House of R - House of HorroR: Resident Evil

Episode Date: September 18, 2026

Mal and Jo bring you their thoughts on game turned horror movie, ‘Resident Evil.’ They first discuss Mal’s 40th birthday and how she bravely ventured into it by watching a horror movie. They touch on their shared love of Austin Abrams, and how the filmmaking of this movie rounded out the world and added to the narrative. (00:00) Intro (06:24) Opening Snapshot (28:50) Homework? (29:17) Mallory’s Horror Movie Primer (34:54) Our History with the Franchise (36:54) Resident Evil: A Quick Scamper Through Raccoon City (37:25) This Is So…Funny? (48:31) What Makes a Good Video Game Adaptation? (1:03:07) Austin Abrams: King of the Sphincters (1:12:13) Without Majorly Spoiling Anything… (1:14:35) The Bad Babies Recommend  Hosts: Joanna Robinson and Mallory Rubin Producers: Scott Lee and Jamie Yukich Studio Production: Jacob Cornett Social: Jomi Adeniran Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopowell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome to House of Horror. I'm Joyner Robinson and joining me today. She's the bravest little girl. It's her birthday. It's Mallory Rubin. Hello. Hello. Hey, Mal how are you doing?

I'm honestly great. I mean, in general, I'm terrible, as you know. Withering, decaying, steady march toward death. But delighted to be here with you today for this podcast. I'm really excited. I'm excited to talk about our Resident Evil experience and excited to talk about just dip in my toe into those bloody horror waters.

It's been a fun week and a half-ish. It's all still new to me. We have a lot to get into. I'm so excited. My hand has mostly recovered from you clutching it when we watched Resident Evil a couple days ago. There was a stretch where I was squeezing it really hard. Yeah.

And we'll get into all of that right after this. First of all, shout out to the team for the spooky set deck that we have here today. Amazing stuff. Amazing stuff. First of all, I love to see the Talk to Thrones

stone walls, which feel, you know, kind of gothic and spooky and dungeony. Torture, chambery. Definitely. And that's in general a vibe we seek to establish. Torture.

Yeah. I was thinking like sex dungeon. Oh, sex dungeon. You know, you say dungeon, I think sex dungeon. Yeah, I think torment, whatever. Why not all? Potato potato.

You know. And, The red lights. What a surprise that is. My goodness. I'm sure it looks great on the palest person alive. But you know what? You do.

You look incredible. You look glowing. I love a bit. As you know, I love a bit. So I love this commitment to the bit. It's great. Thanks to the team.

I mean, our team are their big horror fans. I know. This is a big day for Jacob in particular, I think. It's Jacob's best day, perhaps. I'm hyped for Jacob. I told him, I hope I don't let him down. You won't.

There's no way you could. We're going to just talk briefly about our experience watching Resident Evil essentially. This is not a deep dive into the movie, but we're going to talk about this great movie we saw. So good. It was so good. And then we got a ton of horror movie recommendations from the bad babies. So we're going to go through some of those with you. They're secrets.

I don't know what they are yet. I know. I'm finding out in real time. I know. I guess just like the gut response of whether I think I can handle it. I love a spook and a scare and a surprise. Delightful. So love that for you.

On the recommendations front, I just want to say a bunch of our listeners, I was sort of saying, I didn't know what I was going to do while you were gone other than weep and wail and wait for your return next week. We will have a lanterns episode as normal. So that will come out on Monday. But in terms of the second episode next week, a bunch of our listeners suggested I do like a House of Reeds episode and do some book recommendations. That's what we're going to do. Probably our most popular podcast we'll ever have. People are going to love it. For the readers out there.

and book talk are going to be going nuts. If you are a genre reader, sci-fi fantasy reader, romantasy, hard sci-fi, whatever it is you're into, emailist, hobbits and dragons at gmail.com. I'd love to hear what your favorite books that you've read recently or are upcoming, if there are movie adaptations upcoming that people should be aware of, all that sort of stuff. I started reading The God of the Woods, which is an upcoming adaptations,

not genre really, but like... Mystery, great mystery. Great mystery. and I got really excited for the upcoming adaptation. Yes. I was hitting up a thread with you, Dob Mob, and Juliet about casting for that because I think wrongly assumed that all three of you had read that. And I was like, my, a hawk got in the woods, let's go. I knew Juliet had read it just because only one word is necessary.

Camp. Yeah, that's it. Got it. But that book's great. I had a great time reading that. I'm excited. I'm only like a third of way through, but I'm having a really, really good time. Oh, I'm already enjoying it.

So yeah. House of Rees episode next week. week. We will hopefully have a couple guests and I will give my recommendations. One of the books on my hype meter, Lee Bardugo's Deadbeat, came out Tuesday. I will have read it, finished it by next week for sure. So I'm really excited for that. Lantern's ongoing, as I mentioned. Like the pod, subscribe, follow at House of our Pod on social media. You can watch us on video. You can listen to us. Hobbes and Dragons at Demil.com if you have yet to send your birthday wishes to Mallory Rubin, you can do so on social media or via

email. Thank you to all the bad babies who sent her well wishes yesterday. You're a star, Mallory. Thanks, bad babies. I love you. I love you all. You're the best. Thank you to Joanna and Jomey and the crew for my birthday surprise on Instagram.

That's a, that's a wonderful. That was beautiful. Jomey put it together. My little Baltimore birthday surprise. Will you do a voiceover? And I said, I will. I was like, can I do like a David Attenborough? voice or like an old-timey radio voice or whatever.

He's like, could you just do it normally? And I was like, sure. But I texted you after and I said, you're ready to narrate a documentary, I think, after that. That was my takeover. A bunch of, some listeners were like, wow, Joanna must have like Googled the word canon for arm. I knew that one.

That's one I knew. Don't ask what else I had to Google when it comes to baseball, but I did know about warming up the old canon. Anyway, you can watch that video of Mallory's Incredible Day that she had in Baltimore. We had. That we had that we shared together in Baltimore. It was delightful. It really was great.

And all the bad babies who were there. And I love that the very scary, spooky sky made an appearance inside of that video. Spoiler warning. Everything. Like, we'll do sort of the opening snapshot. But then when we get to talking about the film, we're just going to spoil everything. That's right. You know.

That's right. We're not doing a deep dive. But we're going to talk about the things that happened in the movie. Absolutely. And I know that this is coming out earlier than our sort of movie podcasts usually do. But we don't know how to talk about this movie. talking about this movie. So, spoiler warning for Resident Evil. Go see it. This is a 90 minute movie. There's no reason not to go see it. 90 minutes. 90.

Let's go now to the opening snapshot. Now more than ever, quality matters, but so does price. At Marshall's, you don't have to choose. You can get the good stuff for less, the stuff that lasts, because there's no point in tightening your belt if it's just going to break when you do. Get the good stuff in store at Marshall's today. This episode is brought to by Uber Eats. You can get almost anything. delivered with Uber. It's sorry, you can't get a beach delivered, but you can get a peach. A canoe, no. Shampoo, yes. A rocket? No way. Chocolate. Yes way. It's everything you need, including $10 off your first grocery order with code anything 30. Get almost, almost anything with Uber. It's order now.

Order a minimum of $30 required, valid on grocery, convenience, retail, specialty foods, or flowered delivery orders only. Terms and conditions apply. All right, quick facts directed by Zach Craigar written by Craigar and Shea Hatton. A 95 minute movie. Zippy. $75 million budget. Incredible stuff. Really positive reviews.

We went to a press screening. The press screening loved it. Absolutely loved it. And then the reviews have been really positive. We're recording this sort of before the Jen Pop gets to see the movie. So we don't know how they're going to respond. But I have to think that the horror fans at least will be thrilled. We were sort of discussing this with, because we know, we have the.

blessed opportunity to see this with our pals. Sean Fennacy was there and then Chris Ryan and his lovely way Phoebe were in a different theater but we all got to decompress after and I was like do you guys think this is going to make one gazillion dollars because it's so good and horror is having such a year and they were slightly skeptical of the sort of goop threshold I suppose that people might have because it's a very goopy bloody

movie. A lot of exploding body. A lot of viscous substances inside of this movie. So we don't know. But the box office is tracking very well for it to make between $45 and $60 million off the $75 million budget and the opening again, which is very good. Yes. It's the best opening for a Resident Evil movie ever. I was a little surprised because I thought the first one opened really well,

but this would be the best opening for a Resident Evil movie if, in fact, that's what it makes. and just a reminder that weapons had a similar opening weekend but went on to make $270 million. So you at home can make this multi-hundreds of million dollar movie. You have the power. Go see it in the theaters. Make it happen. Get out there. When did you know you want to see this movie and what was your impression of seeing the movie?

You already spoiled that we loved it, but what did you think? I think the first trailer that I saw for the movie. I was like, this looks sick. This looks great. It looked really fun and specific. And obviously at that point, I had yet to see a single frame of any Zach Craigar creation. And as we'll explore shortly, that has since changed.

But I've always liked Austin Abrams. Shout out paper towns. Paper Towns. Formative text. He's great in Paper Towns. He's always been fantastic. Dash and Lily on Netflix. He's just, he's the life.

