Exclusive: Jaume Balagueró Talks REC 4: Apocalypse

Staci Layne Wilson |

Dec 26, 2014

Intrepid, and possibly infected, reporter Ángela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) is back for more in [REC] 4: Apocalypse (review). This time around, she and the survivors of the tenacious contagion which turns humans into ghouls find themselves aboard a mysterious ship where a doctor is trying to isolate the source of the outbreak – even if it means having to lose a few patients.

We caught up with the creator of the film franchise, Jaume Balagueró. Balagueró directed parts one and two, and now part four.

Jaume Balaguero

Dread Central: Tell us a little bit about what made you decide to come back to direct the series again, after part three was done by someone else?

Jaume Balagueró: Yes, in fact we decided, the producers, Paco, the co-director and me, decided to make the three and the four at the same time. The decision was at the same time. And then we decided Paco would made the third because, at the time, I was involved in another movie that had nothing to do with REC series. And after that, I would make the fourth one. And we conceived these two last parts after Genesis and Apocalypse. And that’s why we decided to make both. And, just to, I think, to say goodbye to our experience with the series and celebrate how happy we were doing these movies.

DC: I love how you brought Angela back. She’s great. Now is Manuela going to go on to any other movies with you, even if it’s not a REC world, necessarily? Or will you revive the character at all?

JB: I hope I will make other movies with Velasco, the actress, not with Angela because, with the character, we are sure the series is finished.

DC: Oh really?

JB: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is the last one, and we are completely sure about that.

DC: Really? There are a lot of times when directors say, “Oh, it’s the last one.” And then they come back.

JB: Well, I think the actress, Manuela Velasco, [won’t return] because she’s tired. And she loves the movies. And she loves to have worked on all of them. But I think she’s tired, and I’m sure she would like that.

DC: Okay. I like how you put this on a ship and you made it kind of a different world. Can you talk a little bit about the decision to do that, to move out of the building?

JB: Yes. Yes, of course. I felt it was necessary to leave the building because we made two movies entirely inside that building. And it was necessary to leave it. And then, at the same time, I wanted to keep one of the main elements of the series, the claustrophobia. And the isolation – the sense to be isolated – and then, well, the ship was perfect to keep that. A ship in the middle of the sea, it was impossible to escape, well then, we have the claustrophobia, and we have the sense of isolation.

DC: I’m wondering what you would like to move on to next. Are you still interested in making horror films?

JB: I’m interested to keep making horror movies because I love horror movies. That’s why I made all of the horror movies. But at the same time I am interested in all the genres. And now I’m working on a new movie, completely out of the genre. It’s not a horror movie, yes. But at the same time, I have another project. It is actually a horror movie – very strong horror movie. I have both projects, and I am working on both projects now.

DC: So, is your next horror movie going to be supernatural, or is it going to be a thriller that could actually happen in the real world?

JB: Well, the movie that is not horror story, it could happen in the real world. It is more a suspense story. And the other one, the horror one, has some supernatural elements, yes.

Look for [REC] 4: Apocalypse day and date in theaters, on iTunes, and On Demand everywhere on Friday, January 2, 2015.

Synopsis:
Several hours have passed since the terrible events that ravaged the old building in Barcelona. After the chaos of the first few moments, the army decided to intervene and an elite group of soldiers infiltrated the building in order to plant detonators and put an end to this nightmare once and for all. The mission is a success; quick and precise. Angela Vidal, the young television reporter who entered the building with the fireman just hours before, manages to make it out alive. But what they don’t know is that she hasn’t made it out of the building alone; within her she carries the seed of the strange infection. She is to be taken to a provisional quarantine facility, a high-security installation where she will have to stay in isolation for several days. A perfect location for the virus to be reborn in all its splendor. It will take on new and even more deadly forms, setting the scene for horrors we could only have imagined, before finally revealing its true nature. The apocalypse has just begun…

Rec 4 Apocalypse

Categorized:News