Capcom's Resident Evil (or Biohazard as it is popularly known in Japan) has played a significant role in the resurgence of the zombie genre in the 2000s, spawning not just a cinematic franchise of its own but also inspiring screenwriters and directors like Alex Garland and Edgar Wright to weave out their own experiments with zombie stories, that were previously this popular only with genre stalwart George A Romero's Living Dead franchise.
To put it in Romero's words, "I think the zombie became popular because of Resident Evil and because of House of the Dead and because of video games more than anything else."
Inspired: 28 Days Later (2002)
Directed by the ever-versatile Danny Boyle, 28 Days Later was monumental for zombie films as well as the virus outbreak" subgenre that has gotten scarier over the years with pandemics sweeping the globe. Boyle himself never considered it to be a zombie film but it is iconic with regards to character development rather than reliance on gimmicky jump scares. Furthermore, it introduced the concept of fast-running zombies, subverting the cliche of the slow-walking undead.
Screenwriter Alex Garland states that it's the first Resident Evil that made him love zombies again, writing the film soon after. "Sometimes 28 Days Later is credited with reviving the zombie genre in some respect, but actually, I think it was Resident Evil." Garland says.
Inspired: Dawn Of The Dead (2004)
Now, this is a strange case as director Zack Snyder or writer James Gunn never explicitly stated taking inspiration from neither the Resident Evil games nor 28 Days Later. And yet, critics and audiences saw a similarity between this modern take on 1978's Dawn of the Dead and Boyle's zombie thriller. Like the Capcom games, Dawn of the Dead was a survival horror and helped in boosting the genre's popularity, yet again with more advanced and faster zombies.
In an interview with Huffpost, Alex Garland mentioned how the original Dawn of the Dead and Resident Evil inspired him to write 28 Days Later. The interviewer went on to mention how a full circle has been completed as 'the remake of Dawn of the Dead was clearly influenced by 28 Days'. To this, Garland just said, "It was hilarious. That really tickled me."
Inspired By: Sweet Home (1989)
A forgotten classic, Sweet Home drew on B-movie influences to create a horror-comedy in a haunted house. The film revolves around a fictional film crew that visits an old mansion of an artist with the intention of acquiring the paintings of its previous owner. Hell breaks loose when paranormal events are triggered. The premise might sound unoriginal but the gruesome, action-packed execution is such that Sweet Home turned into a compelling survival story.
A survival RPG was released in the same year, directed by Tokuro Fujiwara. Hoping to carry on the game's legacy, Fujiwara reworked the Sweet Home video game, replacing ghosts with zombies. The result was Resident Evil.
Inspired: Shaun Of The Dead (2004)
Before Zombieland became a quintessential zombie-comedy and Warm Bodies toyed around with the concept of a zombie romance, Shaun Of The Dead emerged as the world's first rom-zom-com (romantic zombie comedy). The first chapter of Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy, the British cult classic was written by Wright and leading man Simon Pegg.
A direct inspiration for the film was a Resident Evil-inspired episode of Wright's sitcom Spaced (that also starred Peg). In the episode titled Art, Pegg's character hallucinated a zombie apocalypse, sleeping off while playing Resident Evil 2.
Inspired: Resident Evil Franchise (2002-17)
The Resident Evil film series, chiefly heralded by Paul WS Anderson as writer and director, is a loose adaptation of the Capcom games centering on a new character called Alice. Even though the film franchise is the highest-grossing series based on a video game, each film's critical acclaim started lessening over the years.
At the same time, the films are noted for their cutting-edge action sequences and an iconic lead performance by Milla Jovovich as Alice. Apart from introducing new characters, the Resident Evil films have also introduced recurring game characters like Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield.
Inspired: Biohazard 4D-Executer (2000)
Developed by Capcom, Biohazard 4D-Executer is a 20-minute-long horror short that takes place in the aftermath of the virus outbreak at Racoon City. Facing 'zombified' humans, a military task force searches for a scientist working on a new strain of the virus.
Falling under the genre of biopunk horror, the film was to precede a subsequent trilogy of animated Resident Evil films in the 2000s.
Inspired By: Dawn Of The Dead (1978)
A landmark classic in the genre along with Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead can arguably be seen as George A Romero's magnum opus. The film deals with a group of survivors in a shopping mall who plan their escape from a zombie-infested dystopia.
Resident Evil co-creator Shinji Mikami states that the game was initially supposed to have ghosts (in the same vein as Sweet Home) but he felt the idea wouldn't attain mainstream success. So, when Mikami recalled watching Dawn of the Dead and being truly scared by zombies, he decided to make major changes to Resident Evil's storyline. The rest is history.
Inspired: Resident Evil Animated Films (2008-17)
Degeneration, Damnation, and Vendetta are three feature-length CGI films that take place in the same continuity as the Resident Evil games. It serves as a good-enough extended canon for gaming fans, especially those who found the live-action films to be inaccurate adaptations. Hence, classic game characters also appear ranging from Ada Wong to Leon Kennedy.
In terms of critical response, the three films have had a mixed record but Damnation has been heavily praised with IGN even calling it the best Resident Evil film to date.
Inspired By: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has been immortalized in pop culture for its low-budget indie thrills and the hauntingly realistic antagonist Leatherface. Resident Evil fans would know the chainsaw-wielding villain literally named Chainsaw Man, which clearly seems to be inspired by Leatherface.
However, even before Chainsaw Man, Mikami was inspired by the film for the Hunter creature's mannerisms in the first game. Mikami mentions a scene in particular in which Leatherface surprises a character, kills him with an ax in a flash, and then drags his corpse 'like cattle'. 'I liked that sudden fear', Mikami says while touching upon the scene's influence on Hunter's scenes that contributed to the game's nightmarish jump scares.
Inspired: Resident Evil (2021)
All set for a September release this year, Resident Evil will be a German-American reboot directed by Johannes Roberts (of 47 Meters Down fame). So far, no trailers have been released but the cast has been confirmed, with Kaya Scodelario, Robbie Amell, Neal McDonough, and Avan Jogia joining the ensemble.
As of November 2020, Roberts has implied that this film would be a more faithful adaptation as it's directly based on the first two Resident Evil games. This means that the reboot would be an origin story set in Racoon City in 1998.