#353: Resident Evil

Release Date: September 18th, 2026

Format: DCP (AMC Marina Pacifica 12 in Long Beach, CA)

Written by: Zach Cregger and Shay Hatten

Directed by: Zach Cregger

4 Stars

Zach Cregger makes horror flicks for the people, and I love it.

This is despite Hollywood’s recent desire to mimic A24’s artistic and financial successes over the past several years, with their pseudo-intellectual art house horror films that are as big on vibes and subtext as they are on thrills and chills (think Backrooms (#315), Obsession (#308), Bugonia (#262), Together (#174), The Substance (#131), Heretic (#141), etc.; all of these films I enjoyed to some degree or another).  

If this new crop of horror auteurs are mining filmmakers like Jordan Peele and David Lynch for their mood-piece pastiches, then it seems wise for Cregger to go full blood-and-guts, Sam Raimi-mode with his newest film, Resident Evil. 

I’m officially done doubting Cregger. Starting with Barbarian (#117; very good), then to Weapons (#176; an instant horror classic), and now to Resident Evil (tremendously well-realized), it’s becoming apparent that Cregger is a populist filmmaker, and a good one at that. He’s a crowd pleaser who wants to deliver the goods to a packed movie house, more than he cares to be seen as cool and hip, which is definitely an aspect to those trendy A24 and A24-adjacent filmmakers. 

But just because Cregger is populist doesn’t mean that his films are dumb. I imagine all those years creating comedy sketches for The Whitest Kids You Know fostered in him an awareness of economical storytelling and how to “button” a scene, because he’s a natural storyteller, and proving to be a flexible storyteller as well. Maybe Barbarian and Weapons share a decent amount of thematic and visual common ground, but Resident Evil is a wonderful departure.

It’s a straight ahead zombie bloodbath survival tale, and Cregger does an excellent job of paying tribute to its video game source material while not feeling beholden to it (not an easy achievement to successfully adapt a popular video game; is there a more maligned film genre?).

I absolutely loved watching Resident Evil. It’s earnest and fun, and if you’re 13-years-old, maybe the best movie you’ve ever seen. Kids, please, go buy a ticket to Spider-Man and then sneak into Resident Evil playing on the screen next door. You can thank me later.