★ 6 / 10
**tl;dr:** This documentary is fine but underwhelming. It's
Justin Totino
**tl;dr:** This documentary is fine but underwhelming. It's probably interesting for fans of Romero / Resident Evil who had no idea about the unrealized film…
**tl;dr:** This documentary is fine but underwhelming. It's probably interesting for fans of Romero / Resident Evil who had no idea about the unrealized film, but really you can just go and read the script that's been floating around online for yourself.
**Full review:**
The documentary is fairly one-sided. We only ever hear information from Romero's side of the story; interviews with people from the George A. Romero Foundation, the George A. Romero Archives, friends, and colleagues, among others. We only get one interview with someone from Capcom and it's about the creation of the first Resident Evil (video game, 1996), not about the unrealized film. The only information we ever get from the Capcom or Constantin Film side of the story is from narrator Pablo Kuntz quoting articles and interviews that range anywhere from as recent as 2023 to up to almost 25 years ago. I love Romero's work, don't get me wrong. However, as a documentary, I think to get a complete picture of the how's and why's the project didn't work out, you also needed to hear from all sides: Romero, Capcom, and Constantin Film. Granted, for all I know director Brandon Salisbury and crew did ask Capcom and Constantin Film to be part of the project and they refused.
Brief as they are, why do we have interview clips with James Rolfe (Cinemassacre/Angry Video Game Nerd, 2004 - present)? All he does it talk about how much he loves Night of the Living Dead (1968). It adds nothing to the overall narrative of the documentary. Along the same lines, why do we have interview clips with J.J. Turlock from the YouTube channel Residence of Evil? Unless I'm mistaken, from my understanding the channel helped get the documentary made and were basically the only sort of marketing this film ever got. I know that is how I heard about the documentary in the first place - and it's just about the only time I ever saw YouTube videos/trailers for it. So they had a hand in its making, fine. But still, like James Rolfe, all Trulock does is talk about how much of a fan he is of Romero's films, how much of a fan he is of the Resident Evil video game series, and how excited he coulda/woulda been for a Romero-directed Resident Evil film. It's all empty calories, pointlessly included to stretch the film's runtime.
The most information we get about what could have been for Romero's film is from Rombie of The Resident Evil Podcast (2012-present). While the fact that he only appears as a disembodied voice from a radio is distracting, his segments are otherwise very good. He gives a breakdown of the various versions of the film scripts, both Romero's and the version Alan B. McElroy wrote before Romero. Everything from Rombie is, I feel, the core of the documentary. He gives a great breakdown of each script, the differences and similarities they have to the games, etc. The documentary also gives a number of speculations for Romero's changes to the source material and how those changes relate to his previous ...of the Dead works. Everything around Rombie's segments is really just a history and tribute to George A. Romero and the great impact he had on the horror genre. The last few minutes of the documentary are touching in this regard, as his friends and colleagues recount how much he influenced and meant to them, their last interaction with him, or how they heard about his death.
The of the documentary's presentation features a nameless solider exploring a building that is supposed to be similar to the Spencer Mansion from the very first Resident Evil game. The small CRT TVs, notes, and diaries he finds are supposed to be the information being delivered to the audience via the narration and interviews, but it's honestly more distracting and filler than it has to be. However, I still appreciate the film crew's attempt at evoking the feeling of the game series while we watch the documentary. , I don't think it is necessarily a bad documentary. It's just underwhelming. I think I was expecting more out of it. This will probably be interesting for Romero and/or RE fans who happen to never have heard that he was meant to make a Resident Evil film. But really, you can just read the script that's been online for years for yourself.
