WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: Resident Evil — a horror video game adaptation with a wicked sense of humour

It’s an opinion that will probably get you cancelled – at least among ardent fans. But as much immersive fun as the Resident Evil video games are, story-wise they’re pretty absurd.

Around for 30 years now, Capcom’s survival horror franchise has run unconstrained with the core concept that sets it apart from other zombie media: in its universe, the undead are the product of pharmaceutical experimentation, with various virus strains (the t-Virus being the most famous) mutating some of the infected into “superior”, unstoppable beings.

There have been cults, clones, vampires, babies turned to crystal, presidential rescue missions, and toxic moss, and that doesn’t even count for stylised characters like absolute unit Chris Redfield, always-in-shades-and-leather Albert Wesker, and Leon S. Kennedy with his boy band hairstyle. 

The point is that Resident Evil lore is ridiculous, and any attempt to faithfully translate one of its signature convoluted narratives into live-action entertainment will trip over that blocker.

It’s the exact fate that befell 2021’s B-grade Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. Meanwhile, Paul W. S. Anderson chose to jettison fidelity and moody survival horror for his six Resident Evil movies, which went the gory sci-fi-infused action route instead. And the less said about Netflix’s unhinged series, the better.

It’s not reaching to say that, until now, Resident Evil fans have been waiting for an adaptation that ticks all the boxes, closely resembling its source material, while actually being good.

Which brings us to the brand-new Resident Evil movie from Barbarian and Weapons filmmaker Zach Cregger. With writing partner Shay Hatten, the pair have once again sidestepped established franchise characters and plotlines (barring the big daddy event that kickstarts everything) for their reboot.

However, while they haven’t bothered retreading Resident Evil canon, they’ve done an exceptional job conveying the gameplay experience – in a standalone way that accommodates casual viewers and series non-initiates.

Cregger’s Resident Evil is a taut 94 minutes centred on original character, Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier contending with life-altering personal news.

Partially seeking distraction, and partially chasing extra money, Bryan accepts a last-minute, late-night job transporting a package to Raccoon City General Hospital in the snowy Colorado mountains. Cue a nightmare evening of monstrous encounters. 

Leaning into the body horror aspect of Resident Evil mutations, and not adverse to jump scares, the new Resident Evil certainly delivers on the fright front. What’s surprising, however, is just how funny the film is.

While not as slapstick as, say, a Sam Raimi movie, at times Resident Evil feels like it could be described as a horror comedy. Cregger has a background in humour, and it comes through strongly here as relatable everyman Bryan finds himself in scenarios lifted straight out of a Resident Evil game.

Even if its pockets contained the car key you needed, would you pursue a corpse being incrementally dragged down a dark alley by something? For Bryan, like the average film viewer, it’s a hard pass.

Horror tropes fall under the microscope, while Resident Evil-specific rules receive a winking treatment as well. Familiar features like limited resources, briefcase inventories, typewriter save points and puzzle-linked padlocks all pop up on screen. However, for the most part, the film is too fast paced for the easter eggs and other inclusions to feel obtrusive, and they’re certainly never disdainful.

First-person sequences and over-the-shoulder shots of environmental explorations are used, but you might not process them at the time. On that note, Resident Evil is peppered with striking cinematography – moments good enough to be printed, framed and wall-mounted for genre appreciators.  

All good things must come to an end, though, and it’s in its final quarter that Resident Evil starts to stumble. Perhaps taking the goofiness too far, sinister organisation Umbrella Corporation is reimagined as a bunch of bumbling lab techs and inept corporate middle managers. And, making a case yet again that Cregger doesn’t know how to conclude a film, Resident Evil has an exceptionally abrupt, and therefore divisive, ending.

Still, everything that precedes this moment is a visceral rollercoaster ride, running the emotional gamut from terrifying to tongue in cheek. It masterfully captures the spirit of Resident Evil if not the story, and the film is stronger for it. DM

Resident Evil is playing in cinemas. This review was first published on Pfangirl.