[REC] 3: Genesis

(2012, Dir. by Paco Plaza.)

I sometimes forget just how good the [REC] series has been.  Though a certain studio - *cough*SONY SUCKS*cough* - tried to ruin the first film for us (by buying it, shelving it, and releasing their own remake first), the original film's found-footage meets 28 Days Later concept would have rivaled Paranormal Activity in popularity had it just been a) released and b) in English.  Unfortunately, us Americans can't be trusted with nice things, and [REC] and its terrific sequel [REC] 2 have been left for most Yankees to find on DVD.

A lot of film franchises go through some addition as they go on, but it's the subtractions from the equation that make [REC] 3: Genesis such a unique direction for the series.  There are fundamental changes - Sony's no longer involved and the awesome Magnet Releasing is distributing the film, and co-director of the first two films Jaume Balaguero has left director duties to counterpart Paco Plaza - but the biggest change is that the found footage gimmick (and the quarantined apartment complex) from the first two films is just a memory.

The change in pace that is [REC] 3 is a surprising follow up to the second film, but Plaza's film seems comfortable being a parallel story to the events of its predecessors.  There's only a minor tie in to the first film, as one of the guests at a wedding is connected to the outbreak we saw there, but the aggressive and frantic zombie-esque aggressors from those films return with a vengeance.  The twist ending from the second film is part of this film's narrative - and Plaza finds some clever ways to remind us just what the creatures are - but the story is completely new and focused mostly on the newly married couple - Clara and Koldo - who find themselves in the middle of the carnage.

Without the handheld camera viewpoint for most of the film and with a more cinematic approach, [REC] 3 does seem to lose some of the tension of its predecessors.  This film is not "in your face" as much as its parents were, but the pace doesn't suffer.  Instead, Plaza's new direction mixes the survival aspects of classic zombie films with some gory humor, and the film plays like more lighthearted films like Night of the Demons or The Return of the Living Dead when it does let up on the gas.  There is still plenty of blood spewed, but Plaza finds ways to move between dramatic and comedic splatter to keep the film moving.  The split between comedy and seriousness is another new turn in the series, but neither side of that equation overwhelms the other and effects the bigger picture.

With the added focus on gore and the romantic side of the script, the film is set up perfectly for Leticia Dolera (who stars as Clara) to shine, and she takes advantage of the opportunity.  Confined to a wedding dress and exceedingly runny makeup for the duration of the film, the role primarily requires Dolera to look the part of a woman who's fighting for her future, and Dolera does not miss a beat.  The diminutive actress handles herself very well throughout the film, and horror fans will surely enjoy her ability to handle a chainsaw.  The rest of the cast is made up of folks with a similar willingness to face the gory side of the film with their tongue in cheek, which leads to Clara standing up as a somewhat comic heroine in a horror film with a welcome slapstick edge.

The changing pace is probably the biggest obstacle to overcome with [REC] 3, and fans of the series who expect more of the same might find the tone to be too much to bear.  I do think the film feels slight in comparison to the first two films, but it's still a lot of fun to watch and a nice new twist on the mythology these filmmakers have created.  With Clara and Koldo's plight as the primary focus the film feels a little like a fan fiction tale, but the violent action and the unforgiving shocks fit the series well.  It's different, but I'd recommend it alongside the first two films to anyone who wants to see something special in the modern horror scene.  And, with [REC] Apocalypse in production - and promising to reconnect with the ending of [REC] 2 - I have a feeling that there's more great horror that will be rolling out of Spain in the near future.

The Mike's Top 50 Horror Movies Countdown: #25 - The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Previously on the Countdown: Number 50 - Happy Birthday to Me  Number 49 - Prince of Darkness  Number 48 - House on Haunted Hill  Number 47 - The Monster Squad  Number 46 - Hellraiser  Number 45 - The Fog  Number 44 - Creature From the Black Lagoon  Number 43 - Zombie  Number 42 - Tales from the Crypt  Number 41 - Bubba Ho-Tep  Number 40 - Phantom of the Paradise  Number 39 - Dog Soldiers Number 38 - Pontypool  Number 37 - Dark Water  Number 36 - Army of Darkness Number 35 - The Legend of Hell House  Number 34 - Poltergeist  Number 33 - The Abominable Dr. Phibes  Number 32 - The Phantom of the Opera  Number 31 - The House of the Devil   Number 30 - Evil Dead II  Number 29 - Dead of Night  Number 28 - Carnival of Souls  Number 27 - Nosferatu  Number 26 - Candyman

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

(1974, Dir. by Tobe Hooper.)

 Why It's Here:

Too low? This is probably too low, right?  You can say it, I won't blame you.

One of the most intense films ever made, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of those movies that you could throw at someone who doesn't know what a horror movie is and say "Here, watch this. This is a horror movie."  An unrelenting and unpolished opus of terror, Tobe Hooper's film features several of the best shocks you'll find and pairs them with memorable (and sometimes terribly annoying) interactions between the characters and moments of pure torture.  It might be the horror film that is most taxing to watch...which is actually a good thing.

The Moment That Changes Everything:

All I need to say is "the part where he slams the steel door". And if you've seen it, you know. Seriously, I can't think of a single moment in horror that has as much shock value as that one does.

