[REC] 4: Apocalypse (2014)

Dir: Jaume Balaguero

I enjoyed the first two [REC] films immensely, they also demonstrated that there was some life left in the so called found footage genre (going on six years after the sequel was released there doesn't seem to be much creative spark left to that life). Even the third film, which switches from POV to a traditional narrative early in the film and from straight horror to more comedy horror, is entertaining in its own way and I will not fault the film makers from wanting to break, slightly, new ground. When I heard there was going to be a fourth film in the series I was excited to see where the franchise was headed, especially with 'apocalypse' in the title.

The fourth entry in this Spanish zombie franchise opens moments after the events of the previous films, the third film's timeline running parallel to the first two. A squad of soldiers are sent into the quarantined apartment building. The mission is to plant explosives with the goal being to not only demolish the building but destroy all the infected within. Their numbers diminished from attacks by the infected but the explosives in place, the remaining two soldiers Guzman (Paco Manaznedo) and Lucas (Crispulo Cabetas), turn to exit as the timer counts down. They hear a woman screaming for help from a floor above them. Rushing to her aid, Guzman finds Angela (Manuela Velasco), the television reporter who entered the apartment with a firefighter crew (the first film).

Why yes, that is an outboard motor in his hands

Guzman awakens in a room he does not know and goes out into the steel hallway in search of an answer as to where he is. He's on board a ship. A ship at sea with a company of soldiers, a Dr. Ricarte (Hector THE HAUNTING Colome) in charge of the soldiers and crew, life boats disabled and the radio locked down so that no messages get out without approval of the authorities. Angela is there, along with Lucas and a disoriented woman who was attending a wedding (a reference to the third film). Dr Ricarte and his fellow scientists have been working on a cure in hope that it will help combat any further outbreaks. Locked in the makeshift laboratory in the hold of the ship is a host from which blood is drawn to create the antidote. Only some one has let the host loose and now no one is safe.

Monkeys!

This certainly isn't the first time we've seen a group of survivors trapped on a ship with minimal amount of options for survival while being menaced by an malevolent force, but it is a nice change up from the apartment building of the first two films. My disappointment aside that there is no apocalypse as promised by the film's title, director and co-writer Jaume Balaguero helms a tension filled, gory, thrilling entry of a series that I thought dead after the third one. It doesn't reach the delirious scary heights of the first, but stays true to form with its science versus religion plot thread and its good to see Angela back. Angela stays in the background for much of the running time with Guzman as the hero in forefront but there are unexpected twists that blindsided me that explain the decisions of the writing and directing team.

*** out of ****