Review: Resident Evil – Don’t dead open inside

Directed by Zach Cregger
Starring Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Paul Walter Hauser

8/10

As a film and television franchise, ‘Resident Evil’ has had a rocky journey.

Since Paul “the bad one” Anderson’s reasonable and fun 2002 adaptation, it has delivered a slew of bizarre set-piece sequels made specifically for Anderson’s wife and star, Milla Jovovich, sending the franchise into a trainwreck of beyond B-movies that would make Roger Corman blush.

The video game series has had a parallel rollercoaster ride with varying levels of quality and ridiculousness, but as the series has endured and evolved (or de-evolved) since its original PlayStation game in 1996, fans of each subsequent generation have entered the series at different intervals, and their idea of what Resident Evil should be will be wildly different. Aiming to please as many of these people as possible with a fresh film would be no small task, and this time it has fallen to Zach Cregger, who is riding high on the success of his previous film, Weapons.

Wisely, he seems to have avoided too much restrictive deference to any of the video games, playing it loose and bringing the series back to simpler survival horror roots. Crucially, Cregger has made the clear decision to inject a level of humour and surprise into this film, which has been lacking in previous iterations and the genre as a whole.

And through that, we’re treated to Austin Abrams’ beleaguered hospital courier, Bryan. He’s a perfect conduit for the audience to latch on to in a film such as this—crafted to be the incompetent everyman just trying to get through his shitty day, facing the ridiculous creep of a Lovecraftian-style zombie infection which is bringing his mundane world to a swift end. Inside Bryan’s courier bag is an item that is eventually revealed to be crucial to the Umbrella Corporation’s efforts to develop a cure for the violent infection tearing Raccoon City apart.

Along his fumbling journey through an incrementally denser hellscape towards the laboratory at the centre of town, every silly decision we anticipate a horror film character to make is suddenly fresh and justified, some of these moments subverting our expectations by swapping the familiar film (or indeed video game) logic of what normally occurs with the delicious curveball of reality. (There is a great running gag depicting Bryan’s ongoing war with padlocks which don’t break when shot).

This isn’t to say the film is mired by reality; there are great doses of the fantastic, over-the-top gore, and high-stakes fun. We’re treated to a nice serving of supporting characters, but Austin Abrams’ Bryan carries most of the film solo, which really hammers the idea that the universe is fixing to ruin his day. Those forces are realised with a fascinating and horrifying inventiveness—there’s no zombie fatigue to be had here. Every infection is unique and unsettling, offering surprises with every jump.

With plenty of genuine shocks and frights to be had, those already invested in the franchise need not worry that the comedy has compromised the horror.

If you’re happy to roll the dice on this one, you’ll likely walk away hoping for another visit. Better yet, get a horde of friends together and see it with a fresh audience, where the reactions should be half the fun.

JOHN HOLDCROFT