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Game On: First Reactions to Zach Cregger’s “Resident Evil” Say he’s Turned the Games’ Tension Into Relentless Big-Screen Terror

By The Credits  |  September 16, 2026

Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil had its world premiere last night, and the director seems to have his third horror hit on his hands. Cregger’s 2022 horror hit Barbarian course-corrected his career in a bold way, delivering a contained, original story focused on one woman’s increasingly terrifying night at her Detroit Airbnb. Cregger’s next move was another original film, 2025’s Oscar-nominated Weapons, which became a bona fide blockbuster and earned Amy Madigan an Oscar for her deliciously bonkers turn as Aunt Gladys, a parasitic witch who torments the town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, where 17 children in Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner) class go missing.

With these two stone-cold horror homeruns back-to-back, Cregger is taking a big swing with Resident Evil, stepping into a beloved franchise that began its lifespan as a hit video game and ultimately spawned a sprawling cinematic world. The franchise includes seven live-action films: six in the original series starring Milla Jovovich as Alice, beginning with 2002’s Resident Evil; one reboot (2021’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City); and four feature-length animated films. That’s 11 films in total. Cregger was stepping into a well-trod world with fiercely loyal fans.

Yet Cregger didn’t want to tell an old Resident Evil story, so he eschewed using any legacy characters and set out to make the franchise his own. His Resident Evil world focuses on a medical courier named Bryan (Austin Abrams, a Weapons alum) who tries to deliver a time-sensitive package to Raccoon City General Hospital at the precise moment of the T-virus outbreak that has fueled the franchise.

Director Zach Cregger (right) and Austin Abrams on the set of Constantin Film and Columbia Pictures RESIDENT EVIL. Photo by: Dušan Martinček

Cregger aimed to give viewers a visceral thrill similar to what he felt playing “Resident Evil 4.” The result is, according to critic Mark Cassidy, that Cregger has “delivered the most faithful take yet. Very bloody, very funny, and it made me jump at least 3 times (no easy task).” Writer Sonya Alexander noted something that Cregger himself said—this film has less outright comedy than Barbarian and Weapons. After test screenings, Cregger decided to cut as many jokes as possible. “Barbarian and Weapons were both darkly comedic, but Resident Evil cranks it up several notches thanks to the brilliant Austin Abrams (skittish and clumsy James in Weapons) as hapless courier Bryan and a whipsmart script by Cregger and Shay Hatten,” Alexander wrote on X.

Film writer Erik Davis echoed these sentiments. “Don’t get stuck on what is or isn’t in the ‘Resident Evil’ games. This is a film that takes the spirit of playing those games and runs wild with it. Cregger continues to find new ways to surprise us in the genre, and I’m here for all of it.”

Writer Tessa Smith also praised Austin Abrams’ performance. “Austin Abrams is so good! He really is how I play the game – screeching and missing shots.”

The cast also includes Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Paul Walter Hauser. 

Resident Evil hits theaters on September 18. Let’s have a peek at those first reactions.

Featured image: Austin Abrams stars in Constantin Film and Columbia Pictures RESIDENT EVIL, directed by Zach Cregger. Photo by: Dušan Martinček

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The Credits

The Credits is the Motion Picture Association's online platform that profiles below-the-line filmmakers and TV creators. Through in-depth interviews and coverage, we shine a spotlight on all the individuals who are indispensable to the entertainment industry and create the films and series we love.