Resident Evil

by Mike McGranaghan

It’s got to mean something that two of the best horror filmmakers working today – Jordan Peele and Zach Cregger – got their starts in sketch comedy. Both genres depend on timing and presenting the unexpected, so there’s a certain amount of logic that being good at one would make it easier to be good at the other. Cregger follows up his box office hits Barbarian and Weapons with Resident Evil. To say this is just another installment in the video game-based series would be a radical understatement.

Austin Abrams stars as Bryan, a courier for an organ delivery service. He’s tasked with bringing a package to the hospital in Raccoon City. (For those unfamiliar, this is the town where a scientific accident unleashed a virus that turns people into terrifying, bloodthirsty monsters.) All he wants to do is get home to finish the conversation he’s been having on the phone with his girlfriend, who is unexpectedly pregnant. Instead, he finds himself living a nightmare after one of Raccoon City’s infected runs out in front of his car.

The problem with video game movies in general - and the Resident Evil pictures in particular – is that they tend to cater too much to players. An excess of time is spent focusing on the lore and making sure to throw in a lot of references. That can have the effect of slowing down the plot. It also can bore the heck out of people who don’t play the games.

Cregger makes an extremely smart choice with this RE adventure. Rather than creating a complicated narrative, he streamlines the story so it resembles a level of a survival-horror video game. Bryan has to get to Raccoon City Hospital, and he encounters a series of grave dangers along the way, each crazier than the one before it. He’s required to outrun monsters, shimmy his way across a ledge, navigate a street filled with hazards, and so on. That’s it. Taking this route allows the film to maintain a relentless pace, making you feel like you’re on a trek right alongside Bryan.

The visual effects here are among the most nauseating I’ve ever seen. I intend that as a compliment, by the way. Two headless bodies fuse themselves together to chase Bryan, and that’s just the beginning. A monster who vomits acid is equally memorable, as is a bloody, oozy, slimy sequence set inside a particular part of the hospital. (No spoilers.) The sheer disgustingness of the creatures is sufficient to provide uneasy chills, and attack scenes are staged for maximum carnage, with jump scares aplenty.

Interestingly, there are as many laughs as there are frights. The movie has fun with the dire nature of Bryan’s predicament. He makes comically ironic quips along the way, commenting on the gruesome nature of the situation in which he finds himself. Paul Walter Hauser has a small supporting role as a Raccoon City representative who briefly joins forces with our hero. Banter between the two of them amid the mayhem is particularly funny. Mixing hardcore gore and self-aware humor is tricky, but Cregger has the right touch.

Resident Evil can be enjoyed by fans of the games. Nonfans can enjoy it too, given that you don’t need encyclopedic knowledge of the franchise to have a good time. The movie delivers ninety minutes of rip-roaring horror insanity that leave you jolted and adrenalized.