Random Movie: [REC] 3: Genesis (2012)

This series just keeps getting weirder.

With [REC] 2 picking up right after the original ended, it would be difficult to continue on the same path with the same momentum as those films. As such, co-writer/director Paco Plaza of the first two decided he would break the formula in quite a few ways. [REC] 3 runs concurrent to the original instead of dovetailing into it like one might assume from the subtitle. In a lovely Spanish church compound, a young couple in love is about to tie the knot in front of their closest friends and family. Little did Clara (Leticia Dolera) and Koldo (Diego Martín) know that inviting that one creepy uncle would not only make things awkward, but also turn their wedding party into a excursion in survival.

Even though the film runs very short, the quick running time still leaves time for Clara, Koldo, and some of the other notable wedding guests to have adequate introductions before the police show up and crazy rapid zombie people are crashing through the windows. In the melee, Clara and Koldo are separated which drives the movie since at any point the characters can simply leave the church grounds. In their search though, we get more backstory and reason to care for them to be reunited.



Since the first two films were hugely effective 'found footage' movies, Plaza and his co-writers take a risk in ditching the POV camera angle with Koldo defiantly asking the random film company cameraman "Why are you filming this?" before taking his camera and smashing it to hell. After a tight shot of the dying video camera, Plaza relies on mostly traditional shots, with a little flair if you will, and a few security camera angles to spice things up. Also, instead of the super-serious and grim approach of the preceding films, this one is … kind of goofy.

There are moments that seem more at home in Army of Darkness or Shaun of the Dead than this series like a zombie torso cleanly split in half with a chainsaw or a plate of armor being kicked out of a doorway that a victim was just pulled into. These moments aren't too frequent and there are still a few decent jump scares present but it seems like the writers just decided to throw in whatever since they were no longer beholden to the precedent of the other films.

The main complaint I have is the deus ex machina, or I guess literally deus ex loudspeaker, that pivots the end of the film from silly but tragic to silly then ridiculous and then tragic. The method of stopping the zombies fits into the series but was again quite jarring much like the fast zombies that have been established in this saga having been replaced by what looking like unkempt drunk people is odd as well. But considering that the main struggles of the two leads is pretty compelling and the gore and carnage is as present as ever, I can't argue against what the filmmakers set out to accomplish … whatever that happens to be.