Every Zach Cregger Horror Movie, Ranked (Including Resident Evil)

Famous horror author Robert Bloch ("Psycho") called horror and comedy "two sides of the same coin." They share similar mechanics; you use a setup and then a punchline to get a visceral emotional reaction from your audience, whether that reaction is a scream or a laugh. 

Several filmmakers have successfully blended the genres together, (Sam Raimi comes to mind), but the latest example is Zach Cregger, who once upon a time was a member of sketch comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know. Cregger's first directorial credit is the panned sex comedy "Miss March," which he co-directed and starred in alongside fellow troupe member Trevor Moore. It took over a decade to put Cregger back in the director's chair, and to say his movies since don't fit with "Miss March" or The Whitest Kids U' Know compilation film "The Civil War on Drugs" is understating it.

Cregger has become one of the most exciting horror filmmakers in Hollywood and, like Raimi, he's shown great skill at making audiences laugh and scream at the same time. He's also shown a keen eye as a horror producer, having helped produce sci-fi satire thriller "Companion." Cregger's horror rise has earned comparisons to Jordan Peele, who was most famous for the sketch comedy show "Key & Peele" before knocking the world's socks off in 2017 with "Get Out."

While Cregger hasn't delivered horror masterpieces on the level of Peele's "Get Out" or "Nope" quite yet, he has the potential to do so. His latest film, a loose adaptation of the beloved zombie video game series "Resident Evil," gives him a three-for-three track record. Here's a ranking of his three horror films so far.

Something has to be last, but "Resident Evil" placing third shouldn't be taken as a slight against it or dissuade you from seeing it. The movie follows hapless medical courier Bryan (Austin Abrams, who Zach Cregger fans might find familiar) as he takes a package into Raccoon City, just as the city becomes overrun with zombies.

The movie is almost a one-man show for Abrams, as Bryan's odyssey takes him through a frozen-over farmhouse to the sewers of Raccoon City to a hospital filled with the undead. Like anyone playing a "Resident Evil" game, he has to make do with whatever tools and resources he can scavenge. The film walks a thin tightrope of making Bryan a little dim but not completely incompetent; he's a slacker who clearly wasn't expecting to walk into a zombie apocalypse, but he adapts fairly quickly and lasts as long as someone like him probably could. Abrams is perfectly cast as this unexceptional, immature lead who must rise to the occasion if he wants to survive.

As /Film's Chris Evangelista noted in his review, "Resident Evil" is mean and lean ... almost too lean. Running about 90 minutes (which unfolds in almost real time, though this is never underlined as a storytelling gimmick), the movie never overstays its welcome. But there's not much meat on the bones of "Resident Evil" beyond being a scary thrill ride. It fulfills that goal with flying colors, but it's definitely Cregger's least ambitious or structurally unique horror movie to date.

Few movie twists have made my jaw drop like the ones in "Barbarian." Tess (Georgina Campbell) arrives one night at an Airbnb in Detroit and discovers that a strange man, Keith (Bill Skarsgård), is also staying there. Keith claims there was a double booking, and he goes out of his way to make Tess feel comfortable. But he seems a little too interested in her, not to mention the situation has already put her in survival mode.

You think you know what's going to happen in "Barbarian," and the movie knows that you think that you know. Except it turns out the threat in the house is not Keith. It's much more disturbing, and to say more would spoil it. 

While the first act focuses exclusively on Tess, "Barbarian" ultimately reveals itself to have a dual POV. The other one belongs to the man who owns the Airbnb, an actor named AJ (Justin Long) who has recently been "canceled" for sexually assaulting a co-star. "Detestable" is too mild a word for AJ, who enters the picture unsympathetic and passes up any opportunity thrown his way to change.

The twist in "Barbarian" is extra effective because of the casting. Skarsgård is best known as Pennywise the Dancing (and child-eating) Clown from "IT," while Long tends to play dorky everymen. Knowing Skarsgård's past roles helps put you in Tess' mindset; you can't help but be suspicious no matter how nice Keith acts. "Barbarian" puts the male members of its audience in the shoes women wear every day, not sure whether to trust any male stranger's intentions because you don't know for sure who the real threats are. Casting the harmless-looking Justin Long as the vile creep complements that message.

On ambition alone, "Weapons" would take first place among Zach Cregger's horror films. That it executes that ambition so well only cements that placement. "Weapons" begins with a crackerjack premise: One night, in a small Pennsylvania town, each member of a grade school class runs out of their houses, never to return. The movie explores how the whole community reacts to this inexplicable disappearance, from the missing class' teacher Justine (Julia Garner) to dogged father Archer (Josh Brolin).

"Weapons" employs a chapter-by-chapter structure, with each section shifting focus to a different character and peeling back one more layer of the story. Every actor handles themselves well as the lead of their own micro-story, and the puzzle structure feeds the movie's escalating tension and horror. While "Weapons" doesn't open with supernatural elements, the kids' disappearance is so inexplicable that you're primed to accept that as the movie begins introducing them.

Cregger has cited Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia" as his inspiration, which itself was inspired by Robert Altman's huge ensemble dramas, like "Nashville" and "Short Cuts." Except no Anderson or Altman movie ever had a wicked witch at the center.

Yes, while Aunt Gladys' (Amy Madigan) whole presence in the movie is a twist, she's undeniably become the most remembered part of "Weapons." Defying the Academy's general disinterest in horror films, Madigan even won Best Supporting Actress for her transformative part as Gladys. Let it also be known that /Film was putting forth Madigan-as-Gladys for an Oscar well before it looked like the idea of her being nominated, let alone winning, was a real possibility.