Thursday, May 26, 2016

Sesos!!!: REC 4: Apocalypse

Before Fox tries to possibly match up to their last Film, let's see it in Spanish.  Today's Film is OREC 4: Apocalypse, the 2014 wrap-up to the Series.  It took 7 years to get through 4 Films- not counting our so-so Versions.  The Film attempts to put a cap on this Story, but is it too late?  To review, the 1st Film is about an Apartment Complex overrun with a Zombie outbreak.  The 2nd Film told both a parallel Story (not shown at all in the original) and put more of an ending on the whole thing.  It is most notable to me for explaining how the Virus worked...and sounding pretty silly in the process.  The 3rd Film was a weird Sidequel that didn't exactly add much, other than a body count.  It did give a good lesson- don't make out with your Zombie Wife!  This time around, we loop back to the Apartment Complex and bring an end to this whole thing.  Time is extremely-relative here as we are now only a day or two (at most) from the events of OREC and OREC 2.  To their credit, they use at least one returning Actor- which also presents some minor problems.  Basically, our Reporter is noticeably older than she should be.  It was a rough day or two, I suppose.  Will the end finally come?  Will the Zombie-Demon Plague be ended?  Will they actually use Quicksilver for more than 10 minutes?  To find out the answer to *most* of those questions, read on...
Back in REC 2, the SWAT Team go into the Building to clear any survivors out before they blow the building.  They find one- the Reporter.
Some time later, the Reporter and others wake up in a mysterious Facility- a Tanker.

Oh and the surviving SWAT Guy is also a Doctor.  Of course, he is!
While this is the only Film to not feature any notable Found Footage elements, there is still plenty of this.
Speaking of Found Footage, they borrow the Plot of The Last Broadcast for a while with a Subplot based around the surviving Camera from REC having its footage restored.  Thankfully, the pay off is less ridiculous.
Despite best efforts, the Virus breaks loose.  Yet again, we must blame those damn Monkeys!
This Film does give us 'new' footage from REC that explains alot...and is gross.
Since the Film is so new (and Streaming on Netflix), I won't SPOIL any more of it.  I will tell you that things are obviously not going to go well for this guy.  The End.
Brains?  The Film is...pretty good.  It isn't that unique in the grand scheme of things, but it is pretty well done.  The semi-claustrophobic setting has been done before- see the 3rd Blind Dead Film and the 2nd 30 Days of Night Film-, but works for the Story.  While these Zombies are more like Infected, being trapped in a confined space with them is a must.  Speaking of the Infected, they really downplay the demonic angle here, which I like.  They don't disregard it, but they also don't focus on it so much like in Part 3.  None of the truly silly stuff- like the Infected looking demonic in the mirror or them being frozen when you read from the Bible- is here.  Yea!  I didn't care for any of that crap and I don't miss it.  In place of all that, Monkeys!  This is arguably the FIFTH Film I've seen in about a Month with killer Animals from the Zoo- the second of which featuring Zombies!  The fact that a Character has to yell out 'MONKEYS!!!' in this Film is certainly a plus.  Without SPOILing anything, I will just say that the late twist thrown into the Story is kind of a cheat, since there is no set-up to it.  Mysteries work when you have all of the pieces, but can't decipher the puzzle.  When you just don't give us a piece, that's just cheating.  Speaking of which, maybe don't take Plot Points from Jason Goes to Hell while you're at it.  All in all though, this was better than I expected- especially after the last Film.  Of all the Films, I'd recommend this and the Original over the others.  If you plan to go see it, just don't rush all at once...
Next up, a look at some recent fare.  Let it not be said that I won't cover any Film from any Decade.  Stay tuned...

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