Cregger's Resident Evil hides the Revenant, a Puker and a zombie dog with tendrils — the game monsters in the reboot
Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil doesn’t retell a game, but it borrows their monsters, the inventory crawl from pistol to rifle, and locked-door puzzles.
Every time a new Resident Evil film comes round, you expect the odd nod to the games: maybe a zombie dog here, a cheeky Umbrella logo there. But Zach Cregger has swung in with his fresh reboot and absolutely loaded the thing with game references, full-on monsters, and sly mechanics that most of us blinked right past on first watch. So if you thought you’d spotted every Easter egg, odds are you’ve missed half of what’s lurking in this one.
Game monsters in the wild
The film’s main plot does its own thing, following Austin Abrams as Bryan — he’s a medical courier in Raccoon City, quite unlucky timing as the zombie outbreak properly erupts. Cregger’s not slavishly retelling game stories, but he’s pinched just about every horrifying beastie he can for Bryan to stumble into.
- Undead Dog: One scene has a proper jump scare where a zombie mutt smashes its head through a barn wall — only it’s not just a gnashy jaw, but tendrils whipping out of the split skull.
- Puker: Fans of Resident Evil 7’s Fat Molded will clock the nod — a hospital elevator encounter with a monster that hurls acidic vomit everywhere. Lovely.
- Revenant: This stitched-together creature is nicked from ‘Revelations 2’, and ups the ante by absorbing bodies to grow, Frankenstein style, as Bryan desperately tries to survive.
- T-Virus Tendrils: Throughout, you’ll spot monsters dragging these Umbrella-style viral tendrils — less a sly reference, more a visual motif running across the whole film.
Several classic game monsters appear on screen, reimagined with new and nastier practical effects.
Game mechanics — but cinematic
It’s not just monsters, either. If you’ve ever played one of the games, you’ll notice Bryan’s journey mimics that slow crawl from useless to armed-to-the-teeth. He starts empty-handed, eventually scavenging a pistol, shotgun, and then an assault rifle — classic inventory upgrade. Constant rummaging for ammo in drawers and cupboards? Check. Zombies banging on the door while he’s searching? Naturally.
Cregger even throws in a few perspective shifts — the camera snaps into the first-person view, especially when Bryan’s bracing his gun for a tight corner. Old-school fans will appreciate the in-joke every time a locked door blocks Bryan’s way. You can almost hear that ‘need the right key’ message pop up.
Supporting cast and villain nods
While Abrams gets the spotlight, Paul Walter Hauser and Zach Cherry pop up as a pair of hapless Umbrella scientists, typically more interested in not getting eaten than any actual science. And in what’s rapidly becoming a staple for the franchise, there’s a relentless, hulking stalker monster stitched together from various odds and ends — the clear inspiration being big baddies like Nemesis, Mr. X, and even Lady Dimitrescu for a touch of recent flavour.