The formula seems so easy, but it hasn’t been done yet.
Unfortunately, we have yet to see a live-action movie or show that is truly faithful to the games.
Zach Creggers upcomingREmovie can be the first.
Zach Cregger’sBarbarian(on the left, featuring Georgina Campbell) does a great job of tormenting its characters in dark corridors.Resident Evil(on the right, showing an image from the remake of the 1996 game) also features dark corridors and lots of tormenting.
He just has to keep it simple.
Cregger, as you may remember, wrote and directed the excellent 2022 horror filmBarbarian.
Its this kind of scaled-down attitude that Cregger needs to bring intoResident Evil.
The live-actionResident Evilmovies from the past two decades have varied wildly in quality.
Andersons series started fairly strong in 2002, but after that it began sliding off the rails.
Whats so baffling aboutRaccoon Cityand the AndersonREmovies is that theResident Evilgames are already quite cinematic.
The originalResident Evilgame (an image of the remake is seen here) essentially had five main characters, only three of which you would focus on depending on which playable character you chose.
Theyre literally inspired by zombie movies, at least initially.
So why has it been so difficult to make a good, faithful film adaptation?
Yes, the games have the player shoot monsters.
The 1989 video gameSweet Homewas also a direct inspiration onResident Evil.Sweet Homewas based on a movie of the same name that came out that same year.
It wassurvival horror, not action horror like the movies tend to be.
That made the atmosphere more oppressive, and the action exponentially more tense.
Adapt the first game, and do it like an old-school zombie movie.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea if the newResident Eviltook some inspiration from the claustrophobic horror of George Romero’sDay of the Dead(1985).
Resident Evilfrom 1996 took place entirely on (and beneath) the grounds of a mansion.
This feeling needs to be the goal of the new movie.
Keep the action to a minimum.
Emphasize survival over fighting.
Limit the number of characters we get to know.
Isolate those characters and make us fear for their lives.
