Resident Evil Review: Zach Cregger Turns Raccoon City Into One Wild Horror Ride

You seriously need to watch the new Resident Evil movie.

And before you go into it with a checklist of everything you think a Resident Evil movie is supposed to be, let me stop you right there: forget the rulebook. Zach Cregger clearly did.

What he created is a short, ridiculously energetic, occasionally disgusting, surprisingly funny horror movie that understands something extremely important about Resident Evil: sometimes the best way to survive is to run, scream, panic, and hope you don’t become monster food.

At only around 95 minutes, Resident Evil doesn’t waste much time getting where it wants to go. There isn’t a whole lot of sitting around waiting for the story to wake up. The movie basically looks at you, hands you a nightmare, and says, “Good luck.”

And honestly?

I had a blast.

Welcome to Raccoon City… Good Luck, Bryan

Our unlucky hero is Bryan, played by Austin Abrams, a medical courier who accepts a last-minute delivery job that takes him toward Raccoon City General Hospital.

Seems simple enough, right?

It’s a delivery.

Pick something up.

Take it somewhere.

Get paid.

Go home.

Yeah… this is Resident Evil.

Things go sideways very quickly.

Bryan finds himself thrown into a situation that is WAY beyond anything he could have possibly prepared for. Zombies show up, horrifying creatures start appearing, and suddenly this ordinary guy is fighting for his life.

The funniest part is that Bryan isn’t some super-soldier.

He’s not Leon Kennedy.

He’s not Chris Redfield.

He’s not walking into the situation with years of combat training and a ridiculous amount of ammunition.

He’s just a guy.

And Austin Abrams plays him exactly like that.

Bryan reacts the way most normal people would react if they suddenly encountered a grotesque biological nightmare.

He panics.

He screams.

He questions what the hell is happening.

He makes mistakes.

He tries to figure things out as he goes.

And that makes him incredibly easy to root for.

There’s something refreshing about watching a horror protagonist who doesn’t immediately become an action hero the second the monsters show up.

Bryan spends a good chunk of this movie looking like he would very much prefer to be literally anywhere else.

Honestly, Bryan might be the most relatable Resident Evil protagonist we’ve gotten.

Because if I walked into a hallway and saw some giant mutated creature crawling toward me?

I’m not grabbing a shotgun.

I’m leaving the country.

Austin Abrams Carries This Thing

Austin Abrams deserves a lot of credit here.

The movie puts an enormous amount of responsibility on his shoulders because Bryan spends so much time by himself.

That means Abrams has to carry scenes where he’s reacting to things we may not even fully see yet, talking himself through situations, panicking, trying to make decisions, and occasionally trying to be funny while everything around him is falling apart.

And somehow, it works.

His performance gives the movie a human center.

The horror can get completely ridiculous, but Bryan feels grounded enough that we understand why he’s terrified.

There’s also a nice contrast between the character’s nervous personality and the increasingly insane situations Cregger throws him into.

It’s almost like watching somebody’s worst possible day continuously get worse.

Every time you think Bryan might finally catch his breath, the movie basically says:

“Oh, you thought THAT was bad?”

And then introduces another monster.

Funny… But Still Scary

One of the things I enjoyed most about this movie is the comedy.

Resident Evil is funny.

Really funny at times.

But it doesn’t feel like the movie is making fun of itself or disrespecting the franchise.

Instead, the humor comes naturally from the insanity of the situation.

Bryan’s reactions are a huge part of that.

Cregger has a really good sense of timing when it comes to horror-comedy. You can have a scene where you’re genuinely wondering what’s about to happen, and then suddenly something completely unexpected happens that makes you laugh.

Then five seconds later, you’re back to being uncomfortable.

That’s a difficult balance to pull off.

Too much comedy and the horror loses its teeth.

Too much horror and the movie could become exhausting.

Here, the two sides actually complement each other.

The humor also makes the darker moments hit harder because the movie isn’t constantly screaming at you that you’re supposed to be scared.