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★ 6 / 10
A foray into something that could have been great...
paul_m_haakonsen
Of course I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch this 2025 documentary. And this was actually the first time I heard about how close we had legendary…
Of course I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch this 2025 documentary. And this was actually the first time I heard about how close we had legendary zombie film maker George A. Romero directing a movie adaptation of Capcom's major hit "Resident Evil".Sure, having had Romero put his unique touch on the "Resident Evil" franchise in a movie was a match made in heaven. And it is definitely something I would have enjoyed watching, no doubt about that. Not that I don't enjoy the 2012 movie "Resident Evil" from writer and director Paul W. S. Anderson, and let's be honest, it was a steep downhill slide with each movie released in that series of movies from Paul W. S. Anderson, but the first movie was a nice enough action movie and loose adaptation of Capcom's game series. Would Romero's movie have fared better? Well, we never get to know, but this 2025 documentary does shed some light on a lot of what-could-have-been and what-ifs.While this 2025 documentary is watchable, it tends to become a bit tedious and beating around the bush. There were certainly times throughout the 110 minutes that I was thinking 'sure, let's just move along to the next topic already'.Is it a documentary that warrants more than a single viewing? No. But it did leave me with some interesting bits of information about how Romero came to write a script for "Resident Evil" which unfortunately was scrapped. And yeah, I would certainly have enjoyed watching Romero tackle the "Resident Evil" game and bring the essence of the iconic horror game to the big screen in a way that merged his traditional zombie movie making with the aestetics of the "Resident Evil" games.Granted, I didn't know the man himself, heck I never even met him, but he most certainly had a profound influence on my love of all things horror and especially all things zombie. So yeah, it was nice to see his legacy being honored and have this piece of cinematic history opened up and shared widely with the world at large.My rating of director Brandon Salisbury's 2025 documentary "George A. Romero's Resident Evil" lands on a six out of ten stars.
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★ 7 / 10
It's no Jodorowsky's Dune, but it's cool
inaurabass
The first half of this documentary is mostly setup for the main subject. You get an overview of Romero's career, an overview of the creation of Biohazard/…
The first half of this documentary is mostly setup for the main subject. You get an overview of Romero's career, an overview of the creation of Biohazard/ Resident Evil, and then a segment on where the two intersect with the Biohazard commercial that Romero directed. This half is fine, has some interesting tidbits, but it is long (nearly an hour) and has some tedium as well. It's a little "in 1968 George Romero made Night of the Living Dead, and then he did ___, and then he made ____, and then he went on to make ____. In the 1990's Capcom did ____, and then they did ____." I'm oversimplifying but outside of some interview clips and visuals to go along with the info that's the short of it. The best part was the section on the Biohazard 2 commercial, it had interesting bits on Brad Renfro's contract stipulations and I do think it accomplished showing the viewer how Romero's involvement evolved into Romero working on an RE film proper. It wasn't the most surefooted journey but it got us there.The second half focused on Romero's scripts and ended with a tribute of sorts to the man. The doc really picked up speed here, maybe a little too much speed. There's someone briskly reading through the main beats of Romero's RE scripts and, while fascinating, it comes at you fast enough to make what you're hearing/reading hard to process and appreciate. I'll have to rewatch this part. I feel like there's a missed opportunity here as well. Throughout the doc you're treated with some pretty decent reenactment type of footage that was shot at a mansion that looks pretty close to the Spencer mansion. There's actors resembling STARS characters and some Zombie makeup as well. When Romero's script is being read off, it would have enhanced the viewing experience greatly to get some representations of what you're hearing other than game footage. Even just one or two moments from the script given a little more time and examination would've deepened the experience greatly.Overall, I think this is worth checking out if you're a fan of both Romero and the classic RE games. If you're not invested in both of those things, I don't think this documentary has enough generally interesting stories or information to carry you through for 1hr 50min. I've read reviews saying that most of what this doc says is already out there in the public, that doesn't bother me though. This is a very niche subject and there is no way that this is common knowledge for casual fans so it's nice to have it all compiled and given a narrative. It has a cool presentation, and if it is a little tedious or rushed at times I think it basically accomplished what was promised. The director clearly cares about the subject which comes across well enough. I'll give it a 7.
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AUDIENCE
6.0/10
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Piggybacking on @Bobotors' comment with another great doc Lost in La Mancha, about Terry Gilliam's first attempt to make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. The only difference between the other two mentioned is that Gilliam was eventually successful in making and releasing his movie in 2018. The doc, like Jodorowsky's Dune, at least(have not seen this one yet) is just as fascinating.