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

The poster of the chick with the chainsaw is awesome, but I could not resist this one. Way more awesome.

Anyway. I learned two things from watching [REC] 3: Genesis. One - it is not really a [REC] movie. Two - I don't care because I love zombies. I'll explain what I mean later but for now I'll just say that Genesis was one kick ass zombie-infection film that I couldn't help but love - even if it's not really a [REC] movie. Genesis made me happy in the way that pretty much all zombie movies make me happy.

Clara and Koldo are celebrating the happiest day of their lives, surrounded by friends and family - and a few video cameras. Their day of bliss suddenly turns into a nightmare when their guests become infected with a strange illness [read: demonic possession that presents itself exactly like zombisim] that makes them rip each other apart. The couple becomes separated in the chaos and do whatever they can to survive and see their beloved again.

Now what I said before about this not really being a [REC] movie is totally true. Sure, they do a bit of the found footage stuff in the beginning and then little bits of it throughout the movie. And the infection that sweeps Clara and Koldo's wedding is the same infection from the other two [REC] movies. However, Genesis does nothing to further explain the storyline or explain the infection's true origin (as the title "Genesis" might imply). I guess we'll just have to go with what [REC] 2 told us. Oh wait, I lied. The only thing that Genesis adds is that reading scripture out loud makes the stop in their tracks. That's not really much of anything is it? The movie is really just about these two people... and how love really gets in the way during a zombie outbreak. 

Strangely, I found myself not minding at all that Genesis was just one of those sequels that only took the idea from previous films and was really not related at all. It was too awesome for me. Genesis actually adds something that 1 or 2 didn't have - comedy. At first I was all annoyed that they might b turning one of the best horror films of the past decade into a meaningless zom-com. But again, I suddenly found myself not caring. The comedy starts in the beginning, actually, before the title card. In the opening sequences before the wedding, during the wedding, and at the reception, the audience is seeing the story play out like the other [REC] movies - through the viewfinder of a video camera. But when the shit starts and Koldo asks the dude why he is filming stuff, the dude uses a line similar to the first [REC] - "We have to film everything!" Koldo then walks up to the camera and breaks it, and the movie goes into regular movie-mode from (mostly) then on out. It's like they were saying "Ha! You thought we'd just do the same old shit again... but we're not!" I liked that, and I respected it. 

Though the comedy element is not that blatant or obvious, it's there, but not too much to be annoying or take away from the horror element. Genesis is much bloodier than the previous films and I, for one, was freaking stoked about that. It was about time this series amped it up a bit. My favorite kill was when Koldo uses one of those electric cocktail mixer thingies and shoves it into a zombie's mouth. Clara gets the best zombie kills in the whole thing when she wields the chainsaw in the underground tunnels. Then we get some awesome shit. Chainsaw decapitation, chainsaw to the head (and getting stuck in the head), and chainsaw through the chest, then up through the body, splitting the head in half. Niiiice. With all of the non-gory horror I've been watching lately, I really needed that. Thank you, Genesis, for bathing me in your bloody gory. And that ending? Bloody gorgeous, as well. 

Genesis has some pretty good characters in it, too, and some pretty good actors to play them. Clara and Koldo are the main people, obviously, but as they try to escape the zombies, they keep meeting up with people - and then those people get killed. That was the only thing I wasn't too keen on about the movie was that we're introduced to so many minor characters and none of them, except the priest, play out to anything. Atun, the wedding videographer, should've made it further, I think. No reason to give the guy such a limited role just 'cause he's fat, seriously. Find another way to escape than through the tiny ventilation shaft so the awesome guy can get through, too. Anyway, I loved the actress playing Clara - Leticia Dolera - mostly because her look was so awesome for this movie. With her pale skin, black hair, and eyes running with black mascara she looked beautiful and even more so when she gets covered in blood. Diego Martin as Koldo is also a hunk, and I liked him in the movie because he's just your typical nice, normal guy and you really can't help but like him and root for him.

So again, I want to thank [REC] 3: Genesis for bringing some much-needed blood back into my movies and for just sticking to what works best and being a good, fun zombie film. You're not really a [REC] movie and I don't care. Your cinematography and coloring is beautiful; you've got some nice kills; and you're a wee bit funny, too. I'm calling it a win.