This could be the film for you if you’re searching for a good old-school horror film to watch after rewatching Love Actually (again). The Resident Evil series has grown throughout the years. From a computer game to feature films, comic books, stage shows, and even a Resident Evil-themed restaurant.
The film is set in 1998, before the advent of social media and reliable mobile service. It’s up to the Redfields and their fellow cops to figure out who and what they can save. Johannes Roberts, the writer-director, is a genre veteran whose previous films include the tense undersea thriller 48 Feet Down, and he really nails the creepiness here.
Cast Members:
- Kaya Scodelario,
- Hannah John-Kamen,
- Robbie Amell,
- Tom Hopper,
- Avan Jogia,
- Donal Logue, &
- Neal McDonough
The universe of Resident Evil keeps expanding, respawning, and regenerating extra mutant limbs and organs in various media. Much like the zombie-making virus that is the core game engine of this long-running franchise. Then there was the popular Japanese shooting computer game. Which spawned a half-dozen blood-and-VFX feature pictures starring Milla Jovovich and Paul Anderson.
This new part started with the story of Claire Redfield (Kaya Scodelario) returns to Raccoon City to reunite with the brother she left behind years ago. Chris, now a cop in the area, doesn’t exactly welcome her with open arms and dismisses the conspiracy notion she’s pushing. When the poisoned residents begin to turn into violent zombies, it becomes clear that the Umbrella Corporation is attempting to wipe them all off.
Raccoon City is virtually a caricature of a decaying town. But that’s fine for a film that embraces horror cliches rather than trying to create them. It’s a little predictable at moments, and even casual horror fans might be able to guess which characters will make it to the end. Fortunately, Scodelario’s quiet intensity lifts her character’s past, which is told in eerie flashbacks set at the orphanage.
On its own terms, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City succeeds. Viewer's nerves won’t be shredded. But they will have gasped and jumped enough to pay the price of admission. It’s a shame Roberts doesn’t completely embrace the campiness of the 1990s setting, according to one reviewer. A sequence in which a zombie stomps into the police station to Jennifer Paige’s incongruously cheery “Crush” is a lot of fun.
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