, the claustrophobic Spanish horror tale of a young female reporter following a fire crew into the middle of a terrifying virus outbreak was a breakout hit when released back in 2007 for directing duo
Paco Plaza and
Juame Balaguero, scoring critical acclaim and worldwide success. Told totally from the point of view of the cameraman, it was a frenetic and most importantly for a horror movie, terrifying. As is the case with these foreign hits, it spawned the inevitable US remake treatment as
'Quarantine'. In 2009 Plaza and Balaguero kicked it up a notch with the satisfying sequel
2. This time following a SWAT team, through their helmet cams into the building, which although not as fresh as it's predecessor, had some intriguing ideas, and left the door open to expand the scope of the tale.
So pleased infact were production company Filmax International at the popular and critical reception of these two, that they greenlit a further two movies. So what do the Spanish duo have in store for us next?
Well, First to hit will be the prequel Genesis, which will chart the origins of the demonic virus. Its slated for release in Autumn 2011 and will be shot by Paco Plaza.
After that we have
Apocalypse, which no doubt follows the path of the outbreak to biblical proportions. Juame Balaguero takes the reigns for this installment and we can expect this one the following Autumn 2012.
As these teaser posters (thanks to
Twitch) suggest, expect a significant escalation in the bloodletting. It will be interesting to find out what style they choose to shoot these two entries in the series? Will we see an end to the frenetic, first person style of the first two in favour of a more traditional one. My money says they will. Surely a good idea for [ Rec] Apocalypse, assuming they are going to go for a big canvas for the finale.