[REC] 4: Apocalypse: Review
The fourth entry of the found footage horror franchise heads out to sea. Read our review…
It's hard keep a franchise fresh by its fourth entry, It's incredibly hard especially for a horror franchise and this is the case of [REC] 4: Apocalypse. I'm a huge fan of the first two films of the series and while [REC] 3: Genesis was a sharp turn in the series by dropping the shaky cam and adding humor it lacked the story and tension of its predecessors.
[REC] 4: Apocalypse returns with camera style of the first two films and is a direct sequel to them. Bringing back the character of Ángela Vidal (Manuela Velasco), the TV reporter who becomes a conduit for the evil virus that infected the building in the first movie, turning people into rabid zombie-like creatures.
[REC] 4 also brings back original director Jaume Balaguero, and while he introduces some new elements, he doesn’t really expand on the premise except to put everyone on a boat this time. That is where Angela and two surviving GEO (Special Forces) team members from the squad sent in [REC] 2 to rescue her from the doomed apartment building find themselves, seemingly to keep them at sea in case they are infected. it’s only a matter of time before there’s an outbreak on the boat. Soon most of the soldiers and crew are turned into zombies and the movie pretty much becomes a series of chases, fights and gruesome confrontations that become boring in their predictability and have as much of a human component as your average first-person shooter, which this begins to feel like. Most of the characters are either one-dimensional or distasteful.
The thing that made the first two films great and frightening was the supernatural/religious component of the outbreak: the plague wasn’t just some new disease but demonic evil in viral form.
One thing that made the original and still great [REC] truly frightening was the supernatural/religious component of the outbreak: the plague wasn’t just some new disease but demonic evil in viral form. It’s a feature of the series that gets all but abandoned here as the scientists attempt to develop an antidote but need the original source virus, which ends up being a rather ordinary parasite in its original form.
The film suffer from poorly staged attacks, weak CG gore and the absence of tension. It’s clear that the series has run out of ideas and energy: the cast and filmmakers just go through the motions as best as they can. Even though this is supposed to be the series finale, there is an opening for a sequel. However, here at Film-Geek we think it’s time to turn off the cameras.
[REC] 4: Apocalypse is
Full Price - Matinee - Worth Buying On Blu-Ray - Rent - Garbage
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