Resident Evil's $108 Million Box Office Success Officially Redeems The Worst Movie Genre

Published Sep 22, 2026, 3:03 PM EDT Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020. While 2026’s Resident Evil has officially proven that video game movies can be not just good, but great, director Zach Cregger’s blockbuster hit has also redeemed arguably the most maligned horror subgenre ever. There are a plethora of horror subgenres, some of which enjoy more critical credibility than others. For whatever reason, possessed child movies like The Exorcist, The Omen, or The Innocents tend to be taken a lot more seriously by reviewers than slasher movies like Totally Killer. Of course, this isn’t a hard and fast rule, as some slashers such as John Carpenter’s Halloween or Wes Craven’s Scream are considered uncontested masterpieces. That said, there are a handful of horror movie subgenres that have few defenders in even the kindest critical circles. One that comes to mind is the much maligned mid-2000s trend with an SEO-unfriendly name that gave viewers hits like the Saw movies, the Hostel franchise, Turistas, and The Hills Have Eyes reboot duology. Even the most understanding critics rarely called any movie from that horror era, save for arguably the original Saw, a true masterpiece. Similarly, there are precious few ‘action horrors’ that earned anything other than jeers from critics, while there are dozens of movies in the mashup genre that were roundly revolved by reviewers upon release. However, director Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil reboot, which commanded a staggering $108 million in its opening weekend, may have finally turned things around for this hated subgenre. Resident Evil Is The First Great Action Horror Movie In Years Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing / Courtesy Everett Collection Action horror has always been a loosely defined genre, mixing the high-octane fistfights and gun play of action movies with the monsters and gore of the horror genre. 1986’s Aliens is arguably the lone true classic of the genre, with director James Cameron’s sequel taking the claustrophobic horror of Ridley Scott’s original Alien and telling a bigger, more bombastic and explosive story in the same universe. The later Alien movies returned to straightforward horror in some instances, such as 1992’s dour Alien 3, or became goofier, lighter action movies in other cases, such as the Alien Vs Predator movies. 1987’s Near Dark and 1996’s From Dusk Till Dawn marked the next truly great action horror mashups, although the genre categorization of both vampire movies were complicated by their Western and crime thriller plot elements. In the years since, 2005’s The Descent is, at a big push, the truly great action horror to come from the genre. That is, until Cregger’s Resident Evil redeemed action horror with one taut, terrifying 95-minute thrill ride. Anchored by a superb turn from Do Revenge’s Austin Abrams, recently seen in Cregger’s 2025 masterpiece Weapons, Resident Evil has a simple plot that follows Abrams's overworked courier Bryan’s late-night run to Racoon City General. Bryan’s attempts to ferry a vital package to the hospital soon fall into disarray when he drives into a woman on a snowy mountain road, and everything goes to Hell soon after. With a tight runtime, a simple story, and lots of self-aware humor, as well as a few genuinely jaw-dropping shocks, 2026’s Resident Evil is proof that action horror can work as a genre when handled correctly. Although the beloved Mummy movies of the ‘90s are often cited as an example of great action horror, comparing these hits to 2026's Resident Evil proves that they are really closer to action adventure movies in the vein of Indiana Jones than true horror. Resident Evil Proves Action Horror Can Work Credit: MovieStillsDB Meanwhile, almost every movie in the broader action horror canon failed to nail the seemingly simple formula of Cregger’s hit reboot. Thirteen Ghosts, Ghosts of Mars, Daybreakers, Priest, the Underworld movies, the Alien Vs Predator movies, World War Z, and earlier video game adaptations like Doom, Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead, and, of course, all the original Resident Evil movies were all missing some of the elements that made 2026’s Resident Evil a hit with critics and viewers alike. A $108 million opening weekend is superb for any horror movie, even if Resident Evil’s $75 million budget was substantially larger than the $38 million budget of Weapons. However, it’s the stellar Rotten Tomatoes critical rating of Resident Evil’s reboot that should really excite anyone who still believes in the potential of action horror movies. With an incredible 95% critical rating, not to mention a superb 86% audience rating from the video game franchise’s notoriously picky fan base, Cregger’s reboot is an unqualified success. Resident Evil’s reboot proves, after decades of directors fumbling the seemingly simple formula, that action and horror can be happy bedfellows. While shows like Van Helsing, The Last of Us, and Ash Vs. Evil Dead have already proven that action horror mashups have an easier time winning over critics on the small screen, Resident Evil’s massive commercial and critical acclaim offers an unambiguous example of this unexpectedly tricky mixture succeeding with aplomb. Resident Evil’s Success Could Make Action Horror A Multiplex Staple Again The reason that action horror movies often struggle is that action movies require a certain suspension of disbelief, while horror movies require viewers to buy into their fictional threats. If Brad Pitt’s World War Z protagonist is an almost indestructible action hero, then the movie’s zombies are nowhere near as scary as the Infected of 28 Days Later. After all, viewers can be sure Pitt’s character will survive. This is where Resident Evil’s 2026 reboot treads a tricky line successfully, since Abrams’ Bryan is both believably human and blessed with the unacknowledged superpowers of a typical video game hero. The protagonist of the reboot survives some ridiculously unlikely scrapes, but the movie’s high body count and the unexpected exits of some major names ensure that viewers are still never quite certain about who will or won’t survive Bryan’s night from Hell. Evil Dead Burn had already hinted at this with its action-heavy story, but Resident Evil is such a huge hit that it seems likely action horror will finally be able to make a mainstream return in the latter half of the 2020s. If this proves to be the case, filmmakers must learn the most important lesson from Cregger’s hit reboot. As fun as gunfights and car chases are, Resident Evil 2026’s high-octane action only works because its protagonist isn’t John Wick, but rather a relatable, human, and very much mortal audience stand-in. Release Date September 18, 2026 Runtime 90 Minutes Director Zach Cregger Writers Shay Hatten, Zach Cregger Producers Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, Miri Yoon, Robert Kulzer, Roy Lee, Zach Cregger, David Minkowski Cast