PIC of the Week – The [REC] Collection

PIC of the Week – The [REC] Collection

Article series by Ray Schillaci

Considered by some to be one of the top ten scariest movies of the decade, SHOUT! Factory now delivers one of the most frightening franchises in a Blu box set for the first time, The [Rec] Collection. Those unfamiliar with this horror entry from Spain may recognize its less powerful American version, Quarantine, starring Jennifer Carpenter, known from the Showtime hit Dexter. I probably got half way through that film on cable when my nephew insisted I turn it off and dedicate my time to watching the original – [Rec]. I did, and found that after fifteen minutes late at night, I could not sit through an entire viewing because it seriously freaked me out.

Probably no other film ever had that kind of effect on me since my first viewing of the Romero classic, Night of the Living Dead. Now, some may be put off by this “found footage” entry, but in this case, the damn thing works. Angela is a perky reporter for a show called While You’re Sleeping. She goes to different night jobs and tries to make them as interesting as possible with Pablo, her one-man crew. This particular night, she hangs with a group of firemen and goes on “routine call”, someone has taken ill in an old apartment, and the police have arrived on the scene as well. Suddenly, everyone is in over their heads when the whole place is quarantined with all trapped inside due to a mysterious illness that causes victims to become horribly violent.

The set-up as a whole is very realistic, and yes, sometimes the camera movement can be too erratic, but it does reflect the panic that creeps up on us as viewers. There is so much more to the writing/directing team of Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, and their co-writer Luiso Berdejo than just delivering a flat-out horror film. They not only deliver a taut suspenseful near-paranoid thriller, but add to that something so shocking that I hesitate to spoil the scares.

This is only the first in a very successful series. [Rec] 2 begins where [Rec] ended, not only continuing the terror, but taking the premise in a different direction that is even more unsettling. Believe it or not, the tension and horror continues to mount with Manu Díez taking over screenwriting for Luiso Berdejo. The two films are practically seamless, and could have easily been one horrific extravaganza.

For 2012, Paco Plaza went off on his own as director of [Rec] 3: Genesis and rejoined writing partner Luiso Berdejo along with David Gallart (story credit) to deviate from the original [Rec] storyline and bring us a wedding party that contracts the disease, adding a bit of very dark humor to the mix. This may be a bit jarring for the original fans, but it also comes across as if the filmmaking team wanted a challenge by making the third installment a parallel film that acts not only as a prequel, but also a sequel, and a story that continues in the present of the first two films. It’s a helluva juggling act deviating from the “found footage” technique intermittently. But, [Rec] 3: Genesis still proves to be effective in its scares.

The final installment had Jaume Balagueró taking the director reins and Manu Díez, who was so adept in bringing the horror to the forefront, joining in as co-writer. The filmmakers return to their roots and deliver a harrowing tale aptly titled [Rec] 4: Apocalypse. This time the setting is on a freighter, and we are following one of the surviving characters from the first two films. The environment of the ship is more confining than the original apartment. Darker, more sinister, [Rec] 4 is full of dread and shocks, and proves to be a welcome return to form for fans of the first two films.

For those with little patience for subtitles, it’s time to grow up. If you’re a horror hound like me, then you owe it to yourself to see these movies. The first film does have the option of watching it dubbed in English or in its original form in Spanish with English subtitles. The subsequent films are all in Spanish with subtitles. For those who can’t imagine watching a horror film and getting the full effect while reading what the characters are saying, this series is a perfect example as to how well it can work.

SHOUT! Factory gives us a collection that is quite unnerving. The picture quality and sound are off the charts compared to the original DVDs. Get ready to double dip, it’s worth the price. Visually, it’s a stunner. At least with the first two films, you cannot help but feel that you are right there living the horror. Add to that an immersive sound design that the filmmakers of all four films dedicated themselves to, going from giving us the creepiest chills to the most outlandish scares. The whole collection will have you jumping off the couch so many times you may give up and finish watching the films on the floor while holding your blankee for protection.

The [Rec] Collection has a bevy of extras. You can literally spend hours poring over everything provided. Somebody has noticeably skimped on the last two movies, but I’m not about to complain after everything that’s been offered. SHOUT! Factory has delivered us an early Halloween dream (or nightmare) with:

DISC ONE: [REC]
¥ Audio commentary with Writers/Directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza (in Castalian with English Subtitles)
¥ Making of [REC] (40 Minutes)
¥ Crew interviews (46 Minutes)
¥ Extended scenes
¥ Deleted scenes
¥ Behind the scenes footage (43 Minutes)
¥ Teaser
¥ Theatrical trailers
¥ TV spots
¥ Still gallery

DISC TWO: [REC] 2
¥ Audio commentary with Writers/Directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza (in Castalian with English subtitles)
¥ Making of [REC] 2 – In An Affected World (118 Minutes)
¥ Behind the scenes
¥ Deleted scenes
¥ Extended scenes
¥ Walk through of the set
¥ [REC] 2 on tour
¥ Sitges Film Festival press conference
¥ Theatrical trailers
¥ TV spots
¥ Still gallery

DISC THREE: [REC] 3: GENESIS
¥ [REC] 3: Genesis – Preparing A Bloody Wedding (117 Minutes)
¥ Making of [REC] 3
¥ Deleted scenes
¥ Outtakes
¥ Theatrical trailers
¥ TV spots
¥ Still gallery

DISC FOUR: [REC] 4: APOCALYPSE
¥ Making of [REC] 4: APOCALYPSE
¥ Theatrical trailers TV spot
¥ Still gallery