Resident Evil 8: The Village

As the first and second hour of gameplay relentlessly rockets the player forward through onslaughts of impossible monster encounters, many players like me will be tempted to give this eighth Resident Evil game away - too stressful, too punishing, and "Just let me play!" I wanted to yell at the next and next cutscene - but stick with it and it proves to be the sequel that, of all those released so far, most closely resembles the original in a number of ways - wait for the house! - and a game that elicits terror and smiles in equal measure. 

★★★★★

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Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)

A largely plotless survival horror with wooden 2D characters distinct from each other only in name, outfit, and weapon, this third Resident Evil movie, like the others, is easily dismissed as empty dross, but fans of CAPCOM's survival horror game series upon which these movies are based will derive great pleasure from the details - 3D geometric maps, zombie ravens, tourism posters - that recall so clearly the joys of the game.

★★☆☆☆

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Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City (2021)

Moments from the games are brought to life and strung together with more concern for perfectly realised game haircuts, weapons, and cosplay outfits than for telling a coherent story, so this reboot, after so many Milla Jovovich movies,  feels like it false-starts right the way through to at least the halfway mark before an unwarranted denouement (a live-action reenactment of that train-carriage bossfight that players of the game will remember).

★☆☆☆☆

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Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)

Paul W S Anderson's third Resident Evil directorial effort - the fifth movie in the series - dutifully brings the game franchise to life again, delivering the zombie-killing action across a series of distinct, game-like map areas and peppering scenes with fan-pleasing nostalgia - Umbrella Corporation logos, red barrels, ladders that slowly extend downwards, and a host of familiar characters played by actors who speak and move like polygon clusters - but even as a huge fan of the series myself, I find it hard to imagine anyone would be still paying attention at the one-hour mark, by which point this slick but completely vacant horror action exercise has been well and truly, er, done to death.

★★★☆☆

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