George A. Romero's Resident Evil

We now go from a horror film that is to a horror film that could have been.

Capcom’s horror video game franchise, Resident Evil, was in part inspired by the works of George A. Romero. So, it seemed that the director of Night of the Living Dead was the natural choice to adapt the property for the big screen. But that didn’t happen. Brandon Salisbury hopes to explain why in his documentary, George A. Romero’s Resident Evil.

Basically, Romero was hired after he directed a commercial for Resident Evil 2 in 1997. His screenplay recreated the game in movie form, albeit with some creative liberties, and we eventually hear a beat-by-beat summary of his treatment. But for some reason, Capcom and production company Constantin Film didn’t like it, and that was it. Eventually, Paul W.S. Anderson was hired instead, and his film debuted in 2002. Anderson’s film, and its sequels, were anything but the game in movie form. A few talking heads muse what could have been.

Most of the time, however, these talking heads discuss Romero’s life and legacy. They go into length about how Night of the Living Dead influenced future horror films with its modern definition of a zombie and its unprecedented violence. They discuss, even if for a second, some of his less famous films, like 1977’s Martin. They highlight his creative process through the filming of the RE2 commercial, and what it was like filming with him. You’d be surprised to learn how much of a cool guy he was, as George Demick found out when he met Romero at a convention. It’s quite nice to hear how Romero cast Demick as a zombie in Day of the Dead as a birthday present. It's quite profound when Demick, and a few others, relate how they learned of Romero's death in 2017.

So, what about the main thesis? Why was the film rejected? According to the documentary, the producers rejected the film due to concerns of violence and budget. Yes, it may sound weird how squeamish the producers were about zombie violence, but keep in mind that Romero's films were beyond graphic. X-Rated, if he had them submitted to the MPAA. During the beat-by-beat analysis, the speaker exposits that some of the script's dialogue was weak, but fixable on account of being a first draft. Romero was quoted, "I feel like I'm ripping myself off," while filming the commercial, which hints at some reservations. Other than that, the documentary doesn't delve into his perspective, or why he was fired. What I'm getting at is that he moved on, so did the franchise, and that was that. Okay.

What else does the documentary have? There are some nifty scenes, which I assume are recreating moments from the games, presented in glorious HD by cinematographer Tom Rebenolt. A highlight is the opening scene, where a soldier narrowly escapes death by zombie dog. The interviews with several personnel from the first game, such as writer Kenichi Iwao and actor Charlie Kraslavsky, are quite interesting to hear. Speaking of which, the documentary is narrated by Pablo Kuntz, the first game's voice of the franchise's Big Bad Albert Wesker. His voice is quite memorable even if you don't recognize it at first glance. It's especially memorable when he narrates how a movie tie-in game, Sweet Home, led to the existence of the franchise. 

A lot of the anecdotes about Romero would suit a documentary about the man himself. The unrealized film at the center of George A. Romero's Resident Evil is just a thing that happened in his life. Who knows if it would have been the first great video game movie, but the script analysis presents a decently interesting project. This documentary will definitely captivate fans of the franchise and perhaps entice new fans of the franchise. I've never played the games, and only watched the third film, Resident Evil Extinction, but I'm now more interested in playing the games after this documentary. I liked what I saw, even if it wasn't a perfect movie. Maybe you will too.

That's it for now.