'Let Us Toast the Health of The Bride ... and Doom!'

Koldo and Clara are about to celebrate the most important day of their lives: their wedding.

Everything appears to be running smoothly and the bride and groom and their families are enjoying a wonderful day; that is until some of the guests start showing signs of a strange illness. Before they know what’s happening, the bride and groom find themselves in the middle of a hellish ordeal, as an uncontrollable torrent of violence is unleashed on the wedding.

Amidst the chaos, Koldo and Clara become separated and begin a desperate search for one another. What started off as an idyllic day quickly descends into a nightmare of the worst kind.

Starring Leticia Dolera, Javier Botet and Diego Martin, '[Rec] 3' is once again directed by Paco Plaza. Paco is a Spanish film director best known for writing and directing '[Rec]' and '[Rec] 2' with Jaume Balagueró.

Chatting recently with the man himself, speaking from Madrid, Spain I first get my facts straight with him: Your writing partner for the first two movies, Jaume Balagueró did not co-direct this film with you, but is going to be working on '[Rec] 4' which is the direct sequel to '[Rec] 2,' correct? "Yes."

So, if you both co-wrote and co-directed the first two, and you went your separate ways for three and four, why did he do the sequel story and you did the wedding story? "Well, it was really natural. The thing is, because I directed, as you know, '[Rec]' and '[Rec] 2' the producers then wanted to make two more films! We had mixed emotions. We didn’t want anyone new to step in and shoot the '[Rec]' film. We didn’t want to lose control, but at the same time we both felt that we wanted half the time to do different things. Because two more films would be like four more years of our lives devoted to this saga. And maybe it was too much. It was like a degree in medicine or something!"

"We wanted to direct, each one of us, a sequel of our own. It wasn’t something deliberate that we wanted to. Both of us decided together that the third one was going to be a wedding, because we wanted [it that way]. That was always an idea that we had for the second one, but we didn’t do. We both felt it was a very interesting opportunity. So we knew the third one was going to be in a wedding and we knew the fourth one should be the last."

"So, in successive lunches and dinners we came up with these two ideas of the plot for '[Rec] 3' and '[Rec] 4.' I was more keen on doing the wedding thing because somehow it connected more with me and Jaume wanted to shoot a new film, 'Sleep Tight.' So he was going to be very busy at the same time he was preparing '[Rec] 3', so this was the best solution we found. So, I directed the third one and he would do '[Rec4]' and each of us would produce each other’s film. So Jaume was Executive Producer on '[Rec] 3' and I will be on '[Rec] 4'."

Due to '[Rec] 3' being subtitled Genesis, I thought it was going to be a prequel. I thought you would explain how it started, how the Portugal girl made it to the penthouse suite, how the virus got out and infected the dog and got to the vet. But none of that really happened. Was that ever discussed? "Yeah, absolutely. In fact, in Spain, at the same time with the third film, we released a comic book; a graphic novel with the story of how it all began. Because we knew that, you know, if you want me to be honest with you, we had the title before we had the script! We knew the concept should be Genesis and Apocalypse. But for us, Genesis was the beginning of the end. It wasn’t about beginning of the disease or how the girl got infected or something like that."

Regarding some details in '[Rec] 3,' when we see the reflection of the infected party guests, we see what appears to be the possessed girl from '[Rec]' and '[Rec] 2.' Is this meant to be the girl/demon that is possessing her? "I think that’s something worth asking yourself. If you think about the first two films you have never watched the girl directly. You only see her through a lens. It’s going to be explored further in the fourth one."

The cameraman in '[Rec] 3,' Atun (played by Borja Glez. Santaolalla) bears a striking resemblance to Guillermo Del Toro. Was that deliberate? "No, no. Not at all. A lot of people have asked me about that. It’s purely coincidental. It’s true that he has this kind of Michael Moore physiognomy. It’s just that he was like the actor that I wanted for the part. It’s just a coincidence."

What about the heavy-handedness of the royalties and the copyright infringement for Sponge Bob? Was there something to do with copyrights and infringements that you decided to put that into the story? "In Spain, we have this thing called the SGAE (which stands for Siempre Ganamos Algunos Euros = Always Win Some Euros). It’s a society that one of their duties is collection of the financial rights - and they are not really popular in Spain. People really hate them. They are kind of the personification of evil for us, and that was something we just wanted to make a joke with it."

Finally, I’ve read Jaume’s thoughts on 'Quarantine,' the American remake of '[Rec],' and he says he can’t really have an opinion of it because it’s the exact same movie! Except with the religious angle turned off. So, how do you feel about '[Rec] 2’s remake, 'Quarantine 2: Terminal.' Are they going to do that to '[Rec] 3' and put out a 'Quarantine 3'? "I have no control over that. We have no say in any of the remakes or sequels."

Okay, well thank you very much, Paco. I really enjoyed the movie. I've seen it a couple of times already and I’m really looking forward to the fourth one! "Thank you very much."

Interviewed by: Kyle Richards