Okay, so don’t take this the wrong way, Resident Evil fans, but all of the video game adaptations that we’ve gotten thus far from the franchise…well, I’ll just say it: They’ve been kind of bad.
Now, that’s not to say that I don’t LIKE them. I mean, when I ranked the Resident Evil movies, I even said that 2007’s Resident Evil: Extinction was pretty good…for a Resident Evil movie. You see, that’s the thing. I’m ranking these movies (even the animated ones) on a curve. If they’re “good,” I mean “good” for Resident Evil.
However, with Zach Cregger’s upcoming movie, I think we can have a genuinely good Resident Evil movie that’s just a good movie, period. Here’s why.
This Is The First Resident Evil Movie That Genuinely Looks Scary And Tense
We’ve gotten 7 live-action Resident Evil movies, from the 2002 original all the way to 2021’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, and arguably none of them have been scary.
Of course “scary” is purely subjective, but I think most fans of the games will tell you that the ones starring the legendary Milla Jovovich were more action movies than horror movies, and Welcome to Raccoon City, while more faithful to the games, wasn’t scary, either. Honestly, I can’t blame Hollywood. The Milla Jovovich movies were very successful, and when they ran their course, the idea of making something closer to the games probably felt like a home run…even if it was a swing and a miss.
That said, just from the trailers alone, I can tell that this upcoming movie has a shot at actually being scary. Unlike the previous cinematic attempts, we’re getting a hero who truly looks like he’s out of his depth.
This guy obviously doesn’t know what he’s doing, and he represents a good avatar for the audience, who would also definitely be terrified if bodies started falling from the sky. This movie looks both scary and tense, which is exciting, since the previous RE films were neither, try as they might.
This Movie Looks Like It’s Trying To Capture The Energy Of The Series Rather Than The Characters And Setting
I still remember when I first saw Milla Jovovich jump-kick a zombie dog in the face and thinking, "What IS this?" Sure, it was kind of cool…I guess…but it definitely wasn’t the Resident Evil that I knew back then (Especially since this movie came out before Resident Evil 4, and we still had tank controls).
So, yeah, those original RE films definitely didn’t feel like the games, and that was fine. They were their own separate thing. Welcome to Raccoon City tried harder to nail the vibe and tone of the games, but that fell flat, too (Especially since the actor who played Leon - Avan Jogia - didn’t feel like Leon at all). But by abandoning all iconography (besides the typewriter) and characters, this upcoming movie just looks to have the same VIBE of the games.
I know this film isn’t going to have the Resident Evil Requiem characters, but from the trailer alone, it looks like it’s going to have the same disquieting tone of the Grace sections from that game, which is awesome, since those parts were terrifying!
After Weapons, I Have Faith That The Director Will Nail The Survival Horror Aspects Missing From The Previous RE Films
Lastly, can I just say what a gift it is that we got somebody like the director of Barbarian and Weapons to make the next Resident Evil movie?
Both Barbarian and Weapons are a master class in frights, and I think Weapons especially is a good sign that Resident Evil is in good hands when it comes to the idea of survival horror, as surviving Aunt Gladys’ curse was a huge part of that film. This is also important because none of the other RE films really felt like they were survival horror at all. What’s Resident Evil if it doesn’t have that element to it?
That’s why I have such high hopes for this film, which hits the 2026 movie schedule on September 18th.
