Roger Ebert may be the only film critic to have become a household name and at the height of his career, he was everywhere. But, I was there at the beginning, watching Ebert and his partner Gene Siskel on their PBS series Sneak Previews. Of the two, I always preferred Ebert, and not just because he would be give genre films a fair chance. Siskel had a bad habit of reviewing the movie which he wanted to see, as opposed to the movie as it was. He would say things like "They should have done this..." or "Why didn't they do that..." and seemingly ignore the real movie. As much as I disliked this approach, I have been guilty of it myself. That certainly occurred while I was watching [Rec] 4: Apocalypse.

It's clear that with [Rec] 4: Apocalypse, series co-creator Jaume Balaguero, who directs and co-writes here, had a choice -- Give the audience more of the same, or try something different. Unfortunately, he opted for the former. This is essentially a remake of the first movie, but instead of being trapped in an apartment building, the group is trapped on a boat. Yes, we get the inclusion of scientists who are attempting to understand the virus, but they don't do anything particularly special -- they are simply potential victims just like everyone else. So, here we have yet another movie where the characters run up and down hallways closing door and hiding as they attempt to avoid the infected. The only difference here is that some non-human predators are introduced, but they aren't very effective. The religious angle which was introduced in [Rec] 2, and which made that movie so unique, is more or less dropped here, and the virus is described as simply being something organic. So, instead of a new chapter in the series, we get the same old stuff.

The end result with [Rec] 4: Apocalypse is a movie which offers some solid jump scares and the same sort of frenetic action seen in the first two films, but the lack of anything new or original really hurts the movie. It's refreshing that Balaguero has opted to shoot this as a straight-forward narrative, as opposed to a found-footage film, as with the first two films in the series, but this only makes a minor difference. [Rec] 4: Apocalypse really had a chance to mix the ideas of the first three films into a completely over-the-top experience, but instead we get rather bland victims trapped on a boat (which felt to me like it was lifting ideas from some of the Resident Evil games). This is a competently made film and pretty than many of its peers, but it's a not a fitting ending to a series which began with one of the best horror films of the past decade.

[Rec] 4: Apocalypse didn't even have the decency to have a solid coda on DVD courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image is sharp and clear, showing no distracting grain and no defects from the source materials. The colors look good and the image is never overly bright or dark, despite the fact that this is a dark movie. The level of detail is good and the image is never soft. The depth is about what one would expect from a DVD. The DVD carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 track which provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The track does a great job of delivering the sounds of the ship, as the stereo and surround effects are very active. The stereo effects show good separation and the rear channels bring us some individual sounds. The subwoofer jumps in with wall-shaking bass during the action scenes.

The lone extra on the [Rec] 4: Apocalypse DVD is "Rec 4: Making Of" (28 minutes). This includes an extensive amount of on-location footage, as we are taken aboard the industrial ship where much of the film was shot. The piece involves a great deal of "fly on the wall" footage where we get to see key scenes being shot. In addition, we get interviews with Director Jaume Balaguero and some comments from star Manuela Velasco. We also get a look at the special effects makeup.

UPDATE:

On September 25, 2018, Shout! Factory released [Rec] 4: Apocalypse on Blu-ray Disc, as part of the [Rec] Collection.  The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 32 Mbps.  The image is very sharp and clear, showing no overt grain and no defects from the source materials.  The colors look very good, most notably reds, and the image is never overly dark or bright.  The transfer does a great job with depth, especially in the shots which take place within the ship's narrow corridors.  The level of detail is also impressive.  The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 2.5 Mbps.  The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects.  This track really emphasizes the amount of sounds coming from all around the ship, as highlighted by the detailed surround effects.  These effects flow smoothly into the front channels, placing us in the action.  The subwoofer effects deliver a satisfying bass accompaniment to the ship's engines.

The [Rec] 4: Apocalypse Blu-ray Disc contains only a few extras. "The Making of [Rec] 4: Apocalypse" (28 minutes) has star Manuela Velasco taking us around the ship, where we see certain key scenes being shot. We also hear from Director Jaume Balaguero, who talks about the ideas and goals of the film. The extras also include THEATRICAL TRAILERS, a TV SPOT, and an "Image Gallery".

I'm not above admitting when I'm wrong and my rant in the review above was simply wrong, as I'd forgotten an important plot point from [Rec] 2.  That aside, [Rec] 4: Apocalypse may not be the conclusion to the series that fans were looking for, but it's still a tight horror movie which contains some nice visuals.