GEORGE A. ROMERO'S RESIDENT EVIL (2025)

Studio:   Uncork’d Entertainment
Director: Brandon Salisbury
Writer:   Robbie McGregor, Brandon Salisbury
Producer: Thomas Touhey, Joel Welsh
Stars:    Pablo Kuntz, Matt Blazi, George Demick, Ben Rubin, Charlie Kraslavsky, John Wrightson, James Rolfe, Norman England, Alex Aniel, Pat Jankiewicz, Jim Krut, Kenichi Iwao

Review Score:

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Summary:

Interviews and archival material document the story behind filmmaker George A. Romero’s unmade adaptation of the “Resident Evil” video game.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

George A. Romero Foundation (GARF) global liaison Norman England, GARF Network co-host Matt Blazi, George A. Romero Archive curator Ben Rubin, “Cinemassacre” host James Rolfe, GARF artistic director Christian Stavrakis, “Biohazard 2” commercial actor Pat Jankiewicz, “Deadlines” director George Demick, SFX artist Mike McGee, “Dawn of the Dead” actor Jim Krut, and “After Effects: Memories of Pittsburgh Filmmaking” director Michael Felsher recount George A. Romero’s early career as a filmmaker. These interviews focus on Romero’s groundbreaking zombie films including “Night of the Living Dead” and “Dawn of the Dead” as well as their lasting influence on the horror genre.

“Itchy, Tasty: The Unofficial History of Resident Evil” author Alex Aniel joins in to discuss Capcom’s release of the original “Resident Evil” video game, titled “Biohazard” in Japan, on PlayStation in 1996. The game’s scenario director, Kenichi Iwao, contributes recollections of developing the game’s design. Actor Charlie Kraslavsky recalls filming the game’s live-action cutscenes. “Residence of Evil” host J.J. Trulock adds background on the game’s impact.

With the game becoming a massive worldwide hit, Capcom puts a sequel into development while also fostering interest in making a feature film adaptation. In 1997, German production company Constantin Film purchases the film rights and hires “Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers” screenwriter Alan B. McElroy to write the script.

To promote the release of the game’s sequel, Capcom hires George A. Romero to direct a Japanese commercial for “Biohazard 2” featuring actor Brad Renfro. Pat Jankiewicz, who played a zombie in the commercial, reveals behind-the-scenes details about the shoot, which took place at the abandoned Lincoln Heights jail in downtown Los Angeles.

After the second game’s release, McElroy’s screenplay starts to seem dated since it was based on the first game. Various rumors begin circulating that George A. Romero will be involved in the revised adaptation.

In July 1998, Romero formally confirms he signed an agreement to write and direct the “Resident Evil” film. Not being an avid gamer himself, Romero’s son and assistant play through the first game to get him familiar with the material. KNB FX artist John Wrightson adds backstory about how his father, renowned comic book artist Berni Wrightson, was hired by Greg Nicotero to design the Tyrant monster for the film’s climactic sequence.

Romero submits his first draft of a new screenplay and goes on to make minor changes in several revisions written within a short timeframe. Rombie, co-host of “The Resident Evil Podcast,” details changes made throughout various revisions. In May 1999, however, senior Capcom producer Yoshiki Okamoto tells Gamespot Magazine that Romero’s script wasn’t good, so he was fired from the project, igniting a flurry of speculative controversy and conflicting rumors among irritated fans.

Paul W.S. Anderson ends up making the “Resident Evil” adaptation, and turns it into an action-oriented film featuring new characters. Released in 2002, the movie spawns a successful franchise, although fans of the game and Romero are disappointed by the drastic deviations made from the source material.

Discouraged by the experience, Romero still goes on to begin other zombie-related creative endeavors, although they are left incomplete due to his death in 2017. Romero’s widow Suzanne Desrocher subsequently creates the George A. Romero Foundation to preserve Romero’s filmmaking legacy.

