- Directed by: Zach Cregger
- Written by: Zach Cregger, Shay Hatten
- Stars: Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 34 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNd1gb19A-c
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This is set in the “Resident Evil” universe while not directly adapting any of the games. We thought it was very well made with creative gore and gross outs. It seldom slows down and entertains. It has a surprising amount of humor, with everyman Bryan trying to make his way on a quest, and it’s just one damn thing after another that he has to get through or past. It’s absurd, and handled with humor that balances it perfectly. We both really enjoyed it.
Spoilery Synopsis
Bryan arrives at the hospital, and he’s delivering a human organ. He gets another delivery to Raccoon City Hospital, but he’s also warned that the weather is really snowy out there.
On the way, he talks with his pregnant girlfriend about the baby and if they should keep it or not and who that’s really up to. Distracted, he hits someone on the icy road. He soon finds the woman he hot and loads her into the car, but she doesn’t look so good.
A policeman pulls Bryan over, and he has to explain what happened. The cop takes the injured woman with him, and that goes badly for him. The cop dies, and the weird woman is crawling around on all fours outside– until Bryan shoots her with the cop’s gun. He also shoots his own car, so now he’s stuck there; the strange woman is mysteriously gone now. He sets off walking toward the hospital as credits roll.
After some misadventures with an electric fence, angry dog, and an inconvenient barn, he encounters something really weird with the dog. It’s some kind of tentacled monster! He shoots it repeatedly, and I’m already wondering about his unlimited ammo supply.
He makes it to a farmhouse and calls 911, but there’s no answer. He finds a shotgun at about the same time he sees the strange woman making a beeline toward the house. Except… she’s not the only crazy person in the house. He blows off the woman’s head, but then it grows tentacles and does something Bryan’s not seen before.
On foot, Bryan has to pass through a dark tunnel that’s full of abandoned vehicles. He finds a little girl who asks for help, but her feet are tentacles now. She suddenly turns into a monster and attacks, but he’s still got that shotgun. He soon finds that he’s been bitten.
Bryan is soon picked up by Maxine, a policewoman and Paul, a man who wants the organ bag Bryan’s been carrying. The man explains all about the Umbrella Organization and that Bryan’s brought them the cure to their “accident.” The National Guard is on the way, and they’ll need that vaccine.
They three arrive in Raccoon City, and it’s clear that things have gotten out of control by this point. Neither Maxine nor Paul last very long, leaving Bryan alone in the infected city.
Since this is based on a videogame franchise, Bryan soon ends up in a dark, mazelike sewer tunnel. He gets within sight of the hospital, but it appears to be overrun by zombies. Bryan notices that his bite wound is looking pretty nasty and comes to terms with his maybe-fatherhood.
From the parking garage, someone from the lab upstairs wants Bryan to take the stairs… to the 28th floor. He goes partway and chooses the elevator, which is a mistake. Taking a shortcut through the maternity ward doesn’t fare much better.
Bryan gets the sample to the lab, but he’s not looking very healthy; his hand is a tentacle now, but none of the scientists notice. There’s a whole “hot potato” thing as Bryan, now a monster, tries to get the antidote from the clueless scientists.
Bryan becomes a full-on arm-and-leg monster and roars at the National Guard helicopter…
Brian’s Commentary
It’s got a lot of humor; Bryan’s not the most competent of protagonists. Things that usually work in movies, like shooting a padlock or ramming a fence, behave much more realistically here: They don’t.
The special effects and monster stuff is all really well done, but the movie plays for laughs more than scares. The arm-and-leg-ball creatures are really cool.
I thought this one was really well done, mostly because it didn’t take things too seriously.
Kevin’s Commentary
How many Resident Evil games are there? The answer is complicated. There are 11 core mainline games in the Resident Evil series. However, the total number of games changes depending on how you count them. The total franchise catalog including mobile, arcade, pachinko games is close to 60 titles across all platforms. And Zach Cregger didn’t directly convert any of them to make this movie.
I was surprised by how humorously it handles things, and Austin Abrams does a nice job as a regular guy thrown into irregular events. It wasn’t a serious situation, the stuff he encounters is absurd, and it was handled well to balance that. I liked this one a lot.
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