sign of the times for the ailing horror genre

Rating: 1/10 (2 July 2005)

As a fan of both George Romero's films and the original video games I found this movie to be horrible. No, I don't expect every film based on a game (or a book) to be identical to the source material. What's wrong with this film is what's been wrong with movies (especially horror) for the last fifteen years. It caters to the short attention spanned. Quick and illogical cuts peppered with bad camera tricks took me right out of this movie. One minute someone is on the ground surrounded by undead, the next he is 'edited' up onto his feet and running for his life. HUH?
I thought the 1940's and 1950's had it bad with Abbott and Costello running the Universal monsters into the ground. Hey, at least their films were INTENTIONALLY funny. Resident Evil isn't even UNintentionally funny. So, with no humor, that leaves horror to carry the film, which it doesn't. Why? Because like most films of the last 15 years, it's all quick cut action with no suspense. Creating tension takes time and consistency, something most modern film makers don't seem to understand. This film plays like a commercial or a music video without music.
Once again, the characters are completely unsympathetic. They say dumb things and they do dumb things. Once again, the 'modern' tough, smart, strong, cool, sexy female stomps all over the proceedings with muddy feet. SHE BOUNCES OFF A WALL AND KARATE KICKS ZOMBIE DOGS! Oooh! I'm so scared. I'm just not sure what to be scared of! I suppose I'm scared of seeing an equally appalling sequel.
If you haven't seen this film - DON'T. This is 90 minutes you can never have back. In the age of DVD, there's a wealth of good horror to be found. Better yet, Video games are fast becoming better than modern films. Resident Evil the game and it's sequels (especially 4) out class this pile by miles.