[REC] 3: GENESIS (2012) Dir: Paco Plaza

Richard Long's highly anticipated (by me) review of the 3rd instalment in the [REC] series lands today and Richard found it a little bit disappointing, that's not to say it's a bad, just not in keeping with the mythology put forward by the first two film. Anyways check out Richard's review after the jump...


Written by Richard Alan Long

I’ll start by saying that I don’t mind ‘found footage’ movies. I enjoyed Paranormal Activity, The Last Broadcast and Last Exorcism. I liked Cloverfield even if the monster ended up looking like the one from old Chewits adverts. Then there was the Blair Witch, it started the trend and became a cinema phenomena but, sadly, aged so badly it looks like an extended version of ‘You’ve been Framed’.

When doing a found footage sequel you are going to have problems, which was where Paranormal Activity suffered. With Rec it worked because in the first movie a TV crew was shooting a documentary and they witnessed a horrific incident by chance and then Rec 2, set moments after the first worked because the swat team had head cams to keep in contact and make a record of what was happening. It was believable and thus when a third film was announced I wondered how they could continue the hand held camera approach without making it a bit silly.

Rec 3, is set within a wedding, where video cameras are ripe. However, Rec decides it wants to change its winning formula from handheld to being a cinematic movie; this is both brave and risky.

The Rec movies revolve around a quarantined building in which a possessed girl has attacked others and is spreading a virus. More Demons than The Exorcist, the two movies both took their subject matter deadly serious and to extremes.

Rec 3 starts for the first 20mins with the video camera’s POV of Clara and Koldo’s wedding day. During this time we see guests and if you’ve seen the first movies you’ll see where things are going with the uncle whom mentions a dog bit him.

So after the first twenty minutes which ends in the first attack by a possessed uncle the overdue credit sequence begins and that’s when the film abandons the found footage formula. I like that the filmmakers paid homage to what had gone before. It was nice and fit in great with the wedding theme. The change in film style works well but it’s not the change in film format that harms this franchise, it’s the change in content.

Remember Highlander 2 and how it disregarded the rules it made in the first movie making everything nonsensical. Well it’s not that bad, but the possessed in Rec 3 seem to have developed a Romero style zombie walk whereas in the previous movies they could run like Usain Bolt. Also, the shock and terror of Rec 2 was when the possessed spoke in demonic tongues, yet it in Rec 3 they’ve gotten rid of that and resorted back to screams and moans. I have no problem with running or walking zombies or zombies that can call you names but surely whichever one you’re going to do, stick with it.

The main theme of the film is main characters and newlyweds Koldo and Clara finding each other within a chaos mansion filled with the possessed. Both actors are great and their love story, although sickly sweet was nice and had some tender moments, all encapsulated in a zombie filled backdrop.

Okay, the story is momentary and has little to do with the old movies other than the basic theme of the possessed attacking the living. Also and perhaps the worst thing about Rec 3 is the newly added comedic moments.

Comedy and Horror can work. Return of the Living Dead was an amazing movie and House had some hilarious moments. Rec 3 follows in their footsteps with crazy costumes, stupid one liners and over the top slap stick gore.

When I first saw the Evil Dead, it was the ultimate experience in gruelling terror. It was a black rainbow of a horror movie. It didn’t play for laughs although some could be found throughout the absurdity. Evil Dead 2 kept the threat and panic but added more three stooges style comedy. Then came Evil Dead 3 Army of Darkness where the ultimate experience in gruelling terror had been lost completely in favour of slap stick, adventure and Bruce Campbell becoming the superhero he is today. Yet it worked in The Evil Dead. The progression was slow and you could see even from the first instalment that Sam Raimi had a love for slap stick.

Rec 3 doesn’t take it as far as Army of Darkness, but it detracts so much from its original movies it feels unrelated.

The first two Rec movies were deadly serious without any hint of comedy. The terror within felt real and you felt awkward and scared for the characters. With Rec 3 nothing feels serious, the threat always lingers with a laugh waiting to happen and nothing is ever scary. The zombies don’t seem possessed and as demented and by the time chainsaws and suspenders are shown everything feels like a video game.

This film has been labelled as a prequel, but really it’s not. I was hoping that in a prequel it would explore the incredible story of the penthouse and the Medeiros girl, but instead the filmmakers have decided to push all that aside in favor of a run of the mill zombie movie that, although well filmed, is a story that merely runs alongside the originals with the briefest of nods.

Rec 2 took the first movie one step further with an intense storyline and sheer panic driven characters. Regardless of how disturbing scenes got the storyline was fascinating and kept you interested. By taking that away, replacing it with mild peril, comic gore scenes, and little story the film soon becomes just another zombie movie.

Having said all that, if you’ve never seen Rec, and love a good zombie yarn, you will enjoy this. It’s nicely paced and the comedy is funny. It’s certainly a good Halloween party movie. It’s well filmed, well acted and has some crazy ideas but it’s just not the film I hoped it would be.