It Makes a Great Double Feature With:

This is one of many films loosely based on the exploits of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein.  Most famously, Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs borrow from the same case.  But a film released a couple of years prior to Massacre, Deranged is a lesser known companion to Hooper's film.  It's dark in it's own ways - though it'll probably play like Shaun of the Dead next to Leatherface - and it features a one-of-a-kind performance from Roberts Blossom (aka, old scary guy who's actually nice from Home Alone) as the killer.

What It Means To Me:

If I had to guess why I rank a movie that I know is so important and I know shocks me to my core so low on this list (then again, it's not like 25 out of every horror movie I've ever seen is "low"), it's probably because this film is truly a chore to watch sometimes.  It's so brutal and it's so unforgiving and sometimes it's even a bit shrill and...well, sometimes that's just not as fun to watch as something else.  Of course, that just means it's doing its job really well.  When it's time to bring horror at its most vicious, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is the movie I turn to.

Midnight Movie of the Week #37 - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

My first encounter with Leatherface when I was growing up was - regrettably - through Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation.  That film was the fourth entry in the TCM series, featuring Matthew McConaughey as one of the sadistic "family" members and Renee Zelleweger as the female lead (both would have break out roles soon after in A Time To Kill and Jerry Maguire, respectively).  More notably, it's a film that's stuck in my mind as one of my least favorite movies I've ever seen.

Thus, I didn't give much thought to the sequels in the TCM series for most of my years.  I still took time to seek out the original film (which was Midnight Movie of the Week just over a month ago), but avoided any other trips into the Texas countryside where Leatherface resides.  When I did finally check out The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 - which promised '80s fashions and a crazed Dennis Hopper - I didn't give the movie much thought. When I popped the film in for a recent revisit, I quickly realized that I remembered almost nothing about the film.  This time around, I kind of loved it.

Texas Chainsaw 2 opens with a couple of teens driving around and causing mischief, all while trying to make requests of a young woman/disc jockey via their state-of-the-art car phone.  These men promptly come across the iconic Leatherface - perched in the back of the family truck and swinging around his chainsaw and a rotted corpse - who quickly makes a mess on that Texas Highway.  Called in to investigate is Texas Ranger "Lefty" Enright (Hopper, having a lot of fun), who then teams up with the DJ (Caroline Williams) that caught the murder on tape and wants to get to the bottom of it all.  An on-air demonstration of what she knows brings the freaks out, as Leatherface and brother Chop-Top show up to wreak havoc.

There's no way this film - or any of the other follow ups - can stand up against Tobe Hooper's original Massacre, which managed to resist going over the top with its gore and violence while staying incredibly brutal.  Luckily, Hooper is back in the directors chair for the sequel, and he seems to understand that most viewers would share my opinion.  In response, he opens up the door to a gory tale that adds the sadistic and unhinged Chop-Top (played by horror fave Bill Moseley), who's a much more vile brother to Leatherface than Edwin Neal's hitchhiker was in the first film.  One of my favorite moments involving Chop-Top is when he begins to pick his brain with a metal coat hanger while interrogating our intrepid DJ.

The other villains are our holdovers from the first Massacre - including Leatherface (now played by Bill Johnson), Grandfather, and - my personal favorite - The Cook, played by Jim Siedow.  They make great opponents for Hopper's insane Ranger, who storms their lair in the final act while bellowing "Ringing in the Sheaths".  Williams' turn as the DJ, Stretch, is mostly counted on to react to the carnage around her, and she does a fine job at it.

There are plenty of problems with Hooper's sequel, of course.  There's a large loss in tension from the first film, and the film also loses the gritty realism that film had.  The former was expected, but the latter is definitely a jolt to the viewer.  Many would call the film a mess in this regard - it does seem to go on about 15-20 minutes longer than a film as crazy as it should - but I find the shinier appearance of TCM2 to seem very nightmarish.  The dark corridors and neon lighting added to the mood for me, and establish the film's place alongside its mid '80s counterparts.  In my post on the first film I called it the bully in the schoolyard of '70s horror films - and I feel this sequel could compete for that honor in its decade too.

If there's one thing in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 that really surprised me, it's the fact that it actually got me to jump out of my seat a couple of times.  The chainsaw sound effects are particularly jarring, as Leatherface makes a habit out of popping through walls at the exact moment when my guard is down.  The film plays for camp most of the time, though, allowing Hopper to shine as the potentially insane Ranger.  Still, Director Hooper proves to me in these few moments of fright that a lot of the magic inside his first horror classic is still there.  He's simply widened the scale of the film and added a large dose of cheesy humor to the mix.

It's very hard for me not to think of the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as I write about this film or any other film that shares the name (if you want to see me get particularly mean, check out what I wrote about the remake seven years ago when I sucked at writing).  Despite that, I'm starting to think that my memories of the original are an advantage for TCM2 versus a lot of other horror sequels.  TCM2 seems to honor its predecessor while having fun with the world it set up, which is a rare and honorable achievement for a horror sequel.  If you can get past the fact that it's not that film - and if I can, you probably can too - there's a lot of fun and a few scares to be had in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.