While the Resident Evil games often toe the line between funny and horrific, Zach Cregger’s upcoming film adaptation has been forced to tone down its humour.
Cregger, a self-proclaimed fan of the series, pushed to include the series’ humour into the upcoming movie, but test screenings thought the film was just too funny for its own good. While there will still be jokes within the film and the usual spattering of dark humour, the film will lean harder on the horror.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Cregger explained that the film was received well, but most of the complaints focused on the over-reliance on jokes and one-liners. “I learned that people really liked the movie,” he said, “but they thought it was too funny. So, over the course of my testing, I stripped out as much of the jokes as possible.”
Cregger explained that horror and comedy work well together, but “too many jokes” can ruin the balance. Evil Dead Burn, for example, has some hilariously dark moments, but they’re moments of brevity amongst total dread.
After removing most of the comedy from the film, Cregger explained that they “found that not only did the audience enjoy the movie more, but I also liked the movie a lot more”. While the director didn’t reveal whether or not they will release the cut comedy in an alternate cut or via deleted scenes, they’re happier with the film as it is now.
With that said, the film will still have moments of its original intended humour, just far less. Similarly to Cregger’s last film, Weapons, there will be moments of comedy to balance out the horror. “A little bit of humour goes a long way in a horror movie,” the director explained.
As far as Resident Evil goes, though, there’s always some humour to the games, especially recently. Even the original PS1 game had hilarious moments, such as the iconic “Jill Sandwich” line, and modern games have hammed up the humour. I mean, can you imagine Leon S. Kennedy without a smattering of one liners?
With Cregger’s Resident Evil film, it will be interesting to see how much comedy still remains in the film. With the movie just days away from release, this has the potential t be the first great movie based on the series since, well, ever. That’s right, none of those movies are great, they’re all pretty naff.
Resident Evil releases on September 18, 2026 in cinemas. The film is not a direct adaptation of any of the games, but instead its own story based on the IP.
