The new Resident Evil movie will take inspiration from one of the video game franchise's more controversial installments: Resident Evil 6.
"You'll see a lot of Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 6," production designer Tom Hammock says during a set visit attended by GamesRadar+. "So Zach [Cregger, director] and I went through and pulled specific creature elements that we like from the games, whether it's tentacles, the teeth integration, and then tried to take that language and move it over to these creatures."
"I spent a lot of time in medical research libraries, so everything comes from nature," he adds. "But we also went as far as diseases. I used to work as a virologist long ago, so just having access to medical libraries gave us a really grounded starting point for all the creatures. And then you try to mix that with, you know, the insanity."
Released in 2005 and 2012, respectively, the fourth game is widely considered a classic (and was remade only a few years back), but the sixth installment was a more controversial entry in the franchise (GamesRadar+'s own Resident Evil 6 review criticized the game's "mostly terrible boss battles" and "nearly nonstop quick-time events").
The game was a maximalist effort that contains four different storylines, so there's plenty to wrap your head around in the creature department. Based on what GamesRadar+ saw on the movie's set, creature FX designers Legacy Effects seemed to be cooking up some messed-up monsters that could be drawing from the HAOS and Ogroman. Still, we'll have to wait until the movie hits the big screen to get a proper idea of just how it takes inspiration from Resident Evil 6.
As for Resident Evil 4, Cregger has already pointed out a subtle nod to that game that eagle-eyed viewers might have noticed in the first Resident Evil trailer. "I took the green herb from Resident Evil 4 and replicated the bucket exactly… which is probably the game I've played most out of the series," he said.
Resident Evil arrives in theaters on September 18. In the meantime, check out our list of the other best upcoming video game movies.
