It certainly sounds like Zach Cregger has delivered the goods.
The Resident Evil reboot arrives in theaters this weekend, and the social media embargo has now lifted following Tuesday's round of press screenings and the movie's world premiere.
So far, the reception has been overwhelmingly positive, with several posts hailing Cregger's film as the "best video game adaptation of all time."
Star Austin Abrams (Weapons, Whalefall) comes in for high praise, as do Cregger's assured direction and (mostly) successful balance of horror and comedy. The only vaguely negative reactions note that the final act of the movie doesn't quite live up to what comes before, and some of the humor feels a little out of place.
Cregger recently revealed that he actually cut a lot of jokes after feedback from test screenings.
"I learned that people really liked 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 liked 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 miss. So that perspective was really helpful."
Have a read through the reactions below, and we'll update as more come in.
From the mind of visionary filmmaker Zach Cregger (Weapons, Barbarian) comes a thrilling — and terrifying — reinvention of the Resident Evil franchise. In an all-new story, Resident Evil follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos.
The cast also includes Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Paul Walter Hauser. Cregger directs from a screenplay he wrote with Shay Hatten, and producers include Robert Kulzer, Zach Cregger, Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, Carter Swan, and Asad Qizilbash. The executive producers are Oliver Berben, Victor Hadida, Richard Wright, and Robert Bernacci.
Resident Evil is set to be released in theaters on September 18.