Wednesday, July 8, 2015

REC 4 – APOCALYPSE: A FITTING FINALE…PERHAPS



Never say a series of movies is ending even though they say this is the last one. Some have said that the REC series of films will continue while at the same time I once read that this was it. Only the future will tell. As long as they continue to be as entertaining as the first four I’d be happy to see them carry on.

If you’ve missed the earlier entries in the series then by all means rush out and buy them to add to your collection. While the third was kind of weak the first two offer some of the scariest moments to be found in horror films over the past decade or so. The original film began with a puff piece TV news reporter filming a segment on a local fire department. The crew get called out to help at a local apartment house and find themselves confronted by what they at first think of as a rabies type outbreak. In reality the victims are basically zombies come back to life with an insatiable appetite for the living. The movie ended with the team and the apartment dwellers sealed in the building by the government. By the end of the second film the reporter and who was left were tranquilized and woke to find themselves on an oiler far out to sea.

Bypassing the third installment for the most part, that’s where this one picks up. The reporter and the last two firemen who arrived to help are on board the ship as is the last living guest from the wedding party in part 3. Onboard the ship are doctors attempting to discover just what it was that infected everyone as well as a possible cure for the disease.

As the film progresses a sense of paranoia fills every member of both the crew and those who have been brought to this ship. The doctors continue to have a problem trying to discover just what it was that began this infection. In the past films everything from a virus to demonic possession was considered or offered as an explanation. Here though no common thread between those who were brought on board can be found. Not only that but where our heroine once displayed signs of the virus being in her now we find none.

The doctors are later shown to be experimenting with infected monkeys and when one escapes the film turns into something completely different. Now as crew members are infected it becomes a fight for survival. At the same time the question is posed as to just who can be trusted and who can’t? Which of these passengers brought on board actually had the infection incubating inside of them and who was just a person in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Still using the point of view of a camera for the most part here, the movie still offers some decent scares from start to finish. It also gives us an explanation that tells us why this has been happening before the film ends, one that also offers the possibility of more movies. Never leave a franchise with a closed ending folks.

The suspense in the film might not equal that of the first movie but it still keeps you on the edge of your seat here. The horror aspects are on display as well in full force. On top of that the film is well made, well written and well-acted. While watching it I found myself wanting to pull out the previous three films and start a home movie marathon of my own to watch them in order once again.

I know that this is one I’ll be adding to the shelf right next to the previous three. They will all be played again at one time or another. Perhaps when I find myself in need of a good scare. Or perhaps when a niece or nephew stays over and I want to provide nightmares for them that their parents will have to deal with. In any event, these movie offer the goods when it comes to new horror. Fans will want to make them part of their collection.

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