Rec 4: Apocalypse - No really that apocalyptic

‘Rec 4: Apocalypse’ is (apparently, as it stands now) the ‘finale’ to the popular Spanish zombie movie franchise ‘Rec.’ The first two films were all shot as ‘found footage’ with constant handheld camerawork in claustrophobic environments and, although Part II was never going to be met with such adulate as the original, it was still done in the spirit.  However, Part III decided to ditch the ‘found footage’ element after about twenty minutes, leaving some fans to question whether it should even be considered part of the ‘Rec’ franchise.  Now we have Part IV, where the ‘found footage’ element has completely gone.  Just thought I’d point that out – so be warned!

What we’re left with is a zombie movie on a boat (with Spanish subtitles, obviously).  And, in case you’re a fan of ‘The Walking Dead’, the zombies in Rec are not the type to ‘walk.’ They’re the new ‘infected’ type who will happily chase you down while they try and qualify for the 100 metre sprint.

And it’s not that bad.  It has pretty much everything you’d expect from a (modern) zombie movie.  I haven’t watched the three previous Rec  films for a while, so I couldn’t really relate to how much this one continued the story.  Although it did seem to mention the original two more than the – widely panned – third outing set at a wedding.

Expect running from zombies, barricading them out and generally always getting ‘headshots’ at the right moment.  Although, if I was given a pound for every time a character slammed a ship’s inner door in a zombie’s face, I’d be a very rich man.

So, there’s not much new here and you definitely don’t need to have watched the originals.  You just need to be in the mood for (another) zombie film with good gore, good acting and reasonable thrills.  That way you’ll get something out of it (even if some die-hard fans of the Rec series don’t see it that way).

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that