Aesphoria star. That's right. Honestly, huge standout in euphoria for me. No question about it. Best part of Wolves, which is a movie that stars Brad Pitt and George Clooney. And yet, Austin Abrams. Stole the show? Stole the entire movie from George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

Wow. I'm just like such a huge. She's great. Austin Abrams fan. I'm so excited for him. He's really wonderful. So yeah, I just thought the trailer looked great. It looked like it was going to be really fun and I was intrigued.

And then as I thought about it more and it was time for us to do our fall height meter. Yeah. And there's, you know, more, more trailer action to, to, to, uh, immerse myself in. I thought, I really want to see this movie. I really want to see this movie. I'm going to see this movie. And it was part because the trailer looked fun, the movie looked fun, part because I know that people love Craigers films. I like Austin Abrams. But more because I increasingly felt like I was just really missing out on this, like, contemporary horror moment and horror boom. And I, there are plenty of things in life that I don't mind missing out on. But this, I don't know, it is so

in our orbit, or at least adjacent to our orbit. And you like to have your finger on the pulse. And the pulse is like, certain pulses. Certain pulses. Spurting blood right now. Exactly. You know? Exactly. It's oozing. Yeah. And yeah. So I don't know, it felt like while this was kind of on the horizon and it was very close to my birthday. It was the week of my birthday. My 40th birthday. And I thought that's a time of change in life. It's a time of change. Is it a time of growth? I think we'll see.

Jerry's still out. Maybe not. But I thought, I'm going to do my toe. I'm going to do it. I'm going to watch a couple things before this. And then I'm going to watch this movie. And you know what? I'm having a blast.

And there are still boundaries that I think are going to exist for me as I continue to explore. But I do intend to continue to explore. So we can parse all of that. Has your sleep been at all troubled by what we witnessed together? Not at all. I said this to Chris after the screening when we were riding the escalator. or down to the parking garage. Once again, as always, somehow,

the Ringer crew wound up in three to four different entryways to ultimately the same parking garage. There's nothing quite like the Century City Westmore. I will say, I've locked it. I always come in the same way now. I do too now. I have found my path, but it seems to never be the same as anyone else's,

which is a mystery to me. And I said to Chris, you know, I think that there is a benefit for me personally. And this is not a benefit to my life overall. Let me be clear. This is a challenge in my life, as you know, the person other than my husband who hears me complain the most. And maybe Arjuna. That's the top three about how tired I am all the time.

But when it came to saying, is this the moment where I watched some horror at long last after a life of not doing that for reasons I'll explain? The benefit of being so bedraggled and beleaguered and broken all the time is I'm just like, you know what? You have no sleep to trouble. I'm going to, or the opposite, as you know, it comes in waves and comes in pockets. Like, I'm just going to be so tired that no matter what traumatizing experience I have just witnessed on the big screen, I'm probably going to pass out on the couch with my laptop open on my lap and fall asleep, no matter what, because I'm exhausted. Then I will wake up in the middle of the night and be like, boy, my back hurts. Well, that's a lot of pain in my hip. Why did I allow myself to fall asleep on the couch again?

And that's the routine and that's the rhythm. I've slept. We're doing really well. I've slept fine after. Weapons was the one I was most like, I don't know. know how well I'll sleep tonight after I watched that. But after weapons, after Nostratu, after Obsession, and after Resident Evil. I was, I did not sleep fine because my sleep is shitty in general, but I was, my sleep was

not troubled by the films. You know, that felt distinct. Some people feel like they love watching horror because it sort of, they like watching the scariest thing that could possibly happen. That's not my relationship to it. Makes, well, I know, historically it hasn't. But I'm just saying, it makes the day-to-day terrors of the world feel. more manageable.

You know what I mean? Yeah. Okay. My hand's fine. Thanks for asking. I loved this movie. I had such a good time with it. Laughed way more than I thought I would, even though I know that Zett Kregor has a great sense of humor.

Hysterical film. This was just like magnitude's funnier. And we'll sort of talk about the relationship between horror and comedy in a second. But just had a great, like, just a great time. When we were walking out, I was like, I was like, why did this feel like the 90s? to me. And I don't, I still don't have a great answer. Yeah. Is it because it was like just on the verge of the 90s when I saw the first Resident Evil movie? Is it because Sean the dead came out just like so early odds maybe,

maybe? Or just sort of like the experience of just seeing something that feels like well made. Yeah. contained, short, like a visceral shared experience in the theater. And I'm just sort of like, this felt like, this is what it felt like to go to the movies every Friday. in 1999 with all my friends in high school. You know what I mean? Yeah. Getting to see it with you guys, the buds. Like,

it was just a really good time. And everyone walked out with a huge smile on their face. I was like, I walked out you and Sean and Chris and Peeb were talking to each other. And I was like be aligning for the parking validation because if I don't do it right away, I'll forget. Same. And Chris was just sort of like making meaningful eye contact with me through the crowd

to just be like, did you like it essentially? And I just had this huge smile on my face. And he was just sort of like, yeah, that's right. That's right. This is a great movie. It was awesome to see it in the theater because I think, you know, I have attempted to make my acclamation to the current wave of horror communal by sharing it, obviously, with you. We've been in touch. I've been posting my little hiding under my fleece blanket videos. But I was thinking, like, had I ever seen a horror movie in a movie theater before? I was thinking of that. Right. And, you know, I guess it depends on what we're, because, like, there is some horror cinema that has been a part of my life. Like, I love the 20s. movies. For example. Right. And those are horror films. Yeah. Right. I think that that has been a part of the pattern is that horror inside of another genre that I enjoy, like zombie movies or alien movies. I have

been able to tolerate a little bit more. Zombie as horror? No, I do. It's a flavor. It's just there are some flavors of horror that you're like, I can handle the zombie bucket. I can handle the alien. Exactly. I have like I love alien. Like I've always been able to, I think, I don't know, that has been much more something that I personally am able to tolerate where like a, a, home invasion horror movie or something like that has not been something that I could bring into my life before. So I have, you know, I saw the two 28 years movies in theaters recently. I didn't see Romulus in theaters though. I was thinking back. I saw that at home theater. So like it's a pretty limited set of things I could point to where like, and I was just,

I was saying to Adam when I got home, that was actually one of the things I had been nervous about was like, you know, when we watched weapons, when I saw Gladys on the ceiling for the first time, I honestly, I just shrieked. Like, I screamed in genuine terror. I was terrified. And he was laughing at me. And, you know, I paused. And I was like, how many more moments like that?

And he said two to three, which was not the case. But I was like, wow, what if I'm, like, fucking embarrassed to be reacting that way in the theater? But ultimately, first of all, that was not a part of my experience watching resident people. But also, you were in the loving embrace of me who was a beautiful. You would support you always and Sean who would mock you mercilessly. So like all of those things were. Exactly. It was quite an emotional support.

A cocoon to be in, very different flavors. But it was just so fun to, not only, I mean, it was because the movie is so comic and so funny to have the experience of everybody laughing together, but the moments where the air is sucked out of the room and the tension is so high and it's silent, at one point I turned to and I was like, I'm like pretty worried about trying to open this bag of nerds clusters and making a crinkle sound while the room is dead quiet. Uh-huh. You helped me out because you're the best.

And that candy, it just was delicious. It was great to have it there. I ate chicken tenders during the movie. Yeah. I was eating the entire time. You're emotionally fine. Your emotional support tenders. Yeah, absolutely.

But those really tense moments where the action is leading you into a sense of intentional and clear dread, that was a fun thing to share with a room full of people, which I understand I'm saying the most obvious basic shit. like that is a part of why people love to go to watch horror movies and theaters together. For me, that felt really new. That was not an experience I had had before. And honestly, I quite enjoyed it. I feel like we talked about this a bit on when I was on the Rwatchables for Obsession.

We talked a bit about sort of like that communal experience in the theater of seeing horror together and how, like, we talk a lot about how important we think it is that people go to the theater. And I really do think and how important the monoculture is. And I agree with both of those things. But like, all together, this idea of. going through an emotional experience with, you know, your fellow man and it does not matter who they are or if you know them, but we are all human together and we can all scream together or laugh together or when I saw Hamnet cry, like weep together. You know what I mean?

Like that emotional catharsis that you feel in the theater, I genuinely think it's good for society. Like I'm being very serious. And so you're talking about the fact that like it feels like the comedy genre is like in many ways. dead. The comedy film genre is in many ways dead. Not the way it was like even a decade or two decades ago. And I really miss that experience of we're all seeing the same like funny movie together and quoting the lines back and just like continuing like continue to laugh and share and have this

thing in this thing in common that knits us together as a society when so many other things are like driving us apart as a society. And so um to laugh that much, you know, because I've seen horror movies, but I haven't seen a horror comedy this good in a really, really long time. And so to like laugh our way to do this. It was really fun to sit next to you and have my hand crushed by you and all that sort of stuff. And then pal and collie Katie Walsh was sitting on the other side of me. And Katie just said, you like 500 times in the movie. She had a great time.

But every single time something disgusted happened, which was constantly. Super gross movie. Compliment. Ew. Yeah. Ew. That's really funny. Incredible.

