Since it burst onto the PlayStation back in 1996, we have had six movies, from the husband-and-wife team Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich, and a reboot back in 2021 subtitled Welcome to Raccoon City, which has been forgotten by almost everyone, as well as a short-lived TV series. Enough time has passed for another reboot, but this time, it comes with something rather special. Behind the camera, and co-writing the script, is the man who gave us the best horror last year: Weapons. Zach Cregger, the wunderkind behind the creepy Barbarians, has been a fan of the game for years and wanted to serve players with a film they will enjoy. Well, he has certainly done that with the most entertaining, if bloody, comedy horror of the year.

Bryan is a courier who delivers body parts to hospitals. He’s sent to Raccoon City, a snowy, desolate part of the country, with a package that needs to reach the central hospital as soon as possible. On his way there, through icy roads, he gets into an accident that will turn his world into a living nightmare.

Cregger’s previous movies weren’t just straightforward horrors; they had hidden themes aimed at the modern world. Here, he ditches the themes and goes for an all-out assault on the senses, with as much gory fun as possible. Watching it, you get the sense that Cregger was heavily influenced by the horrors of the 80s, with the grungy feel of John Carpenter’s The Thing, a host of low-budget horrors, and, more importantly, the grisly comedy of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2.

The monster designs are inventive and often shocking, as Bryan runs for his life before being caught up by the various people who have turned into the unthinkable. What really works is that Bryan, unlike other horror heroes, is an absolute nightmare, who screams, swears like he’s just learnt to speak, and cannot use a gun to save his life, one of the many running gags. It’s completely refreshing to see a lead be such a fool, and only manage to escape without any real skills. Cregger also pays homage to the game by throwing in some one-player POVs, as if you are sitting at your controller playing a game.

On top of that, this is a crisp 95-minute runtime that zips along at a tremendous pace and never leaves room for exposition or fluff. It starts off nice and gentle, but as soon as the accident occurs, it goes into overdrive. Did I mention it’s really funny too, in a kind of dark slapstick manner reminiscent of Ash’s dark humour in Evil Dead 2. The effects are nicely grisly as well, and one particular scene, in which Bryan is running down a dark street with bodies falling from the skies, will be one of the memorable scenes of this year.

In the lead role, Austin Abrams is a star in the making. He carries the film, and we never really leave his side throughout. He brings a naturalness to the character that, if you are in such a horrific situation, you will be dropping the F-bomb every other minute, and you will curse yourself for not being able to use a gun. On his journey, he meets various other characters, but none more memorable than Paul Walter Hauser in a hilarious scene that shows the dangers of trying to load an unfamiliar weapon.

Resident Evil is an absolute hoot, and a gory one at that. It makes up for the previous Resident Evil movies and has one of the most bonkers finales of any movie in recent years. If you don’t mind a trickle of blood, then go and have the time of your life. This has certainly put Zack Cregger at the top of the modern horror masters’ list, and I cannot wait for his next venture.

4 out of 5

Director: Zack Cregger

Starring: Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Paul Walter Hauser, Will Merrick, Andrea Miltner, Karel Dorby, Zoe Bellas, Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Griffin Newman

Written by: Zach Cregger and Shay Hatten

Running Time: 95 minutes

Cert: 15

Release date: 18th September 2026