¡Qué horror! 2012

Candidate # 27

[REC]³ GÉNESIS

(March 2012)

  

While I’ve long been a self-avowed Jaume Balagueró slut, I’ve never been too keen on Paco Plaza’s Romasanta, so I really went in to the original [REC] on the strength of Balagueró’s past work.

Thus, when word first broke that Filmax would be wrapping up the [REC] saga with two films, I greeted the news with mixed emotions. On the one hand, I’d be getting double the action. But that realization was offset by the fact that the [REC] co-directors were splitting up, so Plaza would handle the third installment, Génesis, and Balagueró would take on the fourth and final chapter, Apocalypse; I was stoked to see that Balagueró would close the saga, but to get there, we’d have to cross Plaza’s Génesis first…

So I held my breath, hoped for the best.

And what do you know? I enjoyed this a hell of a lot better than Romasanta.

Imago Mortis’ Leticia Dolera and Diego Martín are Clara and Koldo, a young couple whose wedding reception becomes the scene of a full-on bloodbath, as one of the guests happens to have a connection to events that played offscreen in the original [REC].

Now, though not as somber and nerve-wrackingly straight-faced as the first two [REC] films, and foregoing the shakycam found footage approach at a certain point of its running time, Génesis is still a good entry, not just in the [REC] saga, but also in the annals of zombie cinema. (And yes, I know they’re not “zombies” per se, but this saga is nonetheless firmly ensconced in that section of horror cinema.)

Though I will go on the record as saying I still think the first two [REC] films are significantly better, Génesis still packs a potent emotional gutpunch, and has some stand-out moments of onscreen goreletting that shouldn’t disappoint.

And with that out of the way…

Onto Apocalypse…

([REC]³ Génesis OS’ courtesy of impawards.com.)

A Rundown of the 13 Best Horror Movies I’ve Seen in the Past Year
[13 of 13]
[REC] 2 (September 2009)


Contrary to the louder, “sound and fury” mentality of Hollywood’s hollower sequels, [REC] 2 targets higher ground in more significant ways. Not only are the shots more ambitious, but so is the narrative structure.

Read the entire review here.

Parting shot: Well, as it turns out, we’re in for two more [REC] films: Paco Plaza will direct [REC] Genesis, a prequel set for a Fall 2011 release, and Jaume Balagueró will helm [REC] Apocalypse, which will reportedly close out the series in Fall 2012, “… with the pandemic spreading to unknown proportions.”
Boo-yah!
Meanwhile, Flatmate, the Balagueró film I mention at the tail end of the original [REC] 2 review, has apparently now been rechristened, Sleep Tight; note the one sheet below.


([REC] 2 OS courtesy of impawards.com; Sleep Tight OS courtesy of jaumebalaguero.blogspot.com.)

[REC] 2
(Review)

And I continue to be a Balagueró slut…


[REC] 2 kicks off right where [REC] ends, as four SWAT members are tasked to escort a Minister of Health into the quarantined apartment building where the horrors of the original took place. With the presence of the SWAT team, with their mounted cameras and heavy firepower, it initially gives the appearance that [REC] 2 is going the Aliens route, where the sequel doses up the horror of its progenitor with booster shots of adrenaline, testosterone, and gunfire.
But Jaume Balagueró and co-director Paco Plaza impishly tread other paths in this brilliant follow-up.


Contrary to the louder, “sound and fury” mentality of Hollywood’s hollower sequels, [REC] 2 targets higher ground in more significant ways. Not only are the shots more ambitious, but so is the narrative structure.
The diabolical aspects of [REC] are also opened up and taken further, neatly dovetailing into a sequence that takes the handheld camera from storytelling device to item of narrative consequence. (Battery life also comes into play at a certain point, so hurrah, for the acknowledgement of real life technological limitations on the found footage genre.)

Not only does [REC] 2 take the tantalizing promise of [REC]’s climactic reveal and run gleefully with it to places not normally seen in the zombie/infected genre, it also addresses some of the matters which were established in the original.
And in keeping with the spirit of [REC], it also has questions unanswered by the time the end credits roll, agonizing teases for more truly exceptional shakycam horror* in a third installment.**


* As much as I love what Balagueró has achieved with the [REC] films, setting some formidable standards for the first person horror experience, I’m also looking forward to his return to his own solo work, so my anticipation for Flatmate is rather high…

** [REC] 3 has already been announced…


Parting shot: [REC] was on the ¡Qué Horror! 2009 roll call, where it shared a slot with its English-language remake, Quarantine. Please feel free to scour the Archive, where reviews of Jaume Balagueró’s other films, Los Sin Nombre, Darkness, and Fragiles, can also be found.

([REC] 2 OS courtesy of impawards.com; images and PSA poster courtesy of jaumebalaguero.blogspot.com.)