Filmmaker Zach Cregger is a fan of the “Resident Evil” video game franchise, but not so much of the previous seven films…and it shows. Watching this new masterpiece of horror is, at times, like chilling while watching a friend play the third-person perspective shooter. After a memorable performance as a drug addicted burglar in Cregger’s “Weapons,” actor Austin Abrams returns in a leading role as a hapless medical courier tasked with delivering a time-sensitive package to Raccoon City General Hospital. Of course, along the way he’ll encounter scores of infected zombies, including the “Human Centipede”-pinwheel inspired by the game’s bio-organic weapon Nyx. Blood-soaked fun from start to finish.
The snow-covered setting provides the perfect backdrop for the vibrant red splatter that serves as the primary color in the RE palette. Cregger assaults the audience with several jump scares, beginning with a woman who walks out in front of our protagonist’s car on a rural road in the middle of the night. That would be Bryan (Abrams), who is on the phone when he hits the woman crossing the road. He puts the still-alive (debatable) catatonic lady, who resembles a bloody, bendable action figure, in his car since he’s headed to Raccoon City’s hospital to deliver an organ for a transplant. Talk about a tense ride.
Several moments in the film resemble “Weapons,” as zombies run toward Bryan, who, once he gets hold of a weapon, says his situation feels like playing a video game—he learned to use weapons by playing video games.
Along the way, we meet more memorable characters, including a fun Paul Walter Hauser as Carl, who crosses paths with Bryan, becomes his passenger, and immediately delivers comic relief. There’s also badass Kali Reis as a female John Wick, who’s proficient with a firearm. “Resident Evil” was written by Cregger and Shay Hatten; the screenwriter is best known for “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” and “John Wick: Chapter 4.”
This movie has lots of tentacles. I immediately got John Carpenter’s “The Thing” vibes (especially in a scene that involves a dog) and a few “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” feels. The monsters are a blast, including a chunky, acid-puking creature that resembles Bill Paxton’s turd-monster Chet in “Weird Science” and a “The Human Centipede” pinwheel that comes at you like a juggernaut with terrible braking distance.
Composers Hays Holladay and Ryan Holladay permeate the story with dark, metallic synths in the same vein as their last Cregger collaboration (“Weapons”), building upon the dread-heavy atmosphere and providing one of my favorite film scores of the year.
“Resident Evil” culminates in a boss-battle-type finale as Bryan must make his way up a decimated Raccoon City hospital, each floor resembling a new level in a video game, to deliver his package. Cregger’s final shot will go down as one of horror’s most iconic scenes.
(4 stars)
Now showing in theaters
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