Oh, shit, *that* Zach Cregger??

Review of Resident Evil (2026) by kcookandcatsco: 👍 10.0/10

Guys, I only just watched an interview with Zach Cregger (which you should totally watch also; I'll link it just below here), and, like, saw him for the first time.

Well, not for the first time. I never learned any of the WKUK guys' names, except for Trevor Moore (RIP), so I've been simultaneously a fan of Zach Cregger's sketch comedy work (not knowing his name in that), and his horror films (not knowing his face or voice from those) and only just put together it's the same guy.

What a thoughtful, awesome breakdown. I love to hear him talk about his films, and that's definitely not true of many, many directors whose work I enjoy.

I think you can feel the passion, knowledge and collaborative spirit in every frame of this film. It's quality, through-and-through, and it's a heck of a lot of fun.

I wanted to see it so badly that I pirated a bootlegged copy (filmed from inside a theater; big shadowy silhouettes of people getting up and down, coughs that are louder than the film's audio track, the whole nine yards). It was a supremely suboptimal way to do it, but I didn't care.

I had to see it.

This is what it looked like, lol.

I. Don't. Care.

If the story is compelling and well-told, I can suspend my disbelief and get myself there, and boy, but did it ever happen with this one. I had some cats snuggled up to me, and it was still so tense.

I found it quite episodic, but, you know, that totally tracks for the adaptation. I think that I cannot imagine how Cregger could have better adapted Resident Evil (though I would question how worthwhile it is to do in the first place; he's definitely proven me wrong, though, with this enjoyable, worthwhile, delightful movie).

I don't think anyone else could have done any better job with this property, or at least I can't imagine or think how they would have. For probably the first time in cinematic history (I hate Hardcore Henry and all those gimmicky, kitschy bullshit FPS films), the first-person-perspective/FPS elements (used sparingly, but effectively) totally worked for me, and actually contributed to the film (unlike, say, Doom (2005), where it takes you completely out of whatever horrible thing they were doing immediately prior).

What a technical marvel this film is! Bob Strauss called it evidence of "Cregger's formal mastery," which I found insufferable, but kind of true. Cregger's got It. People seem to love working with him; he makes terrific films. God, what an exciting voice, AND he's the guy I loved watching for years in that sketch comedy group.

Who knew?! (everyone else, probably).

What a film!

P.S. I'm going to tell you guys, since we're friends and you're all the way down here at the bottom of the review, that if you put a gun to my head and I had to tell you honestly what I thought of this movie, it's probably an 8.0/10.0, and I found the ending a bit underwhelming.

But I just celebrate this kind of film and filmmaking, and I want to contribute a 9.0 to the ReelRank scoring data in support of something I want to see more of: Cregger films and fun, well-crafted horror. Bravo!

EDIT: I've had to update this to a perfect 10.0/10.0. @damagedqueen knows why 🤓