Tuesday, 10 March 2015

[REC] 4: Apocalypse (2014)

*** This review may contain blood curdling spoilers ***

A woman and an old lady are removed from a building and wedding where a parasitic, viral outbreak took place and are taken to ship for confinement but things go awry.

The strong lead Manuela Velasco returns as the Spanish female TV reporter, Ángela Vidal. Dropping the found footage Blair Witch Project (1999) style of part one and two and retaining the traditional shot style of part three, Jaume Balagueró returns to the directing chair with a more action orientated sequel. Along with some sharp editing from David Gallart and fitting music by Arnau Bataller, Balagueró offers plenty of blood, guts, slicing and dicing of zombie-like nasties as the ship is overrun by the infected.

To writers Manu Diez and Balagueró credit it links all the films together and ties up some ooze ends putting the Tristana Medeiros Da Souza religious connotations from the first, second and mention in Genesis to rest. They successfully connect the series including the solider, Guzman played by Paco Manzanedo who finds Velasco's character at the end of the second film. Guzman is sent to the ship for quarantine along with all the characters that have encountered the outbreak.

Ismael Fritschi is great as Nick the obsessed techie fan of Vidal. It's a nice touch to have characters review the tapes from the other films. Héctor Colomé oozes presence and menace as Dr. Ricarte who wants to experiment on Vidal. The supporting cast are strong a play it straight with touches of dark humour. 

Small segments of the CCTV footage on the ship is introduced for fans of REC. The change of setting to a merchant ship is refreshing and retains the claustrophobic feeling synonyms with the series, captured by cinematographer Pablo Rosso the location feels gritty and real. With blood thirsty infected, rabid monkeys and Vidal's parasite causing conflict between the characters there's plenty going on as they must escape the ship in an Aliens-like countdown finale.

While the tension and scares are replaced for a more action horror experience it still retains its great gore makeup and special effects and is another fine addition to the series.

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