Resident Evil: Movie Review

Zach Cregger, the brilliant mind behind Barbarian and Weapons, is back with yet another horror movie: the latest adaptation of the hit video game Resident Evil. If you're at all familiar with Cregger's last couple of films, you'll know exactly what to expect from his filmmaking style, which seamlessly blends grotesque, disturbing horror themes with moments of levity and humour. And as the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Resident Evil doesn't stray far from Cregger's signature style, and that's a good thing, as the comedy works hand in hand with the horror to create an experience that's just as funny as it is terrifying.

If you've never played the Resident Evil games before, do not worry, as the movie provides more than enough context to introduce newcomers to its world, allowing you to follow everything that goes on without needing any prior knowledge of the games or their lore.

Austin Abrams plays our protagonist, Bryan, marking his second collaboration with Zach Cregger after the two successfully teamed up for Weapons. You could argue that a movie like Resident Evil is exactly the kind of film in which Abrams shines the most, as he plays an ordinary, everyday man with nothing particularly heroic or special about him. He's simply a courier trying to complete one last delivery for the night before heading home to his pregnant girlfriend, only to find himself caught up in the midst of absolute chaos. The silly, almost slapstick humour, paired with the ridiculous one-liners, suits Abrams' style of acting so well that it's practically impossible to sit through this movie without laughing out loud several times.

One of the movie's biggest strengths is its setting and imagery, as it takes place entirely at night, during winter, in a snowy, picturesque world. There's something so beautiful about snow that I feel like any movie is automatically elevated by it, especially with the way the light bounces off its pristine surface. In a horror movie filled with blood and gore, the contrast between the purity of the snow and the crimson red of the blood makes for a true visual spectacle.

As we've seen many times in the past, it's hard to adapt a video game to the screen in a way that does it justice, but Zach Cregger manages to strike a perfect balance between the movie feeling like a piece of cinema while still retaining the feel of a video game. Just like the games, there are a ton of ridiculous obstacles in this (such as Bryan failing to shoot off any lock he comes across), alongside POV shots that manage to scare us to the core as we're put in the shoes of our protagonist, cautiously entering a room or turning a corner only to come face to face with an army of monsters.

Speaking of, the monsters in this movie are awesome, and if you watch any behind-the-scenes footage, you'll see just how heavily the team relied on practical effects rather than CGI to bring its horrors to life. One of the creepiest creatures is the "merged monster," made up of limbs from different victims. It was brought to life by a team of live stunt actors and a movement director, and you can really feel how real it all is on screen, making for a truly spine-chilling sequence. Another standout scene in the movie features a gigantic man hidden underground, which bursts open as Bryan approaches, releasing a swarm of zombie rats. This was also achieved entirely through practical effects, with the production hiring an experienced creature designer to build a massive, one-ton creature puppet. It required four puppeteers to operate and had to be shipped in separate pieces all the way from Los Angeles to Prague for filming. It’s choices like these, favouring practical effects over CGI, that really bring the movie together and give it that old-school horror feel reminiscent of the great horror films of the ’80s.

Zack Cregger is three for three now, releasing a hat-trick of excellent horror movies back to back, and has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting horror directors working in Hollywood right now. We're all looking forward to seeing what he does next, but for now, we can just sit back and enjoy what he's already brought to the genre.