chased throughout the building.

My gripe with these POV movies has always been the guy holding the camera never does shit. But as Rosso is told to do this and actually does things to help, it seems natural. In addition we've got SWAT cam as the cops have head cams on their helmets. This was actually a clever camera gimmick as it gave us a different POV instead of the one camera shot.

2.) His friends become part of the video

Our SWAT team shows true emotion. Their mission compromised, all they want to do is get the fuck out. It's high anxiety and it feels real. Most of the characters feel pseudo real in Rec 2. From the cops to the priest to the Spanish hipsters and fireman guy....wait what the hell did I just say?

Yup, seems Plaza and Balagueró saw Diary and Cloverfield and added in some camera happy kids as well. They end up in the apartment building leading to yet ANOTHER different POV as they are filming everything too. I sighed when they started these scenes as I didn't want to see annoying kids doing stupid things. But shit hits the fan and the 2 groups meet leading our kids to get what they deserve for being so fuckin annoying.

3.) Something sinister starts to scare them

Lots of the POV shots are nicely done. With the SWAT, we get our Silent Hill meets Call of Duty MW2 shoot em up perspective. It's clever and I did get a little jumpy at some scenes including one in an air duct and another in a hallway. You never know when a possessed demon kid is crawling upside down will come at ya.

The hipster kids and a fireman looking for his buddies from Part 1 get in the act as they too are attacked. The shots are designed for maximum WTF and they accomplish it with some long extensive panning shots.

Most of these scenes work, as they did in the original. However, this time we get some maximus goreificus leading to a Gore-ipedia that includes shotgun blast to the head, ripped necks and POV blood and guts.

4.) The film ends with "the final shot" that gets the audience shocked

I didn't like originals ending and Rec 2's ending is pretty predictable. But it isn't without some WTF. Night vision comes into play and we seeing our demon girl in the flesh. Back is our intrepid reporter Angela who joins our remaining survivors to stop this demon infection from spreading.

There is "the final shot" in Rec 2 and it's quite a whopper earning it full WTF Moment credit. It's pretty intense and makes it feel all closed looped in a sense in our Rec series.

I gotta say, the Rec movies are the best this POV genre has to offer. They are solid flicks and use the POV gimmick very well. Rec 2 does jack up the scares, the claustrophobia and the tension. Out of all the the POV movies I've seen, Rec 2 is so far the best of the rest.

Coming from me, that's a high compliment.

The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis

Thank Barcelona the directors of the original made the sequel. They didn't miss a beat at made sure their vision was in the sequel. At times it reminded me of Demons, Demons 2 and Iglesia's Day of the Beast.

Rec 2 comes out July 9th in limited release. For now, it's the best sequel in this genre, well until possibly Paranormal Activity 2 comes out.

Check out the official site and the Facebook page for more info.

FYI. I still haven't seen the American remake Quarantine yet. I don't plan to.

Rating:
Check out the trailer below.

Categories: 2009 horror dvd, 2009 horror movies, cinema verite, pov horror, rec, rec 2, rec review, spanish horror

[Rec] (Review)

[Rec]

[Rec] (2007)

Directed by Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza

"Is this on? Are you taping? Keep taping!! Is my mic working? Damn this thing is out of focus!"

"OMG! What the hell is coming towards us?!?!?"

"Turn the camera light on!"

"Use the night vision!"

[Cut to something blurry]

"Run!"

[Camera shakes uncontrollably while running]

Where have you heard all this before? Yup it's another 1st person POV flick ala Cloverfield and Diary of the Dead.

Mind you if you read my reviews of those films, I hate this stupid sub genre of horror. You feel naseous while watching, they quickly pan over what they should be taping directly and it's just alot of shaky camerca shots while running.

But Rec actually pulls this off and makes a decent showing using this convention.

Hollywood also knows this which is why they are remaking this brilliant Spanish film into a movie called Quarantine.

I don't know what it was but at a relatively 1 hour and 10 minutes, I really did enjoy myself. I didn't feel vomity, they recorded stuff that should have been taping and there was minimal running camera.

When you do everything the opposite of what I hate, jadedviewer likes.

Boring Plot-O-Matic

A hot looking local TV reporter named Angela (Manuela Velasco) and her camera dude are doing a story about the fire department and the men who work there. Out of the blue, they are called to an apartment building where neighbors and police are investigating a screaming crazy woman. But chaos ensues and soon the building has been quarantined by the special police trapping all the residents, police and firemen.

We see Angela continue to interview the neighbors and videotape the chaos. A health official soon drops in and explains a lethal virus has been unleashed that seem to create violent zombie-ish corpses who spread the illness through bites.

Soon, the building is overrun and it's Manhunt, Manhunt 1-2-3. Angela and camera guy try to find a way out.

Awesome Review-O-Matic

Angela is hot. So seeing her in most of the shots was easy on the eyes. But Manuela Velasco does an awesome-rific job of being the fearless reporter and acting scared shitless. She's definitely the catalyst for the flick and if she couldn't pull off this performance, Rec would have been another movie in the used bin.

And whereas you always question the cameraman and why he doesn't help during the crazy chaos of whats happening....in Rec, our fearless camera guy Manu actually does some useful things. In doing so, the camera actually helps. Complete darkness? No problem, use the camera light. No camera light? Use Night Vision. Logical...I appreciate that.

The 1st 20 or so minutes sets up the chaos to come. The 2nd 30 is so minutes is everybody trying to find out what the fuck is going on and the final 20 is a survival horror at its best.

I particularly didn't like the ending as it came out of leftfield but it's satisfying like lemonade on a hot sunny day.


Influences

Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, Diary of the Dead, 28 Days Later, The Ring

Gore-ipedia

Bloody chomps on necks, old fat crazy lady wounds

WTF moment

The final 10 minutes

The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis

I'm still jaded by these POV flicks. I just don't really like em. But this is the first one that I actually sorta enjoyed that didn't have me beating my head against the wall.

The residents of the building were all very unique. A Chinese family, a woman and her sick daughter, an elderly couple and a guy off his rocker. At least they weren't hipsters.

A lot of hype will accompany this film and its Hollywood ripoff as the handheld "cinema verite" flicks keep giving birth.

I can honestly say I wasn't bored and I'm a nega-reviewer on these flicks.

Just remember when your in a life threatening situation, and you have a camera...keep recording. Because your battery will never die, you'll have endless tape and you'll always keep things in focus.

And after you die, all your friends will see the video of you in our last waning moments, actually know how big of a wimp you are and give them vague theories as to how you died.

Then post it on YouTube.

Rating:
The Trailer:

Tags:
[rec], rec review , rec , spanish+horror, quarantine, zombies, top horror movies of 2008, bloody violence, pov+horror, horror++cinema+verite, cloverfield,

Categories: [rec], 28 days later, blair witch project, cinema verite, cloverfield, diary of the dead, pov horror, quarantine, rec, rec review, spanish horror