Spoiler-free review
In all honesty, I struggle to find words for this film that aren’t just me saying, “Holy shit, Zach Cregger,” because holy shit indeed.
Fans will not be disappointed with this adaptation. After months of scepticism around Cregger’s take on the franchise. The fans are going to owe him ALOT of apologies once they see what he’s actually made.
When the Sony representative introducing the film said, “It isn’t like the previous Resident Evil movies,” I thought: wow, this could go two ways. Either this turns out really bad, or really f*cking good.
It was, in fact, a must-watch horror film.
Zach Cregger, the man behind two of my favourite horror films of the 2020s, decided to take a serious risk with his third horror feature: tackling the Resident Evil franchise. After years of adaptations that have frustrated fans, another disappointing instalment could easily have broken what has otherwise been an incredible three-film run for Cregger.
Thankfully, I don’t think fans need to fear another disastrous Resident Evil adaptation here.
First, the plot. At its core, it’s incredibly simple: Abrams has to get from Point A to Point B. But the suspense Cregger builds throughout that journey turns a basic premise into a horrifying, edge-of-your-seat knuckle-cracker that had people in the audience screaming and gave me scenes I genuinely think will keep me up at night.
This film has jump scares, and they will get you. But what really unsettled me was the build-up to them. You can never quite tell what’s coming, no matter how hard you try. Cregger repeatedly toys with false scares, lets you settle for just long enough, and then immediately rips that comfort away with some of the goriest sh*t you’ll ever see.
And Austin Abrams! Oh my God, hats off to him. He makes his character feel believably human in an INSANE situation. He manages to handle Cregger’s comedic tendencies with ease whilst ensuring the comedy never undercuts the fear. Even when the character is humorous, Abrams still makes the panic feel completely genuine. It’s one of my favourite horror performances of the year, even if he’s comedic and realistic. This film would not be as good as it is without his phenomenal acting.
Gore-wise… I don’t know who handled the bloody effects, but give them a raise. In the best way possible, some of these effects genuinely made me want to throw up. They add so much to the horror and judging by how loudly people were screaming in the room, I definitely wasn’t the only one affected.
Before I give you my final verdict, I need to talk about the sound. There’s one scene, which I obviously won’t spoil, where Cregger uses sound in a way that slowly sets the tension tighter and tighter until one sudden, jarring loud noise completely breaks it. But even beyond that scene, the sound design does a huge amount of work throughout the film. Music heightens the most tense moments-whilst silence is used brilliantly to manage some of the comedic timings.
Conclusively, Resident Evil is everything I hoped Zach Cregger’s take on the franchise could be. It’s tense, disgusting, funny, unpredictable and actually scary whilst still having his special comedic charm which Austin Abrams should really take some credit for. Cregger took a massive risk stepping into a franchise with such a messy adaptation history. But hats off to him since he’s somehow managed to have one of the strongest horror films of the year.
holy sh*t, Zach Cregger, holy sh*t indeed…
‘Resident Evil‘ is a Must Watch Horror and I think a lot of fans owe him an apology.
Wow this is a good year to be a horror fan.
5/5
