[REC]⁴ Apocalypse

adambolt1.5

mmmcgi monkey

Bunny🐰🪓2.5

Rec.4, the final instalment of the Rec. franchise, which started off on a high note with Rec. and Rec.2, lost all its imagination and creativity in the third one, making it the worst of the four. It managed to get back on track with the final one, but it was too late. For me, the third one left a really bad taste, and there wasn't much recovery in the finale. The only positive was that they brought back Manuela Velasco. Other than that, it was an okay flick with moments of violence and gore but became too predictable. Also, what made the first two special and gave them an edge over other movies of the similar genre was the use of the found footage theme, which was creative and breathtaking, making the scenes even more thrilling. In Rec 4 too they brought it back but only for a few scenes.Ok now, time to fuck around a bit and imagine that Rec.3 doesn't exist (for me, it doesn't really exist). What could have made the final instalment special would be:Opening the final movie with the narrative, giving us a brief about how this virus emerged first in relation to the kid who gets possessed, about whom we were told in the first and second movies. Keep the demonic possession and exorcism scenes tight and gory, and shift the narrative quickly to the present scenario on the boat. Introduce one of the priests and a cameraman who were involved in that exorcism (because other than Manuela Velasco, I didn't give a fuck about anyone else in the finale; almost all of them were new and uninteresting). From there on, move the plot in a similar fashion to the first two, keeping things tight and probably going berserk with one of them getting infected by the virus and also achieving full-body transformation with respect to the demonic possession angle. Slowly drain the zombie feel and end it with a possessed guy who goes on a rampage, ultimately killing everyone on board, with only Manuela Velasco as the survivor. Probably give it a cliffhanger of an ending with the possessed guy vanishing into the vast ocean.All I can say about Rec. 4 is that I'm glad the franchise ended and isn't following the path of the Hellraiser franchise, which ultimately became a pile of faecal matter.

Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine2.5

Fuera de Serie: Don’t [•REC]ommend Entering That HouseProbably more of a 3 than a 2.5, but something about this didn’t fully click with me. After a stunningly looking, non-found footage direction the last one took, this one sticks to that but ditches the great cinematography in exchange for this drenched-ish, high-contrast, ugly (in comparison) look. The writing is okay with some nice additions to the lore, like the infested food as a source of turning people into these raged zombies, but at the same time, the whole thing is sort of uneven too. The attempts at humor fall flat. The gore has been toned down, not fully unleashing itself until the third act, and the use of CGI in certain scenes doesn't make matters worse. The acting is okay too, but no one particularly stood out for me, as in the past three entries.All in all, again, it has its moments and it personally wasn’t a complete chore to get through, but with all the set-ups from a great finale, it’s sad to see the series of films end not in a bang but a wimp.Fuera de Serie: Don’t [•REC]ommend Entering That HouseTODAY SCHEDULE[REC]²[REC]³: Genesis[REC]⁴: ApocalypseParanormal Activity 2