Resident Evil started as a video game before becoming a movie franchise. The original 1996 video game focused on a group of characters trapped in the mysterious Spencer Mansion while all hell broke loose. Later games expanded the series into outbreaks, biological experiments, and monsters, turning it into a more action-heavy survival horror.
The first Resident Evil movie hit screens in 2002 and took some of those ideas in a different direction, eventually becoming its own franchise. With a new Resident Evil reboot on the way, now is a good time to check out some films that have things in common with the games and the movies. They don’t all involve zombies, but each one features an element that made Resident Evil popular.
Resident Evil (2002)
The movie that started it all
Yes, I know: Resident Evil on a list about Resident Evil? But, come on — it’s the first one, and it’ll absolutely get you in the mood for the new one!
Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil follows Alice (Milla Jovovich), who wakes up with absolutely no memory, inside a mansion owned by the Umbrella Corporation. She soon discovers that the mansion is connected to an underground research facility called the Hive, where an experimental virus has turned the workers into violent creatures.
While the story features a lot more action than the early games, the premise still focuses on the danger of exploring a lab where things have gone horribly wrong. Umbrella’s experiments eventually introduce viewers to the Lickers that are much worse than the infected workers. At the same time, Alice and a commando team try to shut down a rogue supercomputer.
One of the more interesting parts of the first Resident Evil movie is the focus on Umbrella. Although the zombies are the immediate threat, the company keeps creating bigger problems. Alice eventually becomes more capable, but the movie leaves her uncertain early on, making her discovery of the Hive’s secrets part of the viewing experience.
- Release Date
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March 15, 2002
- Runtime
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100 minutes
- Director
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Paul W. S. Anderson
Cast
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Michelle Rodriguez
Rain Ocampo
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James Purefoy
Spence Parks
Barbarian (2022)
A house hiding something terrible
Barbarian follows Tess (Georgina Campbell), who arrives at a rental house in Detroit and discovers that another man, Keith (Bill Skarsgård), is already staying there. Things get stranger when Tess finds a hidden passage under the house and realizes the building holds a bunch of secrets she was definitely not prepared for.
The movie might initially seem to have very little in common with Resident Evil. There are no zombies or secret labs, and Tess isn’t armed with an assortment of powerful weapons. Instead, Barbarian understands one of the simpler pleasures of survival horror, which is the overall creepy vibes that come with being trapped in an unfamiliar place.
Barbarian keeps changing the information it gives you about the house, which makes some of its reveals particularly effective. The movie also isn’t afraid to leave some questions hanging while it moves on to another part of the story. The Mother is an unusual horror creature because her behavior comes from the life she has been forced to live.
- Release Date
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September 9, 2022
- Runtime
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102 minutes
- Director
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Zach Cregger
28 Days Later (2002)
A different kind of zombie outbreak
28 Days Later follows Jim (Cillian Murphy), who wakes up from a coma to discover that London has been almost completely abandoned. A virus known as Rage has spread across the country, turning infected people into violent attackers who can move much faster than traditional zombies. That makes the film a particularly good choice for Resident Evil fans who enjoy the infected enemies.
The movie also spends more time on what happens after the outbreak than on explaining the virus. Jim and the other survivors are constantly trying to work out what happened while looking for somewhere that might still be safe. The infected are obviously dangerous, but the movie is just as interested in how quickly ordinary life can disappear.
The movie’s portrayal of the outbreak also leaves a lot unsaid. Jim doesn’t spend his time learning the exact science behind Rage. And the audience doesn’t get a complete picture of what happened across Britain. Instead, the characters pick up information as they travel. That makes the empty streets and scattered survivors feel like pieces of a much larger disaster.
- Release Date
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November 1, 2002
- Runtime
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113 minutes
- Director
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Danny Boyle
Underworld (2003)
Vampires, werewolves, and heavy guns
Underworld follows Selene (Kate Beckinsale), a vampire warrior who hunts werewolves as part of an ancient conflict between the two supernatural species. After discovering that a human named Michael (Scott Speedman) has become involved in the conflict, Selene starts uncovering a conspiracy that threatens both sides.
The story has nothing to do with zombies, but the conflict between vampires and Lycans has centuries of history, family connections, betrayals, and competing versions of what actually happened. Selene gradually realizes that some of the people she trusted have been hiding some really important parts of that history from her.
Underworld is one of those movies where the look is almost as important as the story. The vampires wear dark leather, the Lycans spend a lot of time lurking in underground spaces, and most of the movie takes place at night. Selene also spends much of the movie carrying enough guns to make her vampire hunting job look like a full-time military operation.
- Release Date
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September 19, 2003
- Runtime
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122 Minutes
- Director
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Len Wiseman
Silent Hill (2006)
A much more atmospheric video game adaptation
Silent Hill follows Rose Da Silva (Radha Mitchell), who travels to an abandoned town after her adopted daughter Sharon starts having nightmares about it. But Rose gets separated from Sharon and finds herself trapped in a fog-shrouded town filled with disturbing creatures. Like Resident Evil, Silent Hill is based on a video game, but it takes a very different approach.
The movie doesn’t spend any time trying to make Rose an action hero. Instead, it focuses on making the town feel threatening. The fog-covered streets and strange noises give Rose very little idea of what’s waiting for her around the next corner. The creatures in Silent Hill are some of the movie’s strongest and best aspects.
The nurses are scary because of how they move through the hospital, while Pyramid Head has an imposing presence whenever he appears. The movie also does a great job making sure the different creatures don’t blend together into one group of generic monsters. The town slowly changing into the darker Otherworld is also pretty cool.
- Release Date
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April 21, 2006
- Runtime
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127 minutes
- Director
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Christophe Gans
- Writers
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Roger Avary
What’s next for Resident Evil?
A new outbreak brings the series back to Raccoon City
Each of these movies takes different parts of Resident Evil and does something relatively unique with them. That makes them useful picks while waiting for the new movie, especially if you haven’t watched some of them in a while. The new Resident Evil will hit cinemas on Sept. 18, 2026, giving fans a new take on Raccoon City after several years away from the big screen.
The reboot movie could also be a closer match for fans of the games than the previous films. Directed by Zach Cregger, the movie follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who gets caught in a viral outbreak while making a delivery to Raccoon City General Hospital. The story takes place during the events of Resident Evil 2, although Bryan is a new character and not one of the game’s protagonists.
- Release Date
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September 18, 2026
- Runtime
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90 Minutes
- Director
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Zach Cregger
