If you’re a fan of the Resident Evil games, you’ve been eating pretty well for the last decade — after Resident Evil 7 gave the franchise a shot in the arm, you’ve had a bunch of successful remakes to go along with the sequels. If you’re a fan of the Resident Evil films, you’ve been pretty much starved for that whole timeframe. You had a bumper crop back when Paul W.S. Anderson and Mila Jovavich turned a survival horror franchise into “good Underworld” and went action-maximalist with each subsequent installment, but that well ran dry midway through the ’10s.
Then there was that garbage Welcome to Raccoon City movie, which got the costumes right at least, and now you’ve got reason to be excited: Zach Cregger has made his Resident Evil film, and it’s just a few weeks away from release (and, from what we understand, it fucking whips).
So, why on Earth are nerds working themselves up in a frenzy about having one of the best directors of blockbuster horror working on their favorite franchise? Well, some folks never got over Jovavich and Anderson departing for… of all things, Monster Hunter, and they see this as a bad trade-off. But come on, guys. Give it a shot. Especially after watching this trailer, which Sony dropped on Thursday to remind you that this movie is going to kick off the Fall filmgoing season with a b-a-n-g.
Peep it:
Here’s a synopsis for Resident Evil:
“From the mind of visionary filmmaker Zach Cregger (‘Weapons,’ ‘Barbarian’) comes a thrilling — and terrifying — reinvention of the ‘Resident Evil’ franchise. In an all-new story, ‘Resident Evil’ follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos.”
Resident Evil hits theaters on September 18.