All right. So do you feel like you covered what tip the skills for you this year or is there more you want to talk about? No, I think those are the reasons, you know, getting old, want to try a new thing, felt like I'm missing out. In terms of the films that I selected. Yes. And well, let me pan back for why this was not a part of my life for so long. I'll keep this quick. I've talked about this many times on many other ringer pods before.

Formative wounds. When I was seven years old in second grade. Yeah. I went to one of my friend's houses. His name was Adam, different Adam. And I had just a gigantic crush on this guy, Adam. Wonderful. His older brother was there, and he made us watch a child's play.

Yeah. And when I tell you to this day, I have not recovered from that, I mean it sincerely. Like, I, for a really long time when I was a very young kid, like, could not sleep because I was so scarred by the experience of seeing that. When, you know, you go to Blockbuster or Hollywood video, this was something my, you know, love to do with my parents would go. We'd pick out a movie or two for the weekend. If I passed, like if I saw Chuckie, it was over. I was done. Like, it just scared the shit out of me when Chuckie would pop up. Even this was when I was like a working adult in sports media, John Gruden and a coach who his nickname was Chuckie because he looked like,

they'd flash up Chuckie during an NFL broadcast and I was like, oh, no, like still a, just a scar. This is like when we went to see Labyrinth the other day and you saw me sinking down on my chairs when some puppets came out and we're singing in it. It's just sort of like because they scared me so much as a child because the Banshee and Darby O' Gill and the little people scared me so much as a child when I still see it no matter like how janky the practical effects look or whatever. Like it just it sticks and it moves you. Yes. And so for a long time I was just like this is not a thing that I want to even attempt to experience because it made me feel really bad. There was also another movie I definitely. I definitely. no idea at this day what movie this was. But there was some movie. It was a, like, it might have been a theatrical release. It might have been like a made for TV movie. I have no idea. I turned it on like at 1 a.m. when my mom was out, a babysitter was with me, you know, not paying attention. And it was some like, you know, killers in the house. Body in the closet when you open the door kind of thing. And it just was, again, destroyed my sleep. but I was really fucked up after it for a while.

So then when Adam and I started dating, he loves horror. He loves movies. He's a huge horror fan. And it was one of those things where like when you're in a relationship with somebody early, it's kind of nice to have different interests, but also there are certain things where you're like,

what will it mean if we like never share this? So he pitched, what if once a year for like, I think it was actually his birthday, we watch a horror movie together. And I said, you know what? I'll try. I will try.

The first movie that he picked, and actually in the comments on these Instagram videos, I have been posting, a lot of people are suggesting this movie, I have seen the dissent. And it was another setback for me. Because now, actually, though, it's interesting because that's one now where I'm like, I wonder if I'd be okay with that if I watched it now. It's so good. And I could appreciate that it was a great movie.

It scared the shit out of me. It really unsettled and disturbed me. and Adam was just such a dickhead. I love this man. We've been together for a long time. He's a wonderful partner, friend, husband. He could not have violated my trust more in the wake of watching The Descent

where I said to him, the thing I need you to agree to do, I will agree to watch the movie. The thing I need you to agree to do is not scare me after. He was like, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. And then I was, the movie ended, I was a wreck. Yeah. I got into bed. Yeah.

This was when we still lived in New York. Uh-huh. Little apartment. Uh-huh. I'm in bed. The door is to my right. The lights are off. And I see moving toward me in the shadow.

You know, he's doing one of the like descent monster things moving toward me. And I was just like, I'm never, I'm never doing it again. And guess what? Until a week and a half ago, I didn't. Yeah. That's a very. That's such a Mallory Rubin move because you're like. Like, listen, we had a deal.

We had a deal? You broke it. You violated it? Fuck you for a very long time. Yeah. I'm not going to suffer not watching horror movies. You don't get to share this with me. My journey to horror is like, came in a couple stages.

In high school, I think I've talked before about like the group of friends that I hung out with in high school and how we watched movies all the time. And this one guy in a group was sort of like responsible for the curriculum to a certain degree. I don't know who elected him. He just sort of took this on. And he had really good. Self-appointed? Yeah, he had a really good taste. And so, like, a lot of my sort of, like, unusual stuff that I watched in high school came from him. So, like, we watched the Sam Ramee movies. We watched. It's why I'd seen Peter Jackson movies before Lord of the Rings came out. You know what I mean? Like, he was just sort of like giving us that sort of New Zealand or like, you know, interesting, a lot of campy, bee horror kind of contemporary fun stuff. And then in college. And so, you know, and then the 90s like, you know, like six cents or, you know, all this sort of. And I've seen Sixth Sense.

You're alive. I watched Get Out when Get Out came out. You're a human in America. Like, you've seen these movies. Even though, again, I know those are horror movies, that feels different to me somehow. Sixthens scared me. Sixthens is scary. I didn't see it when it came out in 99.

We were not a horror movie household. So, like, I wouldn't have gotten it at home. So it all had to, like, come elsewhere. And then when I went to college, I think over a couple summers, that at least one summer, a bunch of us were there for summer session. It was a gazillion degrees in Davis, California. And we decided to, like, set. ourselves a curriculum of like classic horror. So we would get together. And we watched the,

we had watched The Shining on campus. That scared. The Pages had me when Halloween we watched the Shining, the Shining. But like the Omen or the Exorcist or like, you know, all of the like classic 70s horror. We just wanted to sort of knock them out and sort of, you'd Rosemary's baby, et cetera, et cetera, had a great time. And it was like the perfect way to watch it on like sweaty summer nights with your pals. It was great. And then, you know, know, and then I've just sort of tried to educate myself across the genre. I would not say I'm an expert, but I am, and I do not like, I don't like torture horror at all.

Yeah. I don't like the Saw movies. I don't like the Hills had eyes, have eyes, you know, like all that sort of stuff like that. I don't like. And I don't really like the, a lot of the, like, I don't know, found footage movies. Anyway, this is, this is. Yeah.

And then on this sort of, like, scare you afterwards front, I think I've told you these stories, but like, I've got. two of those, which is like when I went to go see the Blair Witch Project. Yeah. I mean, I got sick. That's its own thing. I got motion sick for the Blair Witch Project. That's its own side thing.

Also an incredible story though. But my friends, my friend's grandma or mother or grandma had like read or had someone tell them to like stack rocks and sticks outside of the bedroom door when folks woke up in the morning after seeing Blair Witch. And then the ring, which I also watched. in college. I was talking to a friend of mine told him we were about to watch it, hung up the phone with him. He looked at the runtime and then he like called me, which is like a thing inside of the movie. He called me like right when the credits were rolling.

Cruel and unusual. I was in my, I was an R.A. in my dorm room and a bunch of my residents were watching with me and then the phone rang and we all just like jumped a mile high. And then one of my residents, like everyone left and one of my residents sneakily like stayed behind in the dorm room. And then he crawled on my, like I thought I was alone in the room and he crawled on my lofted bed like the girl from the ring like doing his whole impression anyway it's a no for me it's part of the joy of horror is like how can we prolong the the chills and the thrills as we go forward and as you know i love a vampire i love a witch like this is sort of like yeah um chris did the closest i got after resident evil to any like uh something from the film carrying over was

chris did a little little tentacle pinch of my spine as i was walking no it was pretty funny Okay. Didn't scary? Maybe jump a little. There's a lot of tentacles in this movie. A lot of tentacles. So you mentioned all these classic films, the rooting yourself in the history of the genre. I have done none of that.

Sure. Does that await? Maybe. So you mentioned Sean was in a row at the film. And, you know, he was like, wow, here you are at this movie, incredible twist. You know, I've been following the journey. And I think he was simultaneously very proud and happy that I had watched. weapons, no spherato obsession, was there to watch Resident Evil and also said to me, in no uncertain

terms, directly, you can't watch those movies without watching the foundational texts. I mean, do you want me to right now read the text that Sean sent me when I asked him for recommendations for you? I did text our resident ringer scream queens, Sean Fennessee and Chris Ryan to see if they had recommendations for you. And Sean said this. I think it's very funny that she's watching contemporary stuff to start out because the genre is so iterative. an homage laden. And then he said, The Exorcist is,

I still think, the scariest movie ever made, so I suggest starting there. I think I'll do. It feels to me like the next wave should be a few of the classics. Yeah.

The Exorcist. Well, we'll see if I'm inspired by the bad babies and the recommendations at the end of this episode. There is one clear winner in terms of like... Volume of nominations. Uh-huh.

And it makes sense to me. Oh, interesting. Okay, I have no idea what it's going to be. I'm excited to find out. The reason I have, I started with the contemporary stuff. It's very simple.

The three movies I picked fell into three buckets for me. Right. Weapons, I wanted to see something from the director of President Evil. I had not seen a Zach Cricker film I wanted to. I understood that weapons was something that was adored by all. Do you agree? I thought that movie ruled. Do you agree that-

Sheardardardt out of me? Amy Madigan deserves her Oscar? Oh, yeah. I mean, obviously, incredible. You know, look, I would swap, and this is obviously I realize not a new opinion. and many people had this opinion in real time, I would swap weapons for F1 in the second for Best Picture. And I'm an F1 obsessive.

