If Recs massive international success played a part in getting the likes of Apollo 18 and The Devil Inside greenlit, then it has a lot to answer for. By way of apology, heres Rec 3: Genesis, which jettisons the found footage angle and makes fun of the whole subgenre. Relocating the narrative to a wedding where zombies are unleashed on the guests, director Paco Plaza ditches the po-faced seriousness of the previous instalments and instead opts for the playful, cartoonish tone of Robert Rodriguezs Planet Terror (note leading lady Leticia Doleras passing resemblance to that films Marley Shelton). Which is great fun if you thought Rec 2 fumbled the ball, but watch out if you wanted more of the same. Fans of serious horror will not be enamoured of scenes where zombies are killed with egg whisks, nor of a character who calls himself Sponge John because Sponge Bob taken. Whatever you feelings, one things certain: Rec 3 will never be mistaken for its predecessors. Cant say that about Paranormal Activity 3, can you?
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