Sometimes it just lets the situation breathe.

And then…

BOOM.

Something horrible happens.

The Monsters Are the Real Stars

Let’s talk about the creatures.

Because this is where Resident Evil really starts having fun.

The movie doesn’t just throw standard zombies at Bryan and call it a day.

Sure, there are zombies.

But the really memorable stuff comes from the increasingly bizarre mutations.

The t-Virus is doing what the t-Virus does best: completely ruining somebody’s day.

And body parts start doing things body parts absolutely should not be doing.

Eyes.

Tentacles.

Mutations.

Extra limbs.

Slimy biological nightmares.

Things crawling where things shouldn’t be crawling.

Basically, if you’re someone who enjoys creature design, you’re going to have a good time.

Cregger and his effects team clearly understand that Resident Evil creatures should feel disgusting, weird, and just a little bit fascinating.

And thankfully, the movie doesn’t seem afraid to actually show them.

There’s something very satisfying about practical-looking creature work mixed with visual effects that makes these monsters feel tangible.

They don’t just feel like digital obstacles.

They feel like things Bryan could actually run into.

Which makes his reactions even funnier.

Because again…

This poor man is NOT prepared.

And Yes… The Bubblegum Monster

I have to mention this.

I love the bubblegum-looking monster. 😂

That thing is ridiculous.

And somehow, it works.

There’s something about the creature’s design that feels like someone took a nightmare, dipped it in candy-colored goo, and then told it to ruin someone’s life.

It’s creepy.

It’s gross.

It’s weird.

And I absolutely loved it.

Every Resident Evil movie needs at least one creature that makes you say:

“What the hell am I looking at?”

This is that creature.

And I’m here for it.

It Actually Feels Like the Games

This might be the biggest compliment I can give the movie.

It doesn’t feel like someone simply took the Resident Evil name and slapped it onto a generic zombie movie.

There are moments that genuinely feel like playing the games.

Searching for supplies.

Trying to figure out where you’re supposed to go.

Moving through unfamiliar locations.

Hearing something before you see it.

Knowing something terrible is probably around the next corner.

Trying to reload while you’re freaking out.

Seeing an enemy and immediately wondering whether you have enough resources to deal with it.

Those little details matter.

The movie understands that Resident Evil isn’t only about zombies.

It’s about anticipation.

It’s about opening a door and wondering what’s behind it.

It’s about walking into a room and immediately scanning the environment.

It’s about hearing a noise somewhere in the darkness and thinking:

“Please don’t make me go over there.”

And then, of course, the game/movie makes you go over there.

That’s Resident Evil.

The Camera Helps Sell the Horror

The cinematography is another element that really works.

There’s a strong emphasis on Bryan’s perspective, which makes the movie feel more immediate.

We’re discovering these locations with him.

We’re seeing the threats as he sees them.

And because Bryan doesn’t know what’s coming, neither do we.

That creates some really effective tension.

There are moments where the lighting does a lot of the heavy lifting too.

Dark environments, headlights, shadows, isolated spaces and limited visibility all help create that feeling that something could be waiting just outside the frame.

And that’s exactly what you want from this kind of movie.

You want to be suspicious of empty hallways.

You want to wonder why the camera is lingering on something.

You want to think:

“There’s no way they’re showing me that for no reason.”

Sometimes you’re right.

Sometimes you’re very, very wrong.

And that’s part of the fun.

Don’t Expect a Huge Ensemble Story

One thing I will say is that the supporting characters don’t get nearly as much development as Bryan.

But honestly, I don’t think that hurts the movie too much.

This isn’t really trying to be an enormous ensemble epic.

The movie is primarily interested in putting Bryan through the absolute worst night imaginable.

Characters show up, provide information, contribute to the situation and sometimes disappear before you get too attached to them.

Paul Walter Hauser is entertaining in his role, particularly because of the connection to Umbrella Corporation.

And let’s be honest:

Umbrella being terrible is basically a Resident Evil tradition at this point.