The sport, not the film. Film was fun. Have some notes on whether Sunny would have been kicked out. Check out the Ringer F1 show for my thoughts on that. I didn't think I could start with Barbarian. Jacob was like, barbarian's hysterical. You should watch Barbarian. That's good.

And now that I've seen Resident Evil, I'm a little bit more inclined to believe Jacob. That is funny. That it's funny. But it also does seem just, it seems terrifying. So I'm a little bit scared still. Weapons felt like this psychized animating thing I had clearly missed. I wanted to see it.

That was an obvious one. Nosferatu, I had wanted to see this at the time. I didn't necessarily feel like this was going to be so scary that I couldn't see it. But it did seem like maybe it was just a degree too much horror for me. But I love a vampire. Yeah. We've spent a lot of our time with vampires recently on the podcast. It's very horny.

Super horny. And it's monster horror. So I felt like, okay. Monster horror heading into Resident Evil. Great, right? That felt appropriate. We're a Nick Holt podcast. We are.

And I like us to be an airintel. Podcast as often as possible. We're working on it. And then obsession, I was going to try to do obsession and backgrounds, but in the time allotted, obsession was the clear choice because that was obviously, that's like the thing this year, right? And I know. You want to have an opinion about Indy Never Eddie being cast in the X-Men.

That's right. instead of just nodding politely, you know, as we talk about the X-Men casting and I have nothing to contribute on that front. I had been warned by some. You or Arjuna, a couple other people who I know, care about me deeply the world at large, that the cat stuff was really not going to work for me

and I was going to have a genuinely hard time with it. There were a couple other people in my life who shall remain nameless. Bill, who were like, you'll be fine. Didn't mention the cat. And the cat stuff was deeply, deeply traumatizing for me and very challenging. I still thought the movie was really good.

And I understand why it has become such a thing. Obviously, like, I thought that of those three weapons was my favorite. I would rank the weapons, Nosferatu, Obsession. I think that what obsession does to play with the careful what you wish for idea is really fun and cool, but it's a little bit less. Weapons felt more original to me. Well, and something we talked about. In terms of like what Sean is saying about horror being iterative, something we talked about is like how much obsession feels like an episode of Buffy Vampire Slayer. A two specific one sort of like smashed together, right?

And like I'm not, I'm not undercutting. Smashed like a brick into a face. And that face into a steering wheel. That was a tough one. I'm not, I'm not nagging obsession at all. Like that's a compliment to say it reminded me of a Buffy Vampire Slayer episode. But I wasn't like, this is the most original thing I've ever seen because. And like careful what you wish for is like, you know, a fine term of the genre.

I would say of those three, and I really loved weapons, but I would say of those three, Nosferatu is my favorite. Like, Nosferatu is one of my favorite movies that year. I watched it. I thought that was great. I remember, like, I watched it at home. It was one of those things where like, you know, I get like award screeners and I got it. I think I got it early.

So it wasn't out in theaters yet. And it was like a thing where people were over and this happened sometimes where just people start drifting in. And they're like, what are you watching? What is this movie? Yeah. Oh my God. Nosveratu. Visually astonishing.

Oh, God, so beautiful. I mean, and Robert Eggers is like, his stuff is incredible. Are you going to say, see Verbal? Of course. Absolutely. Hell yeah. No question. Yeah.

On the sort of like, does the dog die.com front, I will note that one of our beautiful bad babies who wrote in wrote in bold red warnings on the movies that, and like specifically what happened to animals on certain movies. I appreciate it. Usually I just ask Chris to something bad happened to the animal in this movie and he tells me. I knew enough to be on my guard

an obsession. Briefly, let's talk about the Resident Evil franchise. There is, and Zach Greger has said this,

in a way that I think some Resident Evil, a certain slice of the Resident Evil fandom did not appreciate, but basically,

there's zero barrier of entry to this film. Like, you don't have to have played a single second of the video game. You don't have had, you don't have

to have watched any of the movies. This isn't a continuation of a story. It isn't an adaptation of a story. It is set in the world. And so it's, maybe if you know the world it's fun. And certainly there were a couple times in our screening when

people in the theater laughed with recognition about something. Yeah. Particularly there's a part. In the house. Well, the office was one. But another was when he passed by a car and there was a plant. There were plants inside of the car. Huge

reaction in our theater and I was like, I guess that's a reference. You could definitely tell from the reaction of the crowd the moments that were in the gaming Easter eggs for sure. But the video game history is long and storied and absolutely insane when you put it all together. But starting in 1996

there have just been so many iterations of the Resident Evil story. You're not a huge gamer. You live with a gamer. What is any awareness or experience with the Resident Evil game franchise. Awareness, yes. I've never played a second of any of these games.

I know that people love them. I mean, I know this year that Resident Evil Requiem is one of the best games of the year. And so there's yet another boom here. But yeah, I haven't played any of these. I think maybe, you know, like if this were a television show that we were covering regularly. A Last of Us situation. Yeah, I would dip in and, you know, that's just the, there's so much here. It's overwhelming.

Yeah, I wouldn't even know where to get. But I know how. know that people obviously love these games. Not a part of my life. My relationship to the films is that I think the first Resident Evil movie is like quite bad. I did rewatch it. I enjoy it. And it's even worse than I remembered. I have a great time with it. Mila Giovovic's like incredible red dress. Like the whole thing. So impractical for the needs of that moment. And practical. So impractical for the beautiful moment. But yeah. So this is the first, this is the first thing that I really am like, boy, Resident Evil Hive. Let's go. But I know.

know how much it means to so many people. So it's exciting to now have a part of it that that I love as well. I have, I feel like I've seen maybe three Resident Evil films, but the first one is the only one that I have that is like stuck with me in any way. But yeah, James Purifoy, Michelle Rodriguez, Milozovich. Right a cast. Paul W.S. Anderson. They made a ton of them. There was a failed, sort of failed reboot in 2021, welcome to Raccoon City. And that was just like maybe the worst received of the entire franchise. And so they're like, let's try it again.

And let's do it with Zach Prager. All right. So we're going to take a quick scamper through Raccoon City. That's what we're doing. Not a deep dive, but Resident Evil. Here we go. As we mentioned, this movie is so funny. It's hysterical.

The premise of the movie is that Austin Abrams plays a guy named Brom. Ryan, he's a medical courier. What does he call it? Essentially a postmaise driver is what he says. And he has something to deliver. Yeah. Deep into the heart of Raccoon City. That's right.

And it's a dark and stormy night, very snowy. And as you observed when we got out of the movie, the movie takes almost entirely done in real time. That was part of what I loved about it. Yeah. It was not only because, you know, the overall runtime, as noted, is just very tight. but the way that we are just journeying.

We're just with one guy. We're with one guy. This is Austin Abrams movie entirely. Yes. You might recognize a few other names in the cast. They are barely in this movie. It is his movie. So he hits something, someone with his car.

And then it just goes from bad to worse from there. Spoilers from here on out. Here we go. Visit Bet, Bet, M. GM casino and check out the newest exclusive. The Price is Right Fortune Pick. BetMDM and Game Sense remind you to play responsibly. 19 plus to wager.

Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor, free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Let's talk about the comedy aspect, though. Just like dig into it a little bit.

deeper, slightly deeper, and say, here's a Jordan Peel quote when he was on the daily show. He said the difference between comedy and horror is the music. And there's much, much has been said about this current era of comedians, sketch comedians, maybe specifically, like, transitioning into horror. So Jordan Peel, obviously, like, a vanguard of this, but like, Perry Barker, who made obsession, like started with a short-form comedy. Josh Rubin. You know, shout out Josh Rubin. I love him. Danny and Michael Philippoo and Zach Crager all have comedy backgrounds. Bill Hader is making a horror movie that's supposed to come out next year that I'm with the great Linda Cardalini that I'm very excited about.

So here's something that Zach Craigar said in an interview. The anatomy of a joke and the anatomy of a scare are the same. You're using timing and tone to create a surprise and to live. elicit a physiological reaction. It's all about subverting expectations. And then here's what he said to the Hollywood reporter, which I find completely wild, given how hilarious we thought this movie was.

This was a shock. Quote, I learned that people really like the movie. This is in test screenings. I learned that people really like the movie, but they thought it was too funny. So over the course of my testing, I stripped out as much of the jokes as possible. I then found that not only did the audience enjoy the movie more,

but I also like the movie a lot more. A little bit of humor goes a long way in a horror movie and there's not a single joke I took out of this movie that I missed. So somehow it was jokeyer. Yeah. And I, like, we were laughing the entire time. It was very funny. So I don't know where there was room for,

maybe it would have been a longer runtime. Who knows. But Sam Ramey, he notes as a clear influence, like Bruce Campbell's stuff in Evil Dead, especially like the way that, like, A, you're rooted in Ash's perspective in Evil Dead and B, like the muttering to himself. Like all this sort of stuff that Austin Abrams does really well,

but the sort of like, I can't believe this. Like all of that or like, I don't believe this is happening. This isn't happening. Like what is, you know, I didn't just do that. Like all of that stuff is really, really good. Yeah. And then he hasn't mentioned Edgar Wright specifically, but I was thinking a lot of Sean the Dead,

an excellent zombie horror comedy situation. So. Yeah. Yeah. I love Edgar Wright's movies. It's funny because I think of that. as comedies that have genre elements in that. So I wonder almost with the, the Crager quote you just shared about the, like, ratio,

the balance of horror, if that felt like a thing that had swung too far or it became a comedy instead of a horror movie. And it's like a funny horror movie is not the same thing as a comedy. Comedy. With horror element. Comedy. Yeah.

