With the recent release of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, the current silver screen Resident Evil franchise has seemingly come to an end. For many longtime fans of the series, this represents a mercy killing. Over the course of six movies, Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich increasingly deviated from the survival horror charm of the games for epic sci-fi action chaos, and the results didn't always impress fans. Now that the Alice-centric storyline has ended, the franchise desperately needs a reboot in the hands of a brand new creative mind. In the current Hollywood landscape, we think that there is no horror director better suited for the job than the man behind the 2013 Evil Dead remake and 2016's Don't Breathe: Fede Alvarez.
The rationale for this idea is relatively straightforward: the Resident Evil video game series recently experienced great success by taking inspiration from Fede Alvarez' own work. Although the zombie series became famous in 1996 for adopting the tone and style of George A. Romero's classic zombie films, that formula eventually became stale by the time Resident Evil 6 came out in 2012. Many folks wrote off the Resident Evil series as a dying breed -- until Resident Evil 7: Biohazard hit shelves earlier this year. That particular game has completely revitalized the dying game series, and the influence of Fede Alvarez' visual style, the penchant for gore, and gallows humor is instantly apparent in its depiction of the Baker Plantation and the vicious cannibals who inhabit it.
Resident Evil simply cannot go back to the Romero formula; it's tired, and it's already being used pretty thoroughly by TV shows like The Walking Dead. Instead, the Resident Evil films need to follow the lead of the games and look to the macabre sensibilities of iconic horror filmmakers like Sam Raimi and Tobe Hooper for its new direction. We want more survival horror and less Matrix-esque knockoff fight scenes. These days nobody knows how to capture that style better than Fede Alvarez.
However, beyond the tonal and visual similarities between the Resident Evil 7 and Fede Alvarez' body of work, it's also worth pointing out the fact that the guy is simply a modern master of horror. His work on 2013's Evil Dead resulted in one of the best horror remakes in recent memory, and Don't Breathe was an absolute masterclass in sustained tension. He has ample experience maintaining suspense in confined spaces, and he has proven time and time again that he knows how to establish a horror locale quickly and efficiently.
Need evidence of that fact? Look no further than the fantastic tracking shot from this summer's Don't Breathe:
In one unbroken take, Fede Alvarez managed to establish the complete geography of The Blind Man's house, while also keeping the audience on edge the entire time. If a future Resident Evil reboot wants to explore an enclosed space like the Spencer Mansion, or the Baker Plantation, then it will need a director at the helm who knows how to maximize an inherently limited setting.
What do you think? Is Fede Alvarez the true creative visionary to take over the Resident Evil franchise now that Paul W.S. Anderson has stepped down, or is someone else a better choice? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below!
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is currently in theaters!
