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George A. Romero’s Resident Evil Review

January 20, 2025 | Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz
George A Romero's Resident Evil Image Credit: Uncork’d Entertainment
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George A. Romero’s Resident Evil Review  

George A. Romero’s Resident Evil Review

Directed by Brandon Salisbury
Screenplay by Robbie McGregor and Brandon Salisbury

Distributed by Uncork’d Entertainment

(check out the full cast here)

Unrated
Runtime– 110 minutes

George A. Romero’s Resident Evil is available on all major digital and Video on Demand platforms starting January 7th, 2025.

Image Credit: Uncork’d Entertainment

George A. Romero’s Resident Evil, directed by Brandon Salisbury and available on digital and Video on Demand platforms starting January 7th, 2025, is a fascinating new documentary about how Romero wrote a script for and almost directed a movie based on the first Resident Evil video game. The documentary also serves as a fantastic overview of Romero’s movie career and how he, along with his Image Ten collaborators back in 1968 created the modern zombie movie with Night of the Living Dead, as well as how Capcom developed the game in the early 1990’s (I had no idea that Capcom was essentially saved by the success of the first Resident Evil game).

As a full on Romero and zombie movie nerd, I was super excited the first time I got to play a Resident Evil video game (for the record, the first one I played was the sequel, Resident Evil 2). While the game wasn’t just zombies (there were all sorts of deadly monsters and creatures in the game, including those goddamn licker creatures), playing the game did feel like you were in the middle of a horror movie. There was plenty of mood, spooky music and suspense, and gore galore. It took me and my brother quite a bit of time to beat the game (we had to use one of those game guides to do it), but we eventually did. Beating both games for each main character really did feel like we accomplished something (the game had two discs and each main character, Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield, had an “A” and “B” games). At around the same time I became acquainted with Resident Evil 2, I found out about the Romero directed commercials for Japan. I don’t remember how or when I actually saw the commercial (I think I downloaded it from somewhere, but I can’t remember. It was so long ago and way before YouTube, where you can find the commercial now within milliseconds), but I thought it was damn cool. And when news broke that Romero was in talks to direct an adaptation of the first game, I was beyond ecstatic. Finally, George A. Romero was going to direct another movie, and it was going to be an adaptation of Resident Evil! Holy crap!

In the end, Romero’s adaptation never happened. We did eventually get a Resident Evil movie from director Paul W.S. Anderson, which was very different from the movie Romero would have likely made. Very, very different. As the documentary explains, Romero’s movie would have been, more or less, a straight adaptation of the first game (Romero would have changed some of the characters motivations and would have altered some of the plot but, for the most part, Romero would have “made the game”) while also being incredibly violent. In fact, based on the script that Romero turned into the producers, his Resident Evil may have been one of the most gory and violent zombie movies ever made. The producers were not happy with that approach and instead wanted something that was more action movie oriented and considerably less violent. Romero didn’t think that was the right way to go (his script had action beats in it, as all of the games have action beats in them, but it was primarily meant to be a full on zombie/monster horror movie). While all of this back-and-forth went one between Romero and the producers, some pre-production hooey happened, with practical special effects legend and noted Romero collaborator Greg Nicotero making a sculpture of a creature that would have featured in Romero’s movie. And that’s about as far as actual production on a Romero directed Resident Evil movie got. Romero was eventually fired from the movie, and, Anderson was brought in. Anderson’s first Resident Evil movie would hit movie theaters in 2002 and Romero’s script would exist on the internets for anyone to find and read.

And that’s a damn shame. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the Anderson led Resident Evil movie and franchise that developed from that first movie. And I love those movies sincerely and unironically. I wish Hollywood made more movies like Anderson’s Resident Evil movie franchise. I still find it amazing that Anderson was able to make six movies that were, at best, “inspired” by the video game franchise. But a Romero led Resident Evil movie? I would have loved to see that. And if it had happened, I bet we would still be talking about it today. A Romero led Resident Evil movie would have been a goddamn event. I mean, we’re still talking about the script Romero wrote, and someone made a documentary about that script. Imagine what we would all be doing if there had been an actual Romero Resident Evil movie. Imagine a full on Romero directed Resident Evil franchise!

The part of the documentary that deals with Romero’s horror movie career is chock full of information that Romero nerds likely know by heart (all six of the Romero directed zombie movies get mentioned), but the information is framed well and will likely be easily understood by viewers who may not be as familiar with his career. The section on Romero directing the Resident Evil 2 TV commercials for Japan, where the game is known as Biohazard, is quite good, too, and contains some information that I didn’t know. There are also some fascinating talking heads in the Romero parts of the documentary, including filmmakers that were inspired by Romero’s zombie movies (George Demick, Michael Felsher, and James “The Angry Video Game Nerd” Rolfe show up), as well as various special effects people and people involved in the George A. Romero Foundation. And the great Jim Krut, the “Helicopter Zombie” from Dawn of the Dead (1978) also appears.

The part that chronicles the creation of the Resident Evil/Biohazard game in Japan is incredibly fascinating, especially if you don’t know anything about how the game franchise started. I knew a little bit, but I had no idea that the eventual first game owes itself to a game that Capcom made for the Famicom (known as the Nintendo Entertainment System in the United States) in 1989 called Sweet Home. We also get talking head moments from Kenichi Iwao, who was a “scenario planner” on the first Resident Evil game, as well as Charlie Kraslavsky, who acted in the live action cinematic cut scenes in the game. And, most importantly, we find out, unequivocally, that Capcom used Romero’s first three zombie movies as direct inspiration for the game . I mean, everyone already knew that, but it’s still cool to have it confirmed.

The documentary also features some nifty live action sequences that are directly inspired by the cut scenes in the first game. It feels like someone doing a low-budget version of the first game. And the narrator of the documentary, Pablo Kuntz, is just fantastic (IMDb shows that he was Wesker’s voice actor in the first game, which explains why he sounded so familiar).

In general, I would have liked to see more in-depth moments regarding Romero’s relationship with the producers (basically, more talking heads that were involved in that whole process), and more stuff about the creation of the first game. It also would have been nice to have someone who liked the Anderson Resident Evil movies, just to add some balance (someone like me, who liked the Anderson movies and would have loved to see Romero’s movie). But those are just nitpicks more than anything. The stuff that we do get in George A. Romero’s Resident Evil is quite good. It’s a fine exploration of what happened and what might have been. And, man, a Resident Evil movie directed by George A. Romero would have been goddamn awesome. It just would have.

See George A. Romero’s Resident Evil. If you’re a Romero nerd, a Resident Evil video game nerd, or a general horror movie nerd, it has something for you. It’s very much worth checking out. See it, see it, see it. George A. Romero’s Resident Evil is available on all major digital and Video On Demand platforms starting January 7th, 2025.

8.5
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
George A. Romero’s Resident Evil, directed by Brandon Salisbury, is a fascinating new documentary about how Romero wrote a script for and almost directed a movie based on the first Resident Evil video game. The documentary also serves as a fantastic overview of Romero’s movie career and how his zombie movies directly inspired the Resident Evil video game franchise, as well as how Capcom developed the game in the early 1990’s. While Romero nerds probably already know most of the story being told, the documentary tells that story well. There are some great talking head moments, too. Fans of both Romero and the video game will likely enjoy it, as well as viewers who maybe aren’t as familiar with the ins and outs of the whole story. You should absolutely see George A. Romero’s Resident Evil. It’s well worth your time.
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