Resident Evil behind-the-scenes with director Zach Cregger: Reinventing an iconic horror franchise

Zach Cregger's latest movie, Resident Evil, is all about bringing a real sense of fear to the screen in the most realistic way possible. From the behind-the-scenes footage released by Sony Pictures Releasing UK on YouTube, it seems like the director is leaning more towards pure survival horror rather than the action-heavy style.

Directed by Zach Cregger, famous for Weapons and Barbarian, the movie stars Austin Abrams, Paul Walter Hauser, Zach Cherry, Johnno Wilson, Kali Reis, Shaun W. Loeser, and Devon Stewart.

In the recently uploaded behind-the-scenes clip, Cregger, on reinventing an iconic horror franchise, said that he imagines the movie while writing it and then gets to work with hundreds of people to turn those ideas into something audiences can see on screen. He also said that keeping Resident Evil rooted in horror was important to him.

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How is Zach Cregger bringing his Resident Evil vision to life?

Zach Cregger's Resident Evil is about Bryan, played by Austin Abrams. He is a medical courier whose normal working night suddenly turns into a nightmare as he finds himself in a dangerous situation where staying alive becomes his only goal.

Speaking of the horror elements, Cregger said that the audience gets to experience the scary moments from Bryan's perspective. Cregger added that after finishing the movie, he looked back at everything and saw the movie he had pictured in his head a year earlier.

In the video uploaded by Sony Pictures Releasing UK, Abrams also gave details about the behind-the-scenes, explaining that the director wanted to use iPhone lighting in some scenes, along with real practical effects, to keep the movie feeling grounded.

In the trailer, released in July, viewers see Bryan driving when a person suddenly runs in front of his car, leaving him no choice but to stop. When he gets out to help her, he finds a body and notices a nearby house, where he goes to use the phone.

He calls Michelle, whom he was speaking to earlier, and tells her that he is unable to get through to the police. The trailer also has many scary scenes, including a woman's hands and legs coming through a door, blood splashing across the screen, and the same person suddenly running toward Bryan, adding to the horror elements of the movie.

Speaking about bringing Resident Evil to life, Cregger told Deadline that he already had the idea for the movie when he met with Constantine. He explained that he wanted to make it a simple, gritty horror story about a medical courier, and he already had the beginning, middle, and end planned out before he started writing.

Cregger added that he wrote the movie with his friend Shay Hatten, and the writing process was quite quick, thanks to the ideas they had about what could happen next. While he wasn't expecting to direct the movie at first, as he thought the studio would bring in a big-name director because of the popularity of the franchise, he finally got the opportunity after working on Weapons. But at the same time, the thought of him not directing it also allowed him to write freely without putting too much pressure on himself.

Cregger also pointed out that the shooting of Resident Evil came with a few tough challenges, as it required long night shoots, shooting in bad weather, and working in the Czech Republic, which was a lot for him and the team to deal with. He also had to make sure everyone on set understood the movie he had in mind, which took a lot of energy.

Resident Evil is scheduled to release on September 18.