Zach Cregger Explains 80’s Film Influences on His ‘Resident Evil’

The horror genre has ruled the box office in 2026, and the next major horror title I’m looking forward to is Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil, with Austin Abrams set as Bryan, a medical courier. In a recent interview with MovieWeb, Cregger said he and Abrams built the character by comparing him to classic ’80s movie heroes, even when Bryan was not acting like a hero at all. In an interview with MovieWeb, Cregger said the pair often used Die Hard, Home Alone and Back to the Future as shorthand for how Bryan should react in a scene. He described Bryan as someone who is usually confused and scrambling, but who can still land a tough moment when the story calls for it. The director said, “Yeah, because they all kind of have, like, it’s kind of obvious how it works. We would huddle up, and it’d be a scene, [Austin Abrams] would be like, ‘Do you think I’m more like McLean [Die Hard] or McFly [Back to the Future] here?’ It’s like, you’re McFly here. Most of the movie you’re McFly. You’re just kind of like, I don’t know, I don’t know what to do. You know, like that’s your baseline. And every once in a while you get to do something badass, and you’re John McClane. And then a lot of times, you k...