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Review:

In 1998, none other than “The Godfather of Zombies” himself, George A. Romero, was hired to write and direct a feature film adaptation of Capcom’s smash-hit “Resident Evil” video game. It was a marriage made in horror heaven. Alas, wedded bliss was not to be. Less than a year later, Romero was no longer involved in the project, which ultimately pivoted to Paul W.S. Anderson’s action-oriented take that spawned the six-film series starring Milla Jovovich.

What happened, and what might Romero’s vision have looked like? “George A. Romero’s Resident Evil” endeavors to find answers to both questions, with some success on the latter, and nearly none on the former.

Armed with underpowered weaponry, “George A. Romero’s Resident Evil” has an uphill battle in front of it. It’s already inherently difficult to make a documentary about something that doesn’t exist, since, outside of black-and-white script pages, there are no tangible assets to put onscreen. On top of that, Romero died in 2017, leaving the main subject of the story unable to speak for himself. So what are you going to show, and who are you going to interview?

I don’t know how much backstory any Romero fan really needs on “Night of the Living Dead” and its monumental impact at this point. Whatever that amount may be, they likely need even less of unfamiliar podcast personalities discussing personal experiences with Romero’s films, and recounting fanboy moments of meeting their horror hero in person. Nevertheless, “George A. Romero’s Resident Evil” begins with a bevy of talking heads whose names you won’t recognize excitedly, and exhaustively, chatting about Romero’s groundbreaking work in fright films, and how nice he was when they spoke to him at a convention.

After opening credits, “Resident Evil” isn’t even mentioned by name until 18 minutes into the movie. Romero references get tabled for the time being as the film dovetails into details about the PlayStation hit’s initial development. The original game’s scenario director, Kenichi Iwao, offers several intriguing insights about the design process. Actor Charlie Kraslavsky also chimes in about shooting the infamous live-action cutscenes. Though this information might be of interest to curious gamers, it’s not really relevant to the matter at hand, what with this being a documentary about the unmade movie, not the game it was based on.

As the event timeline progresses, Romero’s official involvement as prospective director and second writer to tackle a “Resident Evil” script finally occurs at the 54-minute mark. Of course, documentaries often require some level of background buildup to create context. But do the math. By any measure, past the halfway point is a long time to wait to get to what’s ostensibly the start of the story viewers tuned in to see and hear.

The real obstacle facing “George A. Romero’s Resident Evil” is that it covers minor behind-the-scenes history, a footnote really, that’s neither narratively rich nor a juicy tabloid tale. Over the course of about one month, Romero wrote a screenplay. The people in charge didn’t like it, so they decided to go in a different direction. Everyone then moved on. That’s basically it.

Is it interesting to learn Romero changed Chris Redfield into a Native American rancher, or that Chris had a romance with Jill Valentine in Romero’s version of “Resident Evil?” Only in passing. Maybe others will find more fascination in the mundane minutiae, or in one person’s ruminations on Romero’s script being a criticism of weaponization in the same way “Dawn of the Dead” cynically examined mass consumerism. Mileage will vary.

It's unfortunate “George A. Romero’s Resident Evil” doesn’t have more meaningful material to work with because it is a genuinely well-made documentary. Lively editing featuring frequent cuts creates consistently flowing visual energy. B-roll recreates iconic “Resident Evil” imagery with high-quality crispness and appropriately moody camerawork. Interviewees also speak in front of appealing backdrops. The movie doesn’t look cheap at all, not by a longshot.

If it made sense for this to be a feature-length film in the first place, “George A. Romero’s Resident Evil” might be a more essential piece of horror history. Only in hindsight did I realize one of the guests offers no notes at all about Romero, or about “Resident Evil.” He merely recounts anecdotes regarding his own encounters with George. Another guy just reads screenplay excerpts while citing various changes between drafts. More than once he poses a speculative “what if” and then says, “We’ll never know.” Isn’t finding out what we don’t know part of the point of a documentary? You’re better off reading Romero’s freely available script and imagining it for yourself, rather than listening to a disembodied voice summarizing it over dated playthrough clips from the original PlayStation games, which is essentially what this movie does.

Review Score: 50

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