REC]³: Genesis - DVD

Film: It should be the most beautiful day of their lives. When Clara (Letitia Dolera) and Koldo (Diego Martin) walk down the aisle, the sky hangs full of violins and nothing could ruin this happiness. But as the wedding party is in full swing, one of the guests suddenly topples from a balcony onto the dance floor. He had already been behaving rather strangely before. What at first looks like a nasty accident caused by too much alcohol soon turns out to be a dangerous epidemic, to which most of the guests gradually fall victim. They all turn into some kind of bloodthirsty zombies from which there is hardly any escape. In all the commotion, Clara and Koldo get separated from each other. And so they must fight not only for their survival, but also to make love again soon in each other's arms before they are bitten off by the infected...

With [REC]³: Genesis, director Paco Plaza continues his successful horror series. Like the first two installments, the third film begins in the currently popular style of found footage films. But it quickly becomes clear that Plaza breaks with the predecessors not only in terms of content, but also stylistically. This is done with a good portion of self-irony, especially in terms of visuals, when hobby filmmaker Adrian, whose shots dominate the first minutes in the style of the first two parts, is told by a professional wedding filmmaker that real film cameras simply deliver better pictures, whereupon the shaky video camera style is abandoned and the film switches to the classic cinema mode. But in terms of content, Plaza also relies a lot more on absurdist humor than its predecessors, in addition to some pretty shock and gross-out effects. When, for example, a survivor in knight's armour takes on the infected or the man hired to entertain the children has to keep his badly copied Spongebob costume on even in the bloody goings-on because he's stark naked underneath, there's more to laugh at than to be creeped out.

This makes this third part stand out from its predecessors, but it also feels less effective. Part 1 in particular was a great shocker that had some very intense scary moments to offer, especially towards the end. REC]³: Genesis can hardly come up with those anymore. It also lacks a direct reference to its two predecessors. It does become clear that the story is in some way connected to the events from the apartment building and some allusions can only be understood if you have seen the first two films. However, it's not exactly clear if the movie takes place before, after or during the events of parts 1 and 2 and if the events at the wedding are a direct consequence of the events in the apartment building or if they caused them in the first place, which the subtitle Genesis suggests. The only thing that becomes clear is that the plague is not confined to a single house and that an apocalypse - the title of the planned fourth part - is a distinct possibility.

In direct comparison to [REC], this second sequel doesn't fare quite as well, as it simply lacks the really big shock effects that the original scored with. As a fun horror film with nasty splatter interludes and a few very amusing ideas, which also includes the wonderfully bizarre-macabre final shot, the film can convince. If you can get along with the refreshing break in style, you will definitely be well entertained here. Therefore, for genre fans: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The picture quality is especially after the video cameras are switched off on a good level. In the darker scenes, there are indeed minor weaknesses in the detail representation and occasional slight image noise can be made out. But overall, the sharpness, contrast and colour mixing are quite convincing. The sound remains rather restrained at the beginning, but after the outbreak of the infection there are quite a few well implemented sound effects, from the roar of the infected to the rattling of chainsaws, which provide pleasant movement in the surround area. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the DVD offers a quite worth seeing Making of (about 25 min.), as well as the teaser and the trailer for the film. Not particularly much, but well worth watching!

Conclusion: [REC]³: Genesis is not quite as exciting as its predecessors and relies more on macabre humor, than on shock effects. But the change in style, both visual and dramatic, also brings some fresh air to the series, which is more than welcome given the over-inflated supply of found footage horror films. No masterpiece, but decent genre entertainment, which is technically well realized on the DVD and enriched with a making of worth seeing. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp