Zach Cregger, the now-famous horror director who brought us Barbarian and Weapons, is slowly but surely working toward releasing his own adaptation of Resident Evil, a movie that he’s now dubbed as “definitely the most violent thing I’ve ever done.” And that’s quite something coming from him.
Speaking with Empire, Cregger said he “wanted to go all the way” with this film, which is going to be an original tale told within the RE universe (sorry, Ada and Leon shippers). “It’s gnarly. It’s brutal. A very bloody affair,” Cregger said. Maintaining high tension from the get-go and never relenting was a primary goal for the director, who says “ticking boxes,” i.e., making sure all the lore and mystery is covered, was never part of the plan.
“Fleshing out what Umbrella is up to and how the T-virus works, that’s not what this movie is. This movie is about one dude’s journey on foot, fighting monsters. I don’t give a f**k about checking boxes,” he explained.
“All I cared about was just telling a fun story. We step on the gas at about eight minutes in and never take our foot off the floor.”
From what we’ve seen in the trailers, which have been praised by many, we can pretty much expect a lot of blood and guts as well as horror and action combined. Apparently, Resident Evil 2 was a major inspiration, and Hideki Kamiya originally did up the action in that game compared to the first installment, leading to what’s possibly the best RE experience to date.
However, we’re yet to see what Cregger’s twisted mind came up with to make Resident Evil the “most violent” of his repertoire. After all, there are quite a few scenes in both Barbarian and Weapons that can be considered some of the most violent ever put to screen, and that’s in a world where Evil Dead, Cannibal Holocaust, and Martyrs, among others, exist.
We’ll know come Sept. 18, when the film launches in theaters worldwide.
