// THE VERGE — MODA & SOCIETÀ
Gaming’s biggest horror series are more vital than ever
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Resident Evil and Silent Hill are both thriving with new spins on survival horror.
Resident Evil and Silent Hill are both thriving with new spins on survival horror.
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For the third year in a row, I’ve been scared out of my wits by a new Silent Hill game. First it was the modern remake of Silent Hill 2, then the Japan-set spinoff Silent Hill F. Now I find myself slowly crawling through a quaint Scottish town in Silent Hill: Townfall, trying my best not to get brutally murdered by demonic creatures chasing me through the streets. It’s been a remarkable turnaround for a franchise that once seemed like it was on life support. And when you combine it with a strong run from Resident Evil across games and film, you have gaming’s two biggest horror franchises both at the height of their powers.
For Resident Evil, it’s been a steady buildup, but it really started with Resident Evil 7 nearly a decade ago. It jolted the series back to life with a first-person perspective that made its scares feel more visceral. Since then, Capcom has settled on an effective strategy of alternating between bottom-up remakes of classics like Resident Evil 4, and new spins on the formula, like the vampire-tinged Village. This has allowed the studio to be more experimental with the mainline titles; this year’s Requiem, for instance, was a bold attempt to merge two types of Resident Evil games together, mixing straight-up action with first-person terror.
Resident Evil has always had an uneven track record when it comes to adaptations, like the largely forgettable live-action Netflix series. But that may be changing. Last week a reboot of the film series premiered, called simply Resident Evil, helmed by Weapons director Zach Cregger. It explored the zombie franchise from a new viewpoint: Instead of following iconic characters like Leon or Claire, it was centered on a hapless delivery driver who served as a stand-in for a player who is terrible at survival horror games. Like the Exit 8 movie, Resident Evil explores its source material through the lens of the player. The result was equal parts hilarious and horrifying — there were scenes where gore dripped from ceilings, and a particularly terrifying long-limbed baby — and it also had the best box office opening in franchise history.