You could tell me Umbrella discovered a cure for every disease on Earth and I’d still ask:

“Okay, but what horrifying experiment are they doing in the basement?”

That’s just how this company operates.

Zach Cregger Knows How to Keep Things Moving

The biggest strength of the movie may simply be its pacing.

95 minutes.

That’s it.

And you can feel that.

The movie doesn’t have much interest in wasting your time.

It moves.

It introduces a problem.

Bryan tries to solve it.

The problem gets worse.

A monster appears.

Bryan survives.

New location.

New problem.

New monster.

Repeat.

Normally, that could become repetitive.

But Cregger keeps changing the type of horror we’re experiencing enough that the formula remains entertaining.

And because the movie isn’t incredibly long, it doesn’t overstay its welcome.

You finish it and think:

“Wait… that’s it?”

And honestly, that’s a good thing.

I’d rather have a 95-minute horror movie that leaves me wanting a little more than a two-and-a-half-hour movie that makes me start checking the clock.

It’s Not Trying to Be Something It Isn’t

I think this is where some people might have trouble with the movie.

If you’re expecting a straightforward adaptation of a specific Resident Evil game, you might be surprised.

This isn’t necessarily about recreating one particular game story beat-for-beat.

Instead, it seems more interested in recreating the feeling of playing Resident Evil.

And that’s an important distinction.

Cregger understands that you can adapt the experience of a game without literally copying the game’s plot.

The movie takes recognizable ingredients from the franchise and builds something of its own around them.

Sometimes that works better than trying to recreate every iconic moment.

And when the movie does reference its gaming DNA directly, some of those moments work better than others.

A few of the more obvious meta jokes don’t land quite as strongly for me.

But those moments are relatively minor compared with everything else the movie gets right.

A Horror Movie That’s Actually Fun

That’s ultimately what I walked away with.

Fun.

Resident Evil isn’t trying to emotionally destroy you.

It’s not trying to reinvent horror.

It’s not trying to become some giant philosophical statement about humanity.

It’s a guy trying to survive a nightmare full of zombies and mutated monsters.

And sometimes that’s exactly what I want.

The movie knows what it is.

It has energy.

It has some great creature work.

It has laughs.

It has scares.

It has an entertaining lead performance.

And it moves fast enough that there’s very little time to get bored.

Austin Abrams gives the movie its heartbeat, while Zach Cregger provides the chaotic personality.

Together, they make Bryan’s journey through Raccoon City surprisingly entertaining.

And I especially appreciate that Bryan isn’t an unstoppable badass.

He’s terrified.

He’s confused.

He’s overwhelmed.

He’s basically us.

And watching him slowly figure out how to survive gives the movie just enough character development to keep the story from becoming nothing more than a monster showcase.

Final Verdict

So, where do I land?

9/10.

I had a ridiculously good time with this movie.

It’s fast.

It’s weird.

It’s gross.

It’s funny.

It’s occasionally creepy as hell.

And the creature designs are some of the biggest reasons to see it.

Most importantly, it understands that a Resident Evil movie doesn’t necessarily need to perfectly recreate the games.

It needs to make you feel like you’re trapped inside one.

And Cregger does a surprisingly good job of accomplishing that.

Austin Abrams is a strong central performance, and Bryan is the perfect kind of Resident Evil protagonist for this particular story: completely outmatched, completely unprepared, and somehow still trying to figure out what the hell he’s supposed to do next.

Then you’ve got zombies.

Mutants.

Umbrella.

Dark hallways.

Limited resources.

Terrible decisions.

Nightmare creatures.

And, of course…

the bubblegum monster. 😂

I don’t know what that thing was doing.

I don’t know why it looked like that.

I don’t know who approved it.

But I loved it.

If you’re a longtime Resident Evil fan, go into this one with an open mind.

And if you’re someone who has never touched a Resident Evil game?

You can still have a great time.

Just remember one thing:

If Bryan runs away from something…

RUN WITH HIM.

Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 9/10