Zach Cregger brings Resident Evil back to theaters with Austin Abrams leading a bloody, funny, and frightening new take that embraces the spirit of the video games.
When one mentions the words Resident Evil, there are various images that can be conjured up depending on who you ask. Some may think of the Japanese video game that started it all 40 years ago. Others may reminisce about the Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element) film franchise that consisted of the original and five sequels beginning in 2002. Still, many will remember the animated films, the anime television show, or even the 2021 reboot, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which was written and directed by Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down). This month, audiences are about to get a second Resident Evil reboot when Resident Evil, Zach Cregger's (Weapons) version, hits theaters on September 18, 2026.
We first meet Bryan Hodukavich (Austin Abrams; Weapons) when he enters the emergency room to deliver a human organ that is going to be transplanted. Done for the night, he gets ready to leave when one of the nurses offers him one more priority job that pays double the usual rate. With a warning that he would be heading into the mountains and treacherous weather, Bryan agrees. However, with little visibility, no snow tires, and being distracted by his girlfriend on the phone, Bryan accidentally hits a woman who runs into the middle of the road. This unexpected twist sets off a series of events that leads Bryan to learn the truth: a deadly virus has infected most of Raccoon City, turning the people into zombie-like creatures, and his delivery is one of the ingredients in the antidote.
Cregger has proven himself as one of the prominent horror writers and directors with his recent successes, 2022's Barbarian and last year's Weapons. He knows how to combine gore and blood with well-placed jump scares and a little bit of humor as well. His jump-scare "setups," while pretty obvious, still manage to pack a punch that had me jumping out of my seat on more than one occasion. He also adds some funny moments that had the whole audience laughing out loud.
Cregger, who is a fan of the Resident Evil video game, wanted to create a movie that captured the essence of the game without making it seem too artificial and, dare I say, he succeeded. The first-person point-of-view moments make the viewer feel as if they are in the middle of the action while still incorporating Bryan as the main character. The various sets also make the audience feel as if they are along for the ride through different terrain and locations.
Abrams is very good as the lead and does a convincing job of making us believe he is merely a medical messenger who doesn't especially want to grow and become an adult. He is joined briefly by Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell), Zach Cherry (Severance), and Kali Reis (Mercy), among others. While the supporting cast is good, the heavy lifting is done by Abrams, and he proves he is up to the challenge.
Staying fairly true to the source material and including concepts and ideas from the game, Cregger will certainly win fans who love the video games and prove that one can make a strong film based on a forty-year-old concept. He gets the audience's heartbeats hammering and scares the daylights out of us while offering some fun and gore along the way. If Barbarian and Weapons didn't convince people that Cregger had found his calling as a horror writer and director, this version of Resident Evil most definitely will. With so much schlock out there in the realm of horror, it's nice to see a fully formed movie with more to offer than just lots of blood and intestines strewn across a set.
The Resident Evil game enthusiasts will be pleased, and those of us who are neither video game nor horror movie fans can appreciate Cregger's expertise in making a very good horror film based on an extremely successful video game franchise.
Grade: B
