This week on WVIA Pop Shop, Allan Austin and Patrick Hamilton enter Raccoon City for the newest Resident Evil movie—the eighth film in the franchise and its second reboot.
The story follows Brian, an ordinary medical courier whose last-minute delivery sends him straight into a viral outbreak filled with monsters, terrible decisions and increasingly deadly obstacles. But rather than only asking whether Resident Evil successfully translates the video games to the big screen, Allan and Patrick use the movie to explore a much bigger question: why are audiences connecting so strongly with horror right now?
Could the rise of horror and decline of superhero movies be connected? What do monsters reveal about the fears and anxieties of the culture that creates them? And why might stories about ordinary people trapped by forces beyond their control feel especially relevant today?
Then, after the spoilers begin, the guys look at how Resident Evil borrows the visual language and mechanics of video games—from first-person perspectives and NPC-like supporting characters to levels, puzzles and increasingly difficult monsters—and debate whether those ideas actually work as cinematic storytelling.
Plus: can Patrick's experience playing Resident Evil overcome the movie's very thin plot? And can Allan survive 90 minutes of watching people make terrible decisions?
⚠️ Spoilers begin after the Kirby Center segment.