‘Resident Evil’ Movie Review: Monsters, Are You All There?

Zach Cregger chases his protagonist Abrams towards Raccoon City through a bloody hurdle race full of crazy twists and turns.

A zombie apocalypse under the banner of the Umbrella Corporation can also take place without Milla Jovovich, as a Netflix series proved in 2022; However, the production wasn’t so good that it was allowed to experience a second season. After his acclaimed horror masterpieces “Barbarian” and “Weapons,” Zach Cregger is now dedicating an independent cinema adaptation to the famous video game series, which sets itself apart from all seven previous films with a completely new story. The “Resident Evil” universe will be retained, but will be populated with previously unknown characters – but Cregger is relying on a leading actor with whom he has already worked.

Man jumping between cars in a snowy street scene from explosions.

Horror ride to Raccoon City

For courier driver Bryan (Austin Abrams from “Weapons”), stress resistance should actually be part of everyday life because he is always under time pressure in his job. But his latest assignment will not only cost him his nerves, but possibly even his life and will definitely teach him pure horror. The job sounds so simple at first: he has to bring a biomedical package to its destination in Raccoon City and has to take a long car ride through a snow-covered forest at night. The first unusual incident doesn’t take long to happen and from then on things get crazier and bloodier. Important characters include an accident victim, a police officer, an overzealous watchdog and an emissary from the Umbrella Corporation in the form of Paul Walter Hauser (in an unfortunately far too brief supporting role).

Person in dark tunnel with flashlight, on wet ground and in front of sooty brick walls.

Tentacle dog and acid vomit

With “Resident Evil,” Cregger offers a prime example of a game adaptation and does full justice to the video game templates without stubbornly copying them. Instead, he surprises us with a lot of new locations and at the same time offers a rich arsenal of monsters, ranging from tentacle dogs to acid pukes and girls with scary extremities to giant babies and hybrid creatures that have fused together. A running gag that runs through the work is the (forcible) opening of padlocks and the search for keys. The film often switches to Bryan’s first-person perspective and puts us behind the barrel of a firearm or on crumbling passages over dizzying abysses. This way we can really feel like teammates.

A man in a wool hat drives a car while a bloodied woman in the passenger seat puts her hand over his mouth.

Cregger also adds an important ingredient not previously associated with this title – humor. And all of this actually works brilliantly. Sam Raimi, for example, once displayed similar arrogance in his “Dance of the Devils” trilogy. Nevertheless, one can only hope that the director will not be signed by the Umbrella Corporation for at least six more films because that would restrict his terrible creativity too much.

4 out of 5 acid treated elevator cars