Warning: This article contains spoilers for “Resident Evil” (2026).
Zach Cregger’s “Resident Evil” may not be a direct adaptation of any one game, but it was clearly made by someone with a deep love for the franchise. Just look at how he incorporates the various gameplay mechanics in his nonstop, rip-roaring horror adventure.
Throughout the film, as Bryan (Austin Abrams) attempts to carry an important medical device to a destination at the heart of Raccoon City (a central location for several of the Resident Evil games), he comes across a number of objects and scenarios that feel pulled straight from the games.
Here are nine of the best Resident Evil game references in Zach Cregger’s new film.
Ammo
Once Bryan gets to the farmhouse, he upgrades his arsenal with a shotgun. He spends a LOOOONG time rummaging through every drawer with a handle, looking for ammo. It isn’t until he gets into the upstairs bedroom that he comes across a large green box of shells branded “Heavy Field” and with a big brown bear on the front. This box is identical to the early Resident Evil games and remakes of those games – particularly Resident Evil 2 and 4. — Jacob Bryant
Collectibles
Resident Evil fans — and gamers in general — are used to finding story-based collectibles. You’ll open a drawer and find a goodbye note, or enter a room and stumble upon a bloody handprint, or discover a tape recorder carrying a final message of some victim of the infected.
Cregger incorporates this gameplay device in a brilliant way as we enter the third act of “Resident Evil” by having Bryan record a voice message for his pregnant girlfriend. In this moment, it becomes clear that the whole film has been telling the story of a background infected or miniboss you would encounter in a Resident Evil game. On the press tour, Cregger made it clear multiple times that this wasn’t a story about one of the universe’s main characters. What this scene fully reveals, however, is that this movie is, essentially, the story leading up to and following the creation of a collectible. Bryan is merely a footnote in the story of Raccoon City. — Casey Loving
Dogs
The Resident Evil games have had some pretty gnarly jump scares. While the worst of them probably come in the Ethan-led Biohazard and Village installments, one of the most memorable jumps can still be found in the very first game. Early in the playthrough, as the player enters a hallway, a pair of zombie dogs bursts through the windows, increasing the intensity of the music and audio. This moment is regarded as one of the first and most influential jump scares in video game history, and a defining moment in the Resident Evil franchise.
So it’s hard not to think of this beat when, in Cregger’s film, an infected dog bursts its head through the wall of a barn after Bryan leaps from the top window. This moment solidifies in the audience what gamers already know: Beware of dog. — CL
Guns
As Bryan progresses through his nightmarish tour in Raccoon City, he begins stockpiling different guns — a process familiar to many a Resident Evil fan. The locations of several of these guns are evocative of where you would find them in the games, such as the shotgun being mounted atop the mantle and the automatic weapon found in the special case in the car (in the games, you can find separate attache cases that increase your inventory space).
But as Bryan quickly learns, having all of these guns in your inventory doesn’t do much if you waste your ammo. — CL
Heals
From the moment the first teaser dropped, Resident Evil fans noticed that the medical courier bag sported by Bryan is reminiscent of similar bags you can find in the games. These bags contain medical spray that can heal you of damage taken on your journey.
That spray also pops up in Cregger’s film, appearing in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot of the barn Bryan enters near the beginning. Later, as Bryan walks through the car-filled tunnel that contains the RV where he’ll get infected, he walks by a car that has a plant resembling the green herbs from the games (another is seen earlier in the film next to the house phone). These plants can be combined with other herbs of various colors to help heal you. Bryan probably should’ve grabbed that plant when he had the chance. — CL
Locks
There has not been a single location in the entirety of the Resident Evil franchise that had regular locked doors. Whether it be the Spencer Mansion or the Raccoon City Police Department, it seemed that getting around was a chore and a puzzle for everyone, whether a zombie apocalypse was kicking off or not. The problem rising from the fact that all the doors were locked to very specific coordinating keys – usually denoted by armor type (sword, shield, etc.) or card suites (diamond, hearts spade, etc.).
This locking puzzle comes back to haunt Bryan when he is trying to escape the farm and the first gathering from the tumbleweed monster that dogs him throughout the rest of the film. The farm’s front gate is secured shut by a massive padlock with a diamond on it. True to the game, no amount of shooting (or ramming with a truck) opens the lock. Unfortunately for Bryan, he doesn’t check the sun visor and misses out on the key after he’s already totaled the car.— JB
POV
The Resident Evil games spent decades as a third-person horror game, but back in 2017, the franchise went through a bit of a soft reboot. The game dropped much of the increasingly complicated lore from prior installments and told an original story set in a horrific Louisiana home. But the biggest change was that the entire game was played in the first-person perspective to enhance the horror elements.
The film flicks a few times to the first-person view as Bryan hesitantly clears a room or inspects a new weapon he just found for his arsenal. The film is much more successful pulling off the POV than previous video game adaptations like “Doom” ever hoped to be. — JB
Typewriters
Some of the video game references in Cregger’s “Resident Evil” are incredibly subtle, either blending into the background or evoking more of a feeling than an on-screen appearance. And then there’s the typewriter, sitting center-frame in a cluttered office in the house Bryan enters near the beginning of the film.
Of course, typewriters are the main save mechanism in the Resident Evil games, allowing players to change their respawn point to avoid being sent further back in the playthrough upon their death. Some of them appear in rooms just like this, with little other purpose than providing you a safe space to save. Maybe Bryan should’ve taken a moment to sit at the keys. — CL
Umbrella
The Umbrella Corporation is the big bad for many, if not most, of the Resident Evil games. They’re big B Bad through and through – responsible for the outbreak, responsible for the larger coverup, and terrible at learning their lesson because again and again they try to come up with new serums and viruses they can sell to make that bottom line push just a bit deeper into the black.
Bryan runs into Umbrella when he realizes the item he’s been couriering through the night isn’t a heart or liver, but rather the last component Umbrella needs to put together a cure to the virus. Once he gets to Raccoon City, he’s tasked with making it to the very top of Umbrella’s building and gives the antidote component to the scientists there. As with all things Umbrella touches, it goes about as well as you’d expect. — JB