Yeah. So I thought the movie, to me, the horror or the, the, the, the, the, comedy in the film was like the great delight and surprise. Like I knew, I knew Austin Abrams would be really compelling in it. That was a satisfying part of watching it, but not a surprise to me. I don't know.

The humor manifested in so many different ways. That quote about like volume and just kind of like tonnage is really interesting because I do think I could see how it could shift. On the one hand, I'm like, I don't know, every joke landed, so I would have taken more of them. So funny. But in the other hand, like you said, maybe it is just runtime bloat.

And the fact that this movie is so, so tight, and it makes it so propulsive because we're with Brian as we journey deeper into Raccoon City through the storm, through the, you know, we escape the homestead, the farm, right? And just this sense of like the urgency as you understand the clock that is ticking as the outbreak spreads. But also, we said spoilers, right? Spoilers?

Like, our guys got a bite. So that's a clock. There are a lot of clocks. It all made sense that the movie was really compact in terms of how the actual plot plays out. And frankly, I think just an element of like how quickly people die. To the cast point, you see all these great performers we love who are in it. And then they basically all have like one, one and a half scenes before they're dead or eliminated in some capacity. The fact that a lot of the horror, some of it came from, so Brian hits the woman who is like,

infected who has been exposed in the street. That was the first real, oh my God, this is going to be funny in a way I didn't anticipate reveal because a lot of it is like how she'll turn her head or growler, the fact that she wants to bite him, but she's like belted in. She's got a seatbelt on. Yeah. Can't, right? Or his car won't start because there's a bullet hole in the engine and then he realizes he's

the one who did it. Like that whole sequence and set piece really unlocked what the tone in the film was going to be early. For me, it was like, when he was like talking to her, he's like, you're okay. Yeah. Here you go. Oh, ma'am, you're so brave. When they, like, hold her head, when they put her in the cop car and they're, like,

holding her head so she doesn't hit her head. That was all so funny, so early. And then, you know, a lot of what Brian just, his responses and the way that humor manifests in real life in uncomfortable or scary or sad situations because you are just trying to, like, navigate something that is deeply traumatic and terrifying. That worked so well in the movie. I wonder if that's the thing that people were like. like, would our guy be like this quippy in the face of this much mortal peril?

Yeah, he's not quipping. He's like muttering and coping. Yeah. And that felt right. I wonder if that was some of the stuff that was. I feel like the only time he tries to quip is in a moment that you really hated, which is when he throws the ladder at the dog. Not a fan of that.

That was like such a funny Mallory Rubin experience. Again, spoilers, I guess, for this movie, which we've already talked about. We've said I'm just going to keep saying it. Yeah. We don't really talk about shows and movies on this pod without getting into the plots. I know. It's not what we usually do. It's just sort of like we also don't usually put out movie pods the day the movie comes out.

So just making sure that everyone, we're setting expectations. But like the dog attack that happens on the farm. And there's a dog going after him. And Mallory's like, oh, that poor dog is just probably hungry. Literally like a nanosecond. before the dog's face exploded into tentacles and, like, came after our guy. Like a plant. I did think it was possible.

Very demagogony. Very demagogian. Yeah. Yeah, I thought, well, we know the woman who Brian hit has wandered from this abode. We could assume. Yeah. That felt clear because there's just nothing anywhere else around. And so I was like, man, you know, the people in this place are compromised.

What if our guy just hasn't had a meal in a minute? Our poor pup. And he just wants Brian to feed him. And that was not the case. It turned out that he was also a bioweapon. And... Full of tentacles. That was upsetting.

Yeah. So, but the shock of that. And I think just like, the way in which, you know, we'll talk in a second about sort of like what makes a good video game adaptation. But like the way in which we are the camera is so rooted in Brian's POV that like we see things so like we hear the dog and then as he turns

you know like the camera turns and it's not like a gimmicky POV camera but it's just very much or like you know he'll look down then the camera will look down there are ways in which the camera is just sort of like mimicking his movements and so when those like reveals happen yeah um it's it's funny because you know we're seeing some he's seeing something and reacting in Austin Abrams is like very funny. Yes. And then like we're seeing it at the same time. And and that's just like and and it's so funny.

I just saw a movie that, um, I can't talk about yet. But like I was so frustrated by how far ahead of the main character I was. It really bothered me. Yeah. Um, this didn't bother me at all. Like we come and we know essentially what happens in a resident evil movie or at least what happens in like a zombie movie, you know, and stuff like that. And so when this woman is like, uh, you're going out into the road, like, we know what's, what's happening.

We know more than him. Yeah. But it's never frustrating because he's not like dumb about, like, how would any average Joe? And like, Austin Abrams is cast. There's a, there's a moment later in the movie when he's sitting there with his shirt off. And it was like really funny to me because like, similar thing happens in wolves where it's just like you really, like, not. vain appearance of a leading man. He's just like sitting there.

He's got like just like a little bit of a tum. It's just like actually not what Austin Abrams usually looks like. I feel like they were just like, can we make him look even a bit more average than this very like, you know, handsome actor, actor kid looks like. I say he's a kid. They call him a kid all the time in movies. He's definitely an adult now. Very boyish case.

He's got that energy. And you're kind of reminded. consistently throughout the film that, you know, he's part of the plot is that his, the beginning of the film is that he's receiving this news from his girlfriend who is a character via phone only, Michelle, that she's pregnant. And he is confronting what it would mean to grow up, right? And then obviously that is heightened as is often the case in a genre story about like, what is the state of the world that I might live in and I might bring a kid into. Yeah. So that's, that's all interesting. I think to the where he's looking and how that heightens the comedy, I mean, it does a couple

things. It heightens the comedy, the yelps, the screams. In the, in the, the homestead, you know, when the other member of the home very suddenly emerges and reveals himself to be present. Like, that was one of the scarier, you know, jump scare moments in the movie. But Brian's reaction is so funny. Yeah. Great tonal blend. The other thing, though, that I think the camera angle, that's just, that's a video game. You know, that is, yeah. Like, that's just like, and it's very, I think it's a very effective way to chat. But, like, not in. But, like, not. But not in a give me away. There's like a couple times when the scope of the rifle is in the shot in a way that feels very first person shooter. But otherwise, like, it never feels un-cinematic to me. Yeah. In which it has framed very video game. Yeah. And I think it does root you effectively as a viewer in one of the experiences that you have, obviously, when you're playing the game, which is like there is actually a choice you have to make.

You enter a new space. You know, because of the premise of the game or the premise of the film, that there's, going to be some peril in there. Something awaits. You have to look left or you have to look right. And whichever way you go first, whichever drawers you open or door you check behind, there's another area that you haven't vetted yet.

And so I thought that the, you know, channeling porting that perspective from the games into the movie, it gives you that sense of play in a way that I thought honors the kind of core canon and just gaming as like an enterprise, very effectively. That sense of play. I've played like, and I've talked about this before, but I played like a few video games that involve like wandering through the house and like trying to find things, find letters, find whatever, very narrative based games. And so yeah, the rifling through drawers to find ammunition.

Yes. So familiar. Or when he's in the tunnel. Yeah. Like it encounters the RV. And he's like, it's very like, he looks to the left. The RV smashed up against the wall. He's like, can't go that way.

It looks to the right RV smash up against the wall. It can't go that way. Again, to your point, that's very like. you know, we're the player, we're trying to figure out a way, I got to go through this. Yes. I was waiting for him honestly to like, try to go under. Yeah. But like, he's like, okay, I got to go through. And we all know as an audience, there's something in that RV that is going to be like horrible and scary. The way that the film also uses, but he has to go through it anyway. And we know what's coming and it's still really good. The way that the movie

uses sound design in that RV sequence or when the woman that he hit with his car, who we see come running from very far away and the snow arms out really funny. But when she gets in the house and she's just sort of like, we just hear the pounding her footsteps and her just like banging on a wall after wall to wall. We don't have to watch it. We're with him, but we can hear her coming. It's like, it's incredibly funny. It's like really, really good.

Okay. So making a very good video game adaptation a notoriously difficult undertaking. The internet is just like overflowing with articles and listicles about. like all the ways in which Hollywood has failed to make a good video game adaptation. And it's funny if you go on Rotten Tomatoes, a flawed metric, go on Rotten Tomatoes and you look at like the video game adaptations list. Yeah. Currently, and it's like too soon as hell, but like currently this is sitting way at the top,

97% on Rotten Tomatoes right now. Who knows what's going to happen in the next few days? But that's where it is right now. And then you jump all the way down to like 70-something percent. And then it rapidly falls into like the 60-50 percent range. You know what I mean? You're like, occasional, like,

sort of Sonic the hedgehogs. Sure. Yeah. Mario Brothers. You know, like these are, these are movies for kids that are just sort of like

set in this world that are not trying to be a video game. But like, the last of us we've obviously praised when it's at its best. Yeah. Does a lot of this sort of, we talked about this a lot in season two,

the like the locked gates. How do we get through these gates? Which is something, of course, that this movie plays with as well, the various locks that you have to get past. Fallout, of course, is a world that a lot of people enjoy that adaptation, especially the first season, I would say. Yeah.

