Coming from the generation of PlayStation One gamers who grew up walking along the dread-filled corridors of the Spencer mansion, long-time fan and filmmaker Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, The Other Side of the Door) hopes to bring the horror roots of the first Resident Evil games to life for a whole new generation of fans with the release of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.
Written and Directed by Roberts and boasting a stellar ensemble cast including Kaya Scodelario (Crawl, Maze Runner), Hannah John-Kamen (Unwelcome, Ant-Man and the Wasp), Robbie Amell (The Babysitter, Code 8), Tom Hopper (“Game of Thrones”, Terminator: Dark Fate), Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap), Donal Logue (Blade, Zodiac), and Neal McDonough (Minority Report, American Horror Story), the film transports its audience back to 1998 when Raccoon City, once the booming home of pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corporation, had become a dying Midwestern town. The company’s exodus left the city a wasteland… with great evil brewing below the surface. When that evil is unleashed, a group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth behind Umbrella and make it through the night.
With the film set to release from November 24, SCREAM sat down with Roberts who revealed why he felt this adaptation would be better suited as a horror film rather than following in the action vein of the previous film franchise, having the game’s characters represented properly on the screen for the first time whilst also making zombies scary again by bring something new that is sure to disturb audiences.
In case you missed them, you can also find out more about the movie in our interviews with the film’s stars, Kaya Scodelario and Robbie Amell.
Words: Howard Gorman
