REC 3 (2012)

The final movie for my Spanish theme week is “REC 3”. I liked this one much more than “REC 2” for several reasons. First, it doesn’t take itself as seriously and actually has several great moments for some dark comedy. Second, it changes up the format; about twenty minutes into the movie, it drops the found footage/POV style that was used in the first two films are becomes a straight forward film. This was a great choice to make by director Paco Plaza (who wrote and directed the first two films) because it shows that he’s trying to break the mold and not make a copycat movie. That attempt clearly did not work for “REC 2” and the change of style and mood fits perfectly in the storyline for “REC 3”.

Koldo and Clara are getting married and all of their family and friends are there to celebrate, even Koldo’s uncle who was bitten by a dog at the veterinarian office that he works at. All of the standard wedding moments are caught on film including the ceremony, cutting of the cake, a groomsman sneaking off with a guest of the bride, but when the dancing is about to begin, Koldo’s uncle falls off a balcony and onto a table. His wife rushes over but it’s too late, he’s been turned and bites her in the neck. Infected people biting unaffected people chaos takes over and Koldo and Clara are separated. The film then follows Koldo and then follows Clara until there are finally reunited and many more guests are killed. It’s a fun bloodbath kind of movie with moments that seem inspired by “Dead Alive” and “Shaun of the Dead”.

Favorite moment – Koldo and a waiter sneaking around looking for Clara while wearing armor and carrying a morning-star that they found in a shrine to Saint George.

Second favorite moment – Clara killing infected guests with a chainsaw!