But, like, yeah, your Mortal Kombat, your Street Fighters, your Minecrafts, your Tomb Raiders. Like, there's just so many things that people, I mean, Minecraft, a lot of people loved. It's not really for me, but that's okay. A lot of people loved it. Like, fun movie. Great. A certain section of the fandom, I will say, and I already said this before, but, like, Zach Cracker has talked about this, like, took exception in some of his pre-release comments about the movie that he wanted

to make and how it was not a straight adaptation of any of the stories. They might be familiar with from the game. He's gotten really good at talking about this in a way where he's like, I really understand this. He's like, let's say someone was adapting a book I loved. Yeah. And they were like, it's set in the world, but it's not any of the characters. He was like, I probably at home would be like, well, then don't call it the book.

Just call it something else. He was like, but this was, like, he was, I think a lot of people have wondered. if this was like a different story that has been rescinned as Resident Evil just to like get it into the franchise or something like that. But he has said and I believe him that like when he was making Barbarian his first feature before it even came out, he was asked sort of like what horror franchise would you want to work in. They made one of his producing partners. And he was like, oh, Resident Evil. And they were like, okay, go ahead and write a treatment. Why not?

Just like see. Write a treatment for it. And so he did. And what he has said is like he had no expectation. This is before Barbarian came out. So this is before he was like ever considered a feature film director. And so he's like, I felt so free because I had no expectation that this would actually happen. So I felt incredibly free to write whatever was fun and interesting to me.

And like if you think about Barbarian, which you haven't seen, but like weapons, which you have, weapons operates as like a bunch of different vignettes together. Yeah. Right? We're in different POVs and it's sort of and it's told slightly out of, out of, out of, you have. of sequence and it all comes together. He talked about how he had this idea for this Aunt Gladys character, and she was sort of like floating off in space an idea he had over here. And then he had an idea for this movie about children missing.

And then he was like, oh, but he had no idea how or why. And then he sort of like put them together. Or similarly, Barbarian, which I don't want to ruin for you in case you want to watch it. But like Barbarian starts as very much one kind of horror movie that we think we're watching. Yeah. And then it like a long ways into the. movie becomes something completely else. It's because he wrote that first part. And then he was like,

I couldn't think of any way to continue that story that felt exciting and fun for people. It just felt like we've seen this story too many times. There's no way for me to surprise and delight people. And then he was like, but then I just sort of basically wrote a different movie entirely. And that movie also you're following a couple different people's perspectives. And so like I feel like you can see the DNA of all this like what he talked about for video game movies. movies, for video games in general, is this idea of hyper subjectivity in his movies. So for weapons, for falling Alden, Aaron Reich's character, or Julia Garner's character, Austin Abrams character, like you're, or Josh Rowland's character, you're in a hyper subjective

space inside of this larger story. And here he's like, I just took that hyper subjectivity of like, the camera is Brian, essentially. We are just with Brian all through Resident Evil and dialed it up to 11. And that's how he got this like very video gamey feeling without feeling gimmicking. I was just talking about this week's episode of lanterns and how there's sort of like a video game section that I was just a little like, it felt a little like that was a negative to me that it felt like a little video gamey. This I think captures that experience from like someone who loves playing it without losing something that feels like cinema. Yeah.

You know? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think it's interesting that a lot of the gaming adaptations recently, obviously, like our buddy Ben Lindbergh has talked about the salon on button mash. She's written about it for the site. Sean actually has a his projections newsletter this week is on the gaming adaptations. A lot of the ones that have been really well received, you mentioned fallout, you mentioned last of us, but like even something like arcane, like those are television shows.

You know, so a lot of the, oh, we're doing prestige. I remember Limburg's The first piece Lindberg wrote about Last of Us was like Can Gaming Adaptations be Presteed? That's happening in the prestige TV space

on the streamers, right? You've got an HBO show, you've got a prime video show, you've got a Netflix show, etc. It's, you know, I think the, a lot of the films Budge your listeners just perked up because you said the word arcane

and they were like, I watched the first season. I really, really enjoyed it. First season was wonderful. Yeah, I think we're just both behind them. It's just a lot out there to. just try to stay current on. I quite enjoyed season of one of our game.

The, you know, a lot of the, so you're like, and then the score falls off a clip and dips to hear where we get to the, like, movies, you know, three, four, five, etc. I mean, a lot of those movies that have maybe less critical, uh, agilation are movies that still did well at the box office

or have some sort of like contingent of, of fandom, but they're not going to appeal to every, They're not taking all the boxes of quality and popularity. Yeah, they're not indicating necessarily that something has shifted in the nature of the adaptation, maybe quite the way that this is a part of that and that some of the television shows have. But certainly, like, so Sean's piece today, which again, subscribe to projections,

if you haven't yet, is about broadly he's exploring the idea of gaming adaptations, kind of moving into the superhero spot. It's like, this is just what this is what this is now, right? Yeah. So that's obviously a moment that we're in and we've had blips there before. You know, I don't know. In terms of what the key is to making of the video game adaptation work, I don't necessarily like think I don't feel best equipped to chime in on that.

I think for me, the ones that work the best are the ones that, and in general, I think when we talk about adaptation, it's like something that feels like it honors the experience for people who do love the cortex and also something that then is accessible to a new audience, you know? And I think it's interesting because the thing you're saying about Zach Kragher's comments or his positioning of this is like in the world and him understanding how you'd feel if the book comp. Part of it though is volume.

Like if this were the first time anyone had adapted a Resident Evil game, maybe people would not be as receptive and open to that. But because we have legions of prior adaptations that hue a little bit more closely to rendering a game on screen. It's possible that because those other adaptations Hugh more closely and weren't very successful. Yeah, sure. Yeah.

Like, is obviously always going to be part of it. Is it good? Is it good? And this was good. That's exciting. There's also, like, a couple things that I'm sure, Lindberg and Fantasy who know way more about video games than I do,

like, have addressed this more eloquently. But, like, there's a couple things going on together. There's people who grew up playing video games. being old enough to make the movies. Not that like adults couldn't play video games at any time. But like if you grew up playing video games and you're just sort of like dipped in the world a bit more and then you become a filmmaker or someone who makes television. It's like almost just like a generational difference. The same way that like people who grew up with the internet or people grew up with YouTube or all those other stuff like that is influencing the way in which film and television are being made.

And then there's the way in which the art form of the video game has deepened to meet the moment. So, like, when you talk about something like The Last of Us or Gone Home or, like, you know, a bunch of other, like, narrative games, the way in which storytelling inside of that world has become richer and more profound. Yes. You know what I mean? So, like, you could, well, I was not to say, you could adapt Golden Eye. Golden Eye is, of course, like an adaptation of a film franchise already. but like there's not much there there. But like when you're talking about,

and obviously there's like a ton of war in the resident evil space. All right, anything else you want to talk about in terms of making this a successful video game adaptation? No, I mean, I think, you know, the, I've lifted my gun that I found

and I have put my cell phone camera under it to try to navigate. Stuff like that was just very clever. The recurring bit through the film about the locks, you know, which pathway is going to be, are you going to get and you think you finally found your path through

and then fuck there's its bits I can't the way is shut that was all really great and really an effective way to render the gaming experience on screen and then I think just also the the fact that the movie leaned in to celebrating its gaming roots and its gaming

fandom there are multiple moments in the film where video games are shouted he's like I'm not a gun guy all I know is from playing video games yeah and then the kind of celebration When that returns, video game, having, like, achieved and done it and landed the shot that he needed to land. That was just very smart.

There's also the, like, I don't think the film is ever, to your point, in terms of, like, the way in which our attitude stores of video games have shifted somewhat in the culture. I think there are some video game adaptations that are, like, embarrassed to be a video game adaptation. It's similar to the way we talk about superhero movies. I feel like there was a time when, like, comic movies were afraid of being comic book movies. And then, you know, Kevin Fahey's, like, actually Wolverine's hair should be that big. You know what I mean? Like, and that changes. So when you have, there's like a number of moments that feel like cutscenes inside of this movie.

And I would say specifically like when Paul Walter Houser's scientist character shows up and he's giving like exposition and it's kind of cheesy and clunky. But in a way where you're just sort of like, this is what happens when you mean an NPC in a game and they're like, explaining the state of affairs to you or when he's made it all the way to the hospital and he's in the parking garage and over the intercom you hear is that Craigar's voice playing this

scientist who we never see but like who's like you should really play it safe and take the stairs. You know like you could take the elevator or you could take the stairs. He's like you should it's like such a like winkingly like that's a video game moment. And then also

when Callie Reese shows up as this character Maxine, the quote unquote enforcer. I love that moment because like she's just such a like video game babe. And she shows up and she just like headshots everyone. And she's just like, that's who you would expect. At the core, that's your Lara Croft. That's your whatever. And it's just sort of like she's here and gone very quickly because she doesn't make it

because she's not the main character of this story. It's poor hapless Brian. Let's talk about poor hapless Brian. Austin and Abrams. We've already praised him in time. And we should say, speaking of Chris Ryan's wife, Phoebe, Phoebe Riley, wrote this incredible, honestly incredible profile of Austin Abrams for GQ UK. I was so dazzled by it because basically what happened is that Austin Abrams is a guy who is reluctant to tell her anything about himself and what you're looking for in a profile like this about a guy who's about to have a big year.

