I cannot sleep. I feel like shit. Again. So I suppose it's fitting that I'm reviewing a film where a wedding is ruined by the zombie plague. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I am going over the third [Rec] film 'Genesis'. Here we find Aldo (Diego Martin) and Klara's (Leticia Dolera) wedding...ruined by the zombie plague, I've already mentioned this.
Firstly, before I go into anything else, I'll quickly go over the first two films. Will I do a full review into them? Maybe, I've got all of them now after I brought the trilogy DVD set, but for now a quick summary. The first one, I have to say, is really good. It sets a great tone, the acting is great, the story is great, and it actually has some genuine scares. The second one, was okay but it was just effectively repeating the first film. The ending also ruined the film for me, I mean, there was a religious element in the first film but there was nothing set in stone, whereas the second one further implied the religious cause, especially the possession thing, which, to be honest, I didn't like.
And that's one of the main points I wanted to raise for this review. The third film basically throws everything but religion out the window; zombies don't enter a church, they're stopped by holy scriptures, heck, two of the infected women have demonic forms in a mirror (Which look like the spitter which also appeared in the first two films). This really does ruin what should be a zombie film, since it is now evident that they AREN'T zombies. Zombies are not put off by reading passages from the Bible, they're not put off by holy land, I suppose demons are put off by those. Whatever it is, it isn't zombies.
A second thing, unlike the first two films, this film isn't shot in first-person, a.k.a. the camera. Okay, the first...fifteen minutes maybe were shown through the camera, filmed by Adrian (Alex Monner), but then Aldo smashes the camera in anger, which then turns the film into third-person perspective. I'll come back to it in a minute, but a connecting thing is, the film is a horror/thriller, but it doesn't feel it. Why? Because it felt more like a romantic drama with zomb...infected people. You can play a drinking game based on how many times you hear someone say "love" in this, and it really does feel like they're ramming it down your throats.
Both of these things, effectively alienate the fans of the franchise. We no longer have the first-person perspective which, basically, made this zombie film unique, which made the [Rec] films noteworthy. Yes, there are films like 'Cloverfield' or 'The Blair Witch Project', but this film is probably the best first-perspective film around, it added a lot tension to the film. Heck, the tension of the film itself, the dark overtones, the claustrophobia, the terror. And then, the went with the opposite for all of that. It's just another zomb...infected film, the feeling of terror is no longer there and the constant "my love" goes beyond frustrating towards the end. I can understand the love conquers all message, the problem is *SPOILERS it doesn't*.
With all that aside, there's really nothing to hate in this. The plot is still pretty decent, if a little contrived; the vet who took care of the infected dog from the first film just happened to get bitten and went to this wedding. But it really hasn't got anything bad against it, in fact the religious bits are really the only things which intrude on the film's narrative. Quite a fair chunk is spent focusing on the characters rather than the action, but this helps us identify characters and care about them. The problem is when the zombie infection starts off, we still have no idea whose who. We may get a few names, but there aren't that many. There are a few decent effects as well.
Again, the acting is still...average I suppose. Again, there's nothing to hate. Everyone does a good job, there's just nothing spectacular. There's one actor actually, Borja Glez. Santaolalla, who plays Atun, who I actually really liked, and therefore I really liked his character. It is really, what's the word, impressive, since this is Santaolalla's first and only acting role. I was also very fond of Dolera, and while she could have done a better job I did find her costume and make-up work outstanding.
*SPOILERS
There is actually a scene later with Dolera and Martin where they're infected and/or dying from a hail of bullets from a SWAT team, and before they die they stretch their hands towards each other, to hold each other's hand before dying. This, I actually did like. Yes it was throwing the love part of the film one last time, but through their expressions, we can see a truly heartbreaking moment.
Like I said earlier, there isn't really anything to hate in this. This film is just...there. The religious aspects and the constant love tones are annoying as Hell, but everything else is more...adequate than bad. What else can I say about this? I suppose I can respect the filmmakers for trying a different approach, but when the whole point of the franchise is to show a zombie infestation through a camcorder, there really is no point in calling you film [Rec]3. I guess you should give this film a try, but there's really nothing spectacular in it.
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