There is really nothing quiet like sitting in a packed cinema while watching a really good horror film. That was what my exact reaction to watching Zach Cregger’s Weapons last year, and he gave me the same experience with his take on the Resident Evil franchise. His film feels like a fresh setup for the wider universe. By intentionally avoiding familiar characters from the games and previous movies – while I have watched people play the game but not for long periods, and so all I know of the franchise comes from the film adaptations – so it’s a way for viewers unfamiliar with the lore to easily get in. He focuses purely on the simplicity of the story so that he can deliver extremely scary moments and absurd situations that elicit screams and laughter in equal measure.
Resident Evil follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who takes on an extra shift to deliver a critical medical package to Raccoon City General Hospital, miles up a mountain in the dead of winter. Motivated by news that his girlfriend might be expecting a baby, he lies about his car being equipped for traveling during heavy snow and embarks on the treacherous drive anyway. What he doesn’t know is that an outbreak has already overtaken the town, leaving the undead creatures of the franchise freely roaming the streets.
Abrams serves as an amazing foil for us to follow. Despite his rough, gruff attitude and the failure to communicate properly with his girlfriend over the news makes him difficult to empathize with at first, the moment he accidentally hits a woman on the road, he immediately stops to help her and rush her to the hospital. We all know in our seats that this is a massive mistake. But he does not know that, and while he could easily escape, he stays. From that moment, Cregger and co-screenwriter Shay Hatten have us completely rooting for him. Abrams possesses a wonderful everyman presence that keeps him relatable, delivering a fully committed performance that grounds the character (he really looks and acts terrified when things start happening) but also manages to amplify the comedy. He is exhausted, overworked, and just wants to earn money and to do a good job. As things get progressively weirder and weirder, he stubbornly soldiers on. It is such a clever, well-written character and Abrams plays it to a tee.
Cregger then assumes a directorial approach heavily inspired by the video game. Tight, over-the-shoulder camera angles following the sliver of light from Bryan’s cellphone turn every dark corner into a potential jump scare. The score enters and exits with surgical precision, at just the right time that you don’t realise you are being emotionally primed for frights or laughs. When Bryan swerves his light to illuminate a strange noise, the camera lags behind by just a fraction of a second – much like a video game – and the connection to the game is there and makes the whole experience feel really immersive. We are not just emotionally tied to Bryan; we are locked directly to what he sees. We are just as vulnerable as he is.
The storytelling moves at a fast-paced, action-packed pace. The rhythm is so good that Cregger and editor Joe Murphy pace the quiet moments with the thrilling ones. They steadily build the tension as we reach Raccoon City, straight into the heart of the infestation.
There is no real social commentary or grand metaphor that strikes me as I recall this movie, and for some reason, I don’t seem to mind at all. If anything, it is a realisation that Bryan ends up making about the possibility of him being a father, which happens at just the right moment, to heighten the stakes and the need to survive. What it does, though, the script uses this moment to deepen Bryan’s character, cementing our connection with him but makes no big statements either way.
At its core, this is just a straight-up horror film that happens to be wickedly funny. It’s very well-made; the filmmaking is precise and exquisite. It is exactly the kind of movie you really want to experience in a packed theater with your friends, and hope that it’s packed so that everyone is laughing and screaming with you. It’s an experience that should be shared collectively and, honestly, I really don’t mind watching it again. Sometimes a film can exist purely just for fun with no big ambitions for any higher purpose and that’s perfectly okay. It delivers what it promises, and for that, I absolutely adore it.
My Rating: 5 Stars
Packed with visceral scares and side-splitting comedy, Resident Evil is an absolute blast best experienced in a packed theater with your entire barkada. Check showtimes here.