He's making whalefall and Resident Evil and he's been around a while. But this is like a step up. It's supposed to be a big sort of like, this is who this guy is. And he was like reluctant to tell her. And she made that the premise of the profile. And it was just like really clever journalism from her. Really, really good. She's the best.

And so really, really great piece. I really recommend you read it. But this is what Zach Krueger said to Phoebe in that profile. He said, first of all, I like that he's not a giant movie star. He's not a jacked action star. He's not a dweeb. That's the kind of person that I want to watch go through. the gauntlet of hell that is Resident Evil.

What I love about Brian the character, this is the only time I took my little notebook out to write a note. Which just sort of like, he's such a medium good, medium good guy, right? Like, we meet him and he's like, forging documents, kind of squirrely, not saying the right things to his pregnant girlfriend, like all that stuff.

But when he hits a woman, which he is like horrified by, he tries to help. He tries to help her. So like the way in which we like find the exact right middle line of like, this is such a medium good guy. You know what I mean? And something that Zach Kragher has said in a million different interviews is that like the moment he knew, he wrote this role for another actor in mind, he won't say who that was.

And he never should. But like he wrote the role with someone else in mind. But when he made weapons with Austin Abrams and especially the sequence in weapons when Austin is like breaking through a fence and like muttering to himself and sort of like taking his little victory lap over the fence and then you like see that he didn't have to go the way that he went and there's just this comedy beat. He was like, that to me was what I wanted to make, that was

Resident Evil a miniature. Yeah. And that's what I wanted to see. And that's how Austin Abrams got this gig. But I just think he's like, when I saw what he did in weapons, and again, I was already like a huge fan when I saw him in weapons. When I saw when he did in weapons, I was like, this is like the kind of role that I feel

like Timothy Shalame would have taken like 15 years ago. Like that he's scooping up these roles. And I don't know that I could ever see Timothy Shalamey as a star of a as an evil movie, but like there are these, he's just got this sort of like, the word that Phoebe uses in her profile is squirrelly, this sort of like squirrelly energy to him. That is like quite endearing and often endearing against all odds. And I just, I find him mesmerizing and perfect for this. Yeah, he's amazing. I mean, I think the fact that he, the, the average Joe aspect of it, the fact that he, like, is behaving badly in certain stretches, but, but also then an extension of that,

like, not hyper great at everything, you know, makes him a more relatable avatar for, like, what would it be like if you suddenly found yourself in the, in the center of the apocalypse, you know, and, like, you had your own shit you were trying to figure out, which was I have a job and I'm supposed to get paid more if I complete this task, but also, like, I've really fucked things up with my girlfriend, and that's weighing on me. And, uh, I can't get through to 911. I actually was able to leave her message and she did call back and I couldn't answer because, oh my God, I'm under attack. You know, like all of that stuff is obviously in some ways part of what's fun about a game or

an action movie or some sort of like dystopian plot is watching somebody who is exceptional at something navigate what should be an impossible circumstance. That's like a thrill. This is also a thrill in a different way. I think the fact that he was like, to your point earlier, not immediate. like zombies, huh, but kind of got there with a quickness and is like, monsters. Something has gone really wrong. I'm not, you know, and like you get, even the, oh, the gaming, I'm bad at guns.

Like, you kind of get the sense that this is like a dude who is doing okay in certain ways and not great in others and probably has put in his time with some movies and some games. And it's like, I feel like if the zombie apocalypse broke out, I'd be able to clock it. You know, I'd know what was happening. I wouldn't be like, how could this happen? I'd be like, yeah, I've been waiting for the zombie apocalypse since on some level the whole time. He gave all of that quite effectively.

You know, the other thing is that he just, in addition to the comedy and the like level of proficiency that allows him to stay alive as he's working into Rakuin City, but like, dip shit, oh God, I shot my own engine, fuckups, and I've dropped all the bullets and like, the noise you made as he was like, just shedding shells as he was running away. Terrible. You were so upset.

He's just dropping it on the grad. It's like stop and pick him up, but you can't stop and pick him up. The moment that he like thinks he can hop over the electric fence. That's incredible. And we're all pretty sure he can't. And it's very like Charlie Chaplin, like, Buster Keaton sort of like energy. If he's just sort of like gearing himself up to do it and then just sort of like. Like he's like zapped in the balls. Bucks it up. Yeah. That was so funny. And it's like that's the kind of thing where it's a normal. I mean, yes, it's electric.

But it's like, you know, he's taller than the fence, right? The thing he can do is put his hands on the beam to try to hoist himself up. So again, you're not, he's not even attempting. He's not scaling a skyscraper. Later, he will have to try to traverse the sky bridge as it is crumbling under him. But like, we build to that? But like, it's part of the, like, it's both a like, I'm a player at home. Yeah.

I think I understand the move that I need to do to get over this fence without taking any damage. Yes. I understand it. It's like these, you know, keystrokes or whatever. I will do it. Oh, I fucked it up. Yeah. Or like him in the loft of the barn and he sees the hook and you're like, we're all watching.

We're like, buddy, you're not going to. That's not going to work out for you. You know? And so like we're in this like fun anticipatory like, how is this going to go wrong for this guy? Yeah. Using in that same stretch the ladder to talk his shit. Yeah. Instead of thinking.

Yeah. We're all like, no, you need that. Yeah. The anticipation of just one step further. Maybe we're going to need that to get down. the other side. Like that stuff was all great. And then, yeah, like to, you know, to your point, I think the fact that he has a decent heart is really crucial. Like, if he were, he's not perfect, but if he were a complete piece of shit, he's got like a little bit of a, of a edge to him,

which feels appropriate, but also like he has a certain level of like care inside of him for other people, strangers in the road, as you noted, or, you know, someone in his own life where, like, he's airing, but then he's attempting to rectify, and that feels important in somebody that you need to be able to root for, and watch fail. And, you know, again, I'm going to say spoiler, even though we've already spoiled it, like, 9 million times, but like, he gets his bite. Yeah. Because, but there's real tension. He finds a girl in the RV. She's got tentacles for feet. She's whimpering and upset. And he's like, oh, they're there. You know, it's like all very funny. But you have this moment where you're like, is he going to shoot her?

Is he just going to leave her there? Like, what is he going to do? Because he is that medium good guy where, like, he's conflicted and we're not sure which way it's going to go. And then he kind of tries to help her. And that's what gets him dead, you know, at the end. Because big time spoilers. Yeah. He doesn't make it through this movie.

Yeah. You know? Big old blob. Really, really good. Really good. Big old monster blob goes splat. I think the, like, the fact that the courier bag, you know, The second that became a popcorn bucket, like, some things in that that is not just a heart.

Oh. You know? But this is a recurring. You're better at tracking popcorn. I do like the popcorn bucket boom as, you know. This is a recurring thing, obviously, the ingredients to try to whip up the cure. You know, that is a fun aspect of the film, too, the fact that, like, on his person, he is carrying something that could save him. and into the final moments

really wants things to be okay. Doesn't want to succumb, doesn't want to do monstrous things. Like wants to help, wants to find a way to help himself and to help other people. Yeah. And so that was dramatically,

I think, quite compelling. There's the Mcuffin of just like the vile, will it be intact? That was, I mean, the... Anyone could drop it. It's slippery in there. Like, also just hysterical.

Oh, all the house is so funny. Always. It's just great. But yeah, he falls on that bag like so many times. So whatever the cushioning mechanism that was inside of that, that bag for that file. Effective. Very good. Yeah.

Very good. All right. In case we haven't hit it, is there anything? I mean, I said this in the notes without major league playing, but it's too late. That ship is out there. That virus is out there. Is there anything that we haven't, any set pieces that we haven't shouted out that you wanted to like particularly call out? I think the, this, you glimpse, little glimpses of both of these in the trailer.

But I think the, I'm in the sewers and something is waiting in the distance. We can see it. We can see it. We can hear it. That was absolutely revolting stretch, the explosion of skittering critters. I think without question in the theater in real time, the thing that is. got the biggest response from everybody assembled was the maternity ward. Oh.

That was all time, all time stuff. That was just incredible. Oh my God. So much go. What the fuck. And so just sort of like, we're not, we're going to go there. We're not afraid to go there. That was gnarly.

Yeah. Really, really well done. I think the vomit elevator. Vomit elevator, disgusting. The water balloon bodies. throwing themselves off the roofs. These are two things I want to say, and I'm always just like, always happy to do this.

