Where Else You Might Know The Welcome To Raccoon City Zombies From

Before Netflix's reboot series Resident Evil set the internet on fire, director Johannes Roberts crafted an alternate take on the beloved video game. With "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City," Roberts ignored Paul W.S. Anderson's popular film series adaptation and took the story back to its roots — focusing on Shinji Mikami's groundbreaking survival horror tone in "Resident Evil" and "Resident Evil 2." Roberts has described his film as a love letter to the games, as his film chronicles the last days of the fictional Raccoon City. Once a booming company town, the declining town suffers a devastating outbreak of the T-virus — thanks to the Umbrella Company — that turns its residents into cannibalistic zombies.

Roberts' protagonists, the S.T.A.R.S. Team, are directly inspired by playable characters from the video games, including Claire Redfield (Kaya Scodelario), her brother Chris (Robbie Amell), Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen), Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper), and Leon S. Kennedy (Avan Jogia). "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" is filled with memorable monsters. From the shrouded girl who claims to be from "below" to the monstrous Birkin-like creature that haunts the film's final frames. There is a plethora of zombies haunting the streets of Raccoon City, many with some familiar faces. Let's round up all the sub-human monsters and figure out why they look so recognizably human — even in their zombified form.

The town of Raccoon City may be on the decline, but it's still home to families. Lisa Trevor is not the only child to fall victim to the Umbrella Corporation's carelessness. After breaking into her brother's house, Claire sees a sickly young boy (Nathaniel McParland) staring at her from the window of the house next door. Concerned, she enters the seemingly abandoned home and finds the boy hiding under a table. Claire is too late to help him, as the T-virus (in the town's water supply) infected him. The boy tries to warn Claire that she needs help. Moments later, a sickly woman (Stephanie Hawkins) smashes through the house and rushes to attack Claire.

Sharp-eyed viewers will recognize McParland from the sci-fi series "The Expanse." The Canadian actor plays Chike, an orphan Belter-child from Ganymede. Portraying another sickly child, Chike is a harbinger of the Green Blindness that will soon spread through First Landing. Though not as devastating as Raccoon City's T-virus, Chike is the first to experience blurry vision followed by a dominant green hue and then total blindness. McParland is also in Netflix's short film "Forgive Us Our Trespasses," showcasing children with disabilities becoming targets for Nazi hunters.

We meet Claire as she's hitchhiking to Raccoon City. She's been picked up by a nefarious trucker (Pat Thornton) and has dozed off in the passenger seat. While kind enough to offer Claire a ride, the trucker tries to sexually assault her. In the process, he runs over a woman on the road. Fortunately, she shuffles into the woods — the first of many zombies we meet in the ill-fated city. Thinking he's gotten away with his crime, the trucker doesn't notice his dog eating the gore the woman left behind. Later, he's infected by his faithful companion before meeting an awful fate at the Raccoon City Police Department.

This isn't Thornton's first time playing a controversial character. After starring in the short-lived sci-fi sketch show "Hotbox," Thornton played Mayor Tom Hogg in "Filth City." Loosely based on the life of Rob Ford, the Canadian film follows a crack-addicted mayor in his bid for reelection. The late Ford's brother, Councilman Doug Ford, was disgusted by the film. He accused creator Andy King of exploiting his late brother's illness and warned King about crossing the street while he drives. Though he hasn't mentioned Thornton, the two films contain eerie parallels involving vehicular violence.

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There's no doubt that the zombies of Raccoon City are terrifying. But adding to the horror is how distinctly familiar they feel. Inspired by real-life victims of radiation sickness, Roberts intentionally gives his zombies a heartbreaking ere of humanity. Several of the once-human cannibals roaming the Spencer Mansion got their names from 1986's Chernobyl Disaster – when a nuclear reactor exploded, releasing radioactive materials into what was then known as the U.S.S.R. and surrounding parts of Europe. Chernobyl Zombies #1 (Kalie Hunter) and #2 (Andrea Ciacci) were Raccoon City Residents before an outbreak of the T-virus plunged their dying town into an apocalyptic nightmare. They now stalk the Arklay Mountains indiscriminately, attacking anyone who crosses their path.

Stunt workers Hunter and Ciacci have previously worked together under less horrific circumstances. They are interpretive dancers in the Amazon Studios revival of the Canadian comedy sketch show "The Kids in the Hall." Hunter also appears as a mannequin in Netflix's "Locke & Key” and Ciacci is a dancer in FX's hilarious "What We Do in the Shadows."

Jason Lee Bell portrays two victims of the T-virus. He joins MacCallum as Dining Hall Chernobyl Zombie #2 and stars as a Raccoon City citizen named Evan. A former Umbrella employee, Evan drinks contaminated water and turns into a zombie. During a confrontation, another zombified employee tore his lips off — earning him the nickname "Lipless Zombie."

Bell has an impressive career as a stunt performer, accumulating over 50 on-screen credits in eleven years. He's appeared in high-profile television shows like "The Handmaid's Tale" and "Station Eleven." He's also previously shared the screen with two of his "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" co-stars — Nathan Dales in "Letterkenny" and Tom Hopper in "The Umbrella Academy." Many of his credits include serving as the stunt double for actors like Gabriel Macht of "Suits," Steven Strait of "The Expanse," and Kyle Chandler in "The Mayor of Kingstown." Bell also doubles for Kyle Mac as an exploding man in the ultra-gory Prime Video series "The Boys."

The halls of the Spencer Mansion are full of undead cannibals searching for their next meal. One of these hungry beasts, credited as "Zombie," is played by Aleks Alifirenko Jr. The New Jersey native is a martial artist, boxer, and UFC fighter. No stranger to the supernatural realm, Alifirenko Jr. plays himself in the series "Parahunters." As a ghost hunter, he wanders the cemeteries of Savannah, Georgia, searching for beings like the zombie he portrays in the "Resident Evil" film franchise.

Alifirenko Jr. has also appeared in many high-profile action and horror franchises. He plays another zombie roaming a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas in Zack Snyder's "Army of the Dead." In Mike P. Nelson's "Wrong Turn" reboot, he plays a different kind of mindless killer — a cult member and Foundation Citizen propagating a primitive utopia in the rural mountains of West Virginia. He is one of the many neighbors hunting the legendary Michael Myers in "Halloween Kills," and he appears as a tourist in "Jurassic World: Dominion." Alifirenko Jr. has entered the Marvel Universe with an upcoming role as a warrior in "Wakanda Forever," the highly anticipated sequel to "Black Panther." With such an impressive resume, we will likely see the stunt performer wandering many cinematic halls in the years to come.

Another actor performing as zombies and humans in "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" is Alex Armbruster. The Canadian extreme sports enthusiast serves as the stunt double for Avan Jogia and portrays one of the most revolutionary creatures in the horror gaming world. The Crimson Head Zombie is a particular subset of undead cannibals. After a player kills a zombie, this iteration of the monster resurrects with a distinctive red appearance. Crimson Head Zombies also have long, sharp claws and can move at faster speeds than their infected counterparts.

When not portraying a speedy undead cannibal, Armbruster is busy doing stunts elsewhere in the horror realm. He's appeared in "It: Chapter Two," 2015's "Poltergeist," Kimberly Peirce's "Carrie," "Jigsaw," and the 2022's reimagining of Stephen King's "Firestarter." He's also no stranger to Hannibal Lecter's world, appearing in the CBS series "Clarice" and serving as Hugh Dancy's stunt double on "Hannibal."