Resident Evil

What is Resident Evil?

Resident Evil is a popular video game franchise that introduced the world to the survival-horror genre. With the first game being released in 1996, players had to manage a limited inventory as they explored a zombie-infested mansion.

The vivid storyline about corporate corruption leading to a zombie outbreak, its place in gaming history as the seminal survival-horror game, and its use of unique camera angles and gaming mechanisms led it to become a massive franchise with over 30 games to its name, 7 films that have become cult-classics and countless toys for grown-ups and gaming memorabilia to get your hands on. With collectibles galore, it’s ongoing popularity now goes well beyond videogames alone.

Which Resident Evil is the scariest?

With a franchise built around horror, all of the Resident Evil entries are pretty scary. Some of the technological limitations of early gaming meant that perhaps some aren’t seen as being quite as spine chilling as perhaps they originally were. In the video game series, ‘Resident Evil 7: Biohazard’ is often cited as the scariest of all of the games due to its first-person view, Southern Gothic setting and claustrophobic feeling of vulnerability and exposure.

In terms of the films, the first one is considered the scariest due to its confined atmosphere and genuine horror elements that later movies shifted away from in favour of more action. Some feel that ‘Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City’, the reboot of the film franchise that came out in 2021, clings more to the original game’s atmosphere of survival horror and so claim this holds more tension than others.

What order do you watch Resident Evil?

With seven films in the franchise, it may be hard to know where to dive in. There are six that are a series and one that is a standalone reboot, which is ‘Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City’ that can be watched at any time as it doesn’t have a direct connection to the other movies.

The original six see Milla Jovich star as Alice, a character who doesn’t appear in the games, battling the evil Umbrella Corporation. They are, in order: ‘Resident Evil’, ‘Resident Evil: Apocalypse’, ‘Resident Evil: Extinction’, ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife’, ‘Resident Evil: Retribution’ and ‘Resident Evil: The Final Chapter’.