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[REC]4: Apocalypse AKA [REC]4: Apocalipsis (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - E1 Entertainment Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (16th March 2015). |
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The Film
 Following immediately after the events of [REC]2, a special forces team enter the infamous apartment building in order to have it destroyed with explosives. The lone survivor, Angela the TV reporter from the first 2 films (played by Manuela Velasco) is found and taken from the building. When awoken later, she is found to be strapped down in a medical bed, with a scientist doing tests on her. Sensing unsafety, she tries to escape, only to find herself trapped on a large boat in the middle of the ocean. On the boat she also finds the special forces officer who rescued her, Guzman (played by Paco Manzanedo), his special forces partner Lucas (played by Críspulo Cabezas), and an elderly woman (played by María Alfonsa Rosso) who was the sole survivor in the [REC]3 wedding massacre in Barcelona. It is found out that a team of scientists rented out the boat to do research on the rabid zombie virus and to find a cure. The survivors were brought on the boat as a form of quarantine and to make sure none of them were infected. The captain and crew of the boat are doing their jobs and are not affiliated with the scientists, unknowing of the experiments they are doing. Guzman befriends crewmember Nic (played by Ismael Fritschi), who is a tech guy and happens to be a huge fan of Angela’s TV show. He helps to fix the damaged camera that Angela and her cameraman were using to find information about what happened in the apartment building, and helps Guzman with looking through security cameras to find out what the scientists are really doing. But after an infected monkey gets loose and starts attacking, the supposedly contained virus starts spreading quickly on the boat. As viewers of [REC]2 already know and then learned by the scientists from the repaired camera, the host parasite was transferred from the infected girl Tristana Medeiros who was locked away in the attic, to Angela. It becomes a race for the scientists to try to retrieve the host from Angela’s body, while the survivors and crewmen have little trust toward the scientists. But with the infection spreading and nowhere to hide, it’s only a matter of time until something can be resolved. The first film [REC] was a genre defining masterpiece of horror, mixing the found footage film with genuinely scary scenes with a visceral and unflinching force. [REC]2 was following the same formula taking place immediately after the first film, with some unique new camera work involved with the swat team’s multiple viewpoints. [REC]3 went in a completely different direction, taking place at a wedding in Barcelona as a parallel story to [REC] and [REC]2, which starts off with the found footage, but switches to traditional film camera work halfway through. It was largely disappointing since the film then turned into an average run-of-the-mill zombie film, with no real reason to connect it to the other [REC] films. [REC]4 continues the camera work of [REC]3 with the entire movie being shot in a traditional form and not a found-footage format. Again, like the third film, becomes a very run-of-the-mill zombie flick. Another big problem I had with the story is the woman from [REC]3 being forced into the story. She really has no purpose as a character other than to acknowledge that the third film actually existed. She does nothing to move the story along and nothing to make an impact. Although the other characters are memorable, and tension is built up very well, the payoff considering the great first film and very good second film is disappointing. It is good to be creative and do something different to a continuing movie series, but when the output is not creatively new, it just becomes a disappointment. Note that this is a region-B locked Blu-ray and can only be played on a region B or region free Blu-ray player.
Video
The 1080p 2.40:1 image is in a word, excellent. It is a dark film, with lots of dark blacks and then lots of bright whites during the medical lab scenes. I couldn't find any fault here. The color palate is similar to what was introduced in the first 2 films, but not as grainy since it was not filmed with small handheld cameras, but has the slick sharpness of the latter half of the third film.
Audio
There are two audio tracks available: Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo The Spanish 5.1 track sounded very enveloping with the creaking sounds of the boat and the various screeching sounds of the zombies. Like the other films of the series, there isn't much of a musical score, and relies on incidental sound for effect. There is also a 2.0 stereo track for those without a 5.1 setup. There are optional English subtitles available.
Extras
There is only one relevant extra for the film: "The Making of [REC]4: Apocalypse" featurette (27:57) Considering that [REC] had a 40 minute documentary and multiple interview featurettes, and [REC]2 and [REC]3 both had 2-hour making-of documentaries, [REC]4 only has a 28-minute making of featurette. It goes behind the scenes of how the film was shot at times on an actual boat, parts which were recreated in the studio, and some of the basic make-up and effects. Interspersed are interviews with the cast and crew. It is not as in depth as the bonus features of the previous films, and ends up as a run-of-the-mill EPK for a run-of-the-mill sequel. The featurette is in Spanish with optional English subtitles. Start-up Trailers are available for "Insidious: Chapter 3" (1:59), "The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death" (2:14), "The Signal" (2:06) All extras are in 1080p, with the exception of the "Insidious: Chapter 3" trailer, which is 1080i 50hz.
Overall
What started off as a very exciting franchise has become "watered down" (pun intended there). The film does end on a questioning note with the possibility that it's not the end of the series, so is a [REC]5 possible? I believe so. With the two directors of [REC] and [REC]2 Paco Plaza and Jaume Balagueró helming [REC]3 and [REC]4 separately, maybe a fifth movie with them working together and going back to the roots of the project might be a better move. Not just with the continuation of the series, but even with the further back origin story which has already been made in comic book form. Or is it better to just leave the [REC] franchise as is?
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