Which is how much, how many practical effects are used in this movie? So the sort of big white bloated guy that's in the sewer, that is, say it with me now, a puppet. They could have done it with CG, but it was a 2,000 pound puppet, I believe, that was made in California and shipped to Eastern. Europe where they filmed this movie. I think Legacy is the, are the people who made it. There's a ton of digital effects in this movie. Weta did a lot of digital effects. So like,

shadow the digital effects team, they look really, really good. All the tentacle stuff looks really good. But the way in which they like tried to do it practically when they could. So the body's falling down. Those were blood bags that they dropped. Like those, that was practically done. You can really tell. It's just incredible. This like gauntlet run. It's very, very fast in the curious, but, like, very, very good. Anyway, I just love this movie. It was great. I love that there are puppets involved.

I had the best time. Thank you so much for pivoting to horror. I'm really proud of you. I'm having a great time. What should I watch next? Okay. Shout out the Bad Babies. The number one recommendation from our listeners was Cabin in the Woods.

Oh, Adams mentioned this multiple. Because of your Buffy watch that's happening right now. Okay. So Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon, like, wrote that movie and it was very buffy-coded. Okay. And like a young Chris Hemsworth, et cetera, et cetera. But like it is, it is a, the bad babies really think that you would like that. Okay.

All right. A lot of our listeners, um, thought you should get into the Mike Flanagan verse of television. But that's, I think mostly because they know how into the Mike Flanagan verse I am. But I do think that like both Hillhouse, haunting of Hillhouse and Midnight Mass. are like so thematically and emotionally rich that like I really think that you would enjoy them. Do you think you can handle them? Ghosts and. I think so.

A lot of bloody. Adam really liked social shows. He really tried to get me to watch Midnight Mass and I didn't. But maybe I'll do that one. A little Madi Saris in the mirror? That's right. That's right. our listener Bronwyn

inside of her like Mallory should join the plan of hers knowing especially that there's like an upcoming Carrie adaptation TV show that he started for Amazon in addition to his work on Clayface Brownman said speaking of Carrie

on the film front I'd recommend anything in the quote good for her genre of horror the original carry is a classic for a reason and the Vovovic It's the witch. Mid-Somar are fantastic, more recent entreats. And although it's not technically a good for her film, the Stepford Wives is another classic that can do you to absolutely rip. And personally, I'm thrilled to welcome horror into my life and any sleepless nights I've suffered have been well worth it.

So glad that Mallory has decided to join the spooky party. Okay. Intriguing. Mid-Somar, you made a little note, no? Yeah, maybe. I like Pew, obviously. Pew Hive. It sounded like that was pretty scary.

Not really. I don't, there's, there was this era of horror that was like, it's like, eerie, than it is horrifying. You know what I mean? Okay. Where you're like, I'm not, there's like this folk horror, I'm not sure what's happening right now sort of aspect to it. Yeah.

That I would say that I like. I'm a fan of. All right. Brian put together a horror movie starter kit for Mallory Rubin. Let's hear it. Instant modern classics. Get out what you already saw. The conjuring.

Yes. The conjuring I've not seen. Indie Darlings, this was one of Jacob's recommendations and I really co-signed it. It Follows. Right. Hugely, hugely endorse that. The Babaduke. Adam was asking me about that this morning. Yeah. Yeah. Backrooms, which you've already considered.

Art House Darlings. Black Swan. Oh, I've seen Black Swan. Okay. You would not consider that horror? I think. They're skin peeling. Yeah. Psychological. Psychological.

Yeah. Hereditary? That seems upsetting, that one. And you watched Frankenstein last year. We talked about it. I did watch Frankenstein. Classics, we've already mentioned

The Shining, The Exorcist, the Omen, Jaws. You've seen Jaws. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Evil Dead, Texas Chainsawm, Massacre, Alien. I don't, I will not endorse you watching Texas Chainsman. That's a no.

Damn good times. Obsession, you've already seen. Crimson Peak. Gemberd-Oltoro. Would you? Yeah. Charlie Hunnam, Tom, Tom, Hiddleston. Chastain, a lot of spooky ghosts in Mia Wasakowska and gorgeous costumes.

Yeah. Spooky Gothic horror. I've seen it. I've seen. I know every detail of the plot of that movie, so I've either seen it or I've been exposed to enough clips. To know that it would fit in well with this summer that we've had. It would, yeah, certainly.

Okay. Ready or not? Super good. Okay. Smar weaving. That's about a girl who marries into a, a, rich family and they've got like a weird ritual that comes with joining the family. And so it's just like a normal girl, weird, rich family.

Okay. How do I, the bride, navigate this? Interesting. Really, really good. That one's really fun. Cabinet Woods, we already mentioned. Companion, which came out last year. Robot horror.

Ex Machina-esque. No? Maybe. Yeah. Maybe. Bodies, bodies, bodies. Gen Z horror. Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. I like the cast of that movie. You seem unconvinced. Tension dramas. Ten Cloverfield Lane. Train to Busan. Have you seen Traindu Bousan? You like zombies. I do like zombies. That's one of Adams' favorite movies. It's so good. That's maybe one of my favorite. I think maybe my favorite zombie movie. Yeah. Trained Busson. So good. The dissent we've already talked about. You were scarred. And then actually, a number of people wrote in for this one. I'm going to find the best email about this.

So this email came from Corey, who is the one who put together some very helpful animals die in these movies. Okay. Dr. Sleep. Yeah. This is the description. Yeah. Your boy, Obi-Wan. Sure.

Plays a little boy from the Shining, all grown up, and walks his sexy ass all over New England to protect a girl from Rebecca Ferguson playing a life-force sucking vampire. A beautiful yet terrifying film. I mean. Dr. Sleep in the Flanaganverse. Yeah. Your wife, Rebecca Ferguson is there in a hat. Yeah, I must have been in my wife. Yeah.

Exactly. Zah McLarnan, who we really love is in that movie. It's a great. It's a great movie. Okay. Susperia, either the original one or the remake. Yeah. Okay.

How are you feeling about any of these? What feels most likely to you? I mean, I think I'll keep exploring the Eggers stuff, and I got a lot of Vich nominations. previously. Captain the Woods seems like something I'll do. I'll certainly try some of the classics. I don't know. I think I'll take it, you know, three or four at a time.

In terms of, like, body horror, in terms of Clayface. Yeah. I'm not worried about Clayface. No, no, no, I know you're not worried, but like, do you, would you want to watch, have you seen the fly? Okay. Maybe that's good. Jeff Goldblum, Gina Davis, very sexy. I mean, there's many different versions of the fly, but like that's one I would

recommend. In terms of like body horror, you've seen the thing. Yes. A lot of the thing in Resident Evil because of all the tentacles stuff, the mashing together. Yes. A lot of, and I was going to say a lot of, I was going to make a joke about a lot of stranger things Susan through, which of course is about the thing. Okay. Any other questions you have?

I, about horror. No, I think this is a good list of things to try next. Maybe I'll do, maybe next I'll do, well, since Clayface is soon, maybe the body horror stuff makes sense. And then maybe after that, I'll dip into some of the classics. Yeah. Maybe some like some universal monster stuff in front of Werewolf or some 60, 70s classic car. But Werewolf, it might be like time for some like old classics.

That would be fun. Would love that. Yeah. I would love that. I'll make room for it amid my rewatches of Craven the Hunter, you know? Great. Your constant Craven the Hunter rewatches. I mean.

When my guy is starting in a film, what am I supposed to do not watch Craven? I've not seen that again, to be clear. I'm just going to shout out two more vampire movies that I love. Which is Only Lovers Left Alive. Seen that. Tom Hiddleston. No. Not.

Lovely title. Yeah. There was his era when like a lot of Tilda Swinton, obviously. Tilda Swinton and Tom Hidlinson playing like vampire rock or vampires who have been together for a very long time. Anton Yeltsin, my beloved and Miawasakowska. There wasn't a time, a stretch. Jacob and I were talking about this when like a bunch of movies, horror movies,

it follows. Barbarian, only lovers left alive. We're all set in Detroit using just sort of like the crumbling edifices of Detroit as this like setting. And then a girl walks home alone at night is another great vampire thing. Okay. Let me in. Did you see that? I've not seen that.

That I've actually let the right one in. Let the right one in. I've wanted to see. Yeah. I'll do those. I will do those. Okay. For sure. Yeah. I'm really proud of you. Great. It's great. Happy birthday. Thanks. You really did it. You know, I feel,

I feel both like 27 and 95 at the same time. And maybe that's what being 40 is. I don't know. Thank you to the entire team who's here. That's right. A whole squad. A whole cadre. Carlos Sherboga is enjoying a very, like, well-deserved vacation. Yes. So Arjuna room. is here. Scott Lee is here. Jamie Inka's here. James Enoch is here. Laya's going to be working on this pod for us. I don't know what she's doing, but shout out to Leia and Jomey had done her on social. And thank you to you, Mallory Rubin. Thank you to you and thank you to the bad babies. And if you listen to all of this without having seen Resident Evil and listen to a spoil of the whole thing,

I just would still urge you to go see it because it's like fantastic. And you can handle it. I really believe in you. We'll be back with more lanterns. And don't forget to email hobbits and dragits and Gmail.com for your book. recommendations and we'll see you soon. Bye.