An excerpt from my script review for Resident Evil (2026) which will be available 09/29/26:
2.) Plot Stability
After reading the initial portions of the Capn’s review, I paused to see if the script was available.
It was and so I chose to review it for this week.
One of the things I found interesting was his idea of how this film essentially “deconstructs a video game” and how he really felt the tension of the story.
(It was good, but I’m not sure the script creates any more tension than other good horror scripts.)
On the deconstructing aspect that drew me in…the original Resident Evil games were very linear, which he mentions in his review, but in the back of my mind I’m thinking, “How the fuck are you going to make it where a character is forced in a single direction?”
Bryan was, and not only did it make logical sense it’s pretty clever once you notice it in action.
The second reason I wanted to check it out was how it calls back to the original games.
Resident Evil 2 was the first (and really only) game in the franchise I got into.
In fact, I remember borrowing it and the PlayStation from a buddy for a long weekend so I could play it in high school.
My sister is very into horror, past and present tense, so after my shift at Outback Steakhouse, I’d come how and play it until the wee hours of the morning, and she’d sit in the room and watch.
The two distinct memories I had of that game were, first, how the game’s audio made it sound like zombies were in the rooms behind us which constantly had us looking over our shoulders, and two, Leon being forced down certain hallways, alleys, sewers, etc. without detouring.
The second memory was revisited in this story, with Bryan being forced down a hallway and up the stairs of a farmhouse, stuck between an RV and a hard place in a tunnel, or forced down an alley to a locked door after exiting the sewers.
As the Cap’n explained…linear gameplay told in film form.
The other “nods” to longtime players and fans were also cool, another mentioned above like how Bryan has to go hunting for ammo.
That was one of the harder aspects of at least the second game, is that you couldn’t go balls to the walls with your trigger finger because ammunition and weapons were limited and aim was important (and hard in 3rd person).
When Bryan finds the shotgun and then has to search for the shells, later finding them in a drawer in the bedroom, this was more nostalgic for me than him donning a RCPD vest.
The only thing I was disappointed about was him not finding a typewriter or ribbon in the house (which was how you saved your game back then, and graded by how many times you saved).
Including these smaller details let the dedicated audience members know you care about them, and sure some had gripes about this particular film (because it wasn’t based directly on one of the games), but overall it was well received.
Unfortunately this only really works for established franchises, because writing an original spec, you don’t have dedicated fans yet.
For me, and I mentioned this to 2 of the 3 in an email, the story is really strong for the first half, but once Bryan meets Pauline and Max, things start to get a little silly in terms of being “unbelievable” for yours truly.
The first half though…it feels very much like something that could happen to one of us, and that’s what makes horror so popular.
Speaking of which, I’ll leave you with one final thought that my nephew shared with me.
He saw it opening weekend with some friends and as we discussed it he said when Bryan looks out from the bedroom window and sees the Red Dress Lady running through the snowy field directly at the house, and then hears the footsteps pounding up the stairs, he truly felt the anxiety.
That’s when you know you did something right in horror.
(This scene was “tense” in the script too, but in the moment I kept thinking if she were truly following his path she’d have detoured through the barn first.)
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