Tag: Austin Abrams

Resident Evil (2026) | REVIEW

Austin Abrams behind the steering wheel while being bothered by an infected individual in RESIDENT EVIL — PHOTO: Sony Pictures Releasing / TriStar Pictures.

Directed by Zach Cregger (Barbarian; Weapons) — Screenplay by Zach Cregger and Shay Hatten.

The Resident Evil franchise is one of horror gaming’s most popular, and yet it has struggled to find the same critical success on the big screen that it has reached through multiple video games. The Paul W. S. Anderson-shepherded films starring Milla Jovovich made money, but none of the six Jovovich-led films resonated with critics or audiences. Johannes Roberts’ Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City from 2021 was meant as a more faithful adaptation of the early Resident Evil games, but still, audiences and critics were left underwhelmed. Now Zach Cregger is giving it a go, following his critically lauded horror-thriller films Barbarian and Weapons. The on-the-rise horror filmmaker with a keen understanding of how to plant comedic beats in even the darkest storylines has opted for a different strategy than Roberts. Cregger has deliberately decided that he would not slavishly recreate the story of the games. However, he has nonetheless managed to honor the games in his own way while, at the same time, turning in a genuinely thrilling film.

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Weapons (2025) | REVIEW

One of the vanishing kids running down the street in Zach Cregger’s Weapons — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Zach Cregger — Screenplay by Zach Cregger.

Whenever an up-and-coming new filmmaker, whose previous film had the makings of a bona fide genre classic, is about to turn in his latest film, you pay attention. You especially pay attention when the filmmaker’s script for his new picture was so highly regarded in the American film industry that it not only launched a bidding war but also, reportedly, got a modern horror master to fire his manager over their failed attempt at securing the distribution rights to it. Such is the case with Barbarian writer-director Zach Cregger and his latest film, Weapons, a multi-perspective horror-thriller with drama and comedy elements that had a memorable and fantastic marketing campaign built around it, and which also, thankfully, turns out to be exactly the kind of must-see thriller epic that I’ve been craving.

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Wolfs (2024) | REVIEW

Brad Pitt and George Clooney in “Wolfs,” now playing in select theaters and streaming on Apple TV+.

Directed by Jon Watts — Screenplay by Jon Watts.

A couple of years back, a crime comedy with George Clooney and Brad Pitt as co-leads would’ve been all the rage. Now such a film is given a limited theatrical release before being chucked onto a streaming platform without much fanfare. It is a shame, really. As if Pitt and Clooney’s names weren’t enough, the attached director is none other than Jon Watts. Though not a household name, Watts spearheaded the production of the extremely profitable and popular Tom Holland Spider-Man movie trilogy as its director. His first attempt at a film outside of the Mouse House since Cop Car, Wolfs is designed to be more than merely an Ocean’s reunion between ‘Brad’ and ‘George,’ but is the reunion worth getting excited about? Your mileage may vary, but I eventually warmed to what the film was throwing at me, despite the film feeling relatively unremarkable.

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REVIEW: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)

Theatrical Release Poster – Lionsgate

The following is a review of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark — Directed by André Øvredal.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is an adaptation of a trilogy of children’s horror short story collections of the same name from author Alvin Schwartz. The film has been in development since 2013, and now Norwegian filmmaker André Øvredal has finally brought the children’s short stories to the big screen in the form of a horror film that’s frankly really enjoyable if you know what you’re getting into. This is just scary enough to severely frighten teens, but I don’t think it is so frightening that it’ll haunt them at night unless they are young tweens, but you and your kids’ mileage may vary. It’s a cute and fairly effective horror film that, I think, has the potential to become a favorite for teens. Those who dug Annabelle Comes Home will be happy with this similarly cutesy horror film. Continue reading “REVIEW: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)” →