In the 30 years since the original Resident Evil terrorized unsuspecting gamers as they explored the sinister Spencer mansion, there have been multiple failed attempts to bring that singular vision of horror to life on-screen. Paul W.S. Anderson’s movie series that ran between 2002 and 2017, 2021’s Welcome to Raccoon City from Primate director Johannes Roberts, and a misaligned CW-esque teen drama from Netflix in 2022 all fell well short of the source material, and even Zach Cregger’s upcoming reboot is fighting an uphill battle to win fans over, as it’s also departing from the game’s narrative.
But the failings of previous adaptations can’t be blamed on a refusal to straightforwardly adapt the story when the problem is really one of tone and atmosphere. Anderson’s films were obvious relics of Hollywood’s obsession with replicating The Matrix, Welcome to Raccoon City feels like an action-horror film in the vein of Aliens, and the less said about the Netflix show, the better. Every live-action project bearing the franchise’s name has missed the mark in terms of replicating the feeling of the games, which means that the best version is actually another video game-linked film that predates the original Resident Evil, and that served as an early outing for a Japanese filmmaker who would go on to become a contemporary master of horror.
