Zach Cregger, the director of such respected horror films as Weapons and Barbarians, has grabbed the Resident Evil reins. Cregger's fans may wonder why a director known for giving horror a comic twist would take on a franchise that has its supporters but hasn't garnered much critical favor.
Working from a screenplay he wrote with Shane Hatten, Cregger acknowledges the series' video-game origins, presenting the movie's unlikely main character with escalating challenges. That may sound familiar, but Cregger embraces the task with an emphatic boldness that limits references to the previous movies, staking a fresh claim in the blood-splattered literature of survival horror.
Austin Abrams, who appeared in Weapons, plays Bryan, a delivery man who transports organs to hospitals for donation surgeries. Early on, Bryan has trouble getting anyone from a hospital to sign for one of his deliveries, a suggestion that frustration is part of his daily life.
Supposedly done for the day, Bryan accepts another job because it pays double and involves a top-priority delivery to a hospital in Raccoon City, the fictional location of the Umbrella Corporation, which presents a normal public facade but conducts secret biological research.
Driving a snowy road to Raccoon City, Bryan hits a woman who darts in front of his car. Immediately, we wonder why a woman wearing only a dress has braved the mountain cold. So does Bryan, who tries to save the woman’s life.
Things get progressively crazier as Cregger unreels new threats. Now on foot, Bryan attempts to reach the hospital, triggering a variety of set pieces that include eerie encounters at a lonely farmhouse, searching an apparently abandoned RV, and meeting an ill-fated Umbrella exec (Paul Walter Hauser). Security guard Maxine (Kali Reis) accompanies Walter-Hauser’s character.
About the monsters. Resulting from a lab mistake, they're zombie-like creatures made of body parts from different individuals and drawn by tentacles into a singular preposterous shape from which recognizable human features protrude. Cregger shows these creatures in mostly fleeting looks; they're easy to mistake for grisly sight gags. Did I mention that there are also mutants that vomit acid?
Unlike the "heroes'' in many survival movies, Bryan proves a novice when it comes to gunplay. Adams keeps Bryan's reactions compatible with what we might expect from a bumbling, overwhelmed "hero" who mostly mutters to himself and who occasionally tries to call his girlfriend. He's been avoiding having a conversation about her pregnancy.
The supporting cast doesn’t have much to do, but fans of Severance will happily note a late-picture appearance by Zach Cherry, here the head of Umbrella’s research lab.
This edition of Resident Evil seems as much about its own powers of gory invention as it is about anything else, but Cregger works with palpable commitment to providing a crowd-pleasing jolt for those who enjoy jokey, over-the-top helpings of horror, garnished with a couple of jump scares and some well-managed tension.
If you're going to make this kind of movie, it's best to shed all pretensions and do it with fervor. It's almost as if Cregger approaches the movie like a dare. He bets that he’ll be able to top each chunk of mayhem with something that outdoes the last; it’s a bet he mostly wins.
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