An excerpt from Reals’ script review for Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City which will be available 04/27/25:
What Worked
The Woman on the Road – This, I believe, is a scene from the game Resident Evil 2, and it is still effective here. After hitting a woman with his truck on a dark and stormy night, the driver panics while Claire tries to stay calm and rational.
Except the woman isn’t as dead as they think…
It’s a great gothic horror scene, taking place on a dark and stormy night, and plays to the strengths of the Resident Evil franchise.
I would have started the script here, since this scene sets the tone nicely. The whole flashback introduction with William Birkin and Lisa Trevor was fine, but I think this would have been a stronger way to start.
Some Description – I talk about the dialogue not always working a bit later in this review, but I do want to praise some of the description.
For example, on Page 19 –
After a moment a pale looking woman wearing false eyelashes and enough make-up to join a circus, appears.
That is great, because in one sentence I can already picture this woman and the description made me chuckle a bit as well.
If I had a note about this particular line of description, it would be that you could probably remove the “wearing fake eyelashes” to make it an even snappier description.
The Build Up – I liked the little scenes, such as the waitress who had blood dripping from her eye. These small beats are unsettling, and this moment is even more creepy because the waitress just waves it off like it’s nothing.
In a horror script, as Hank has said, it’s good to include these little moments to set up the fact that something is very wrong and to keep your audience off-balance.
The “Before” Time – I do like that we got some scenes with Wesker, Chris, Leon and Jill (major characters in the games) before everything kicks off.
However, we spend a bit too long with this before we really get into major zombie action.
And I think it’s a bit odd that neither Chris nor Jill (who live in Raccoon City) noticed that things had quickly gone downhill in the town. It took them far too long to realize something was amiss.
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