Resident Evil (2026)

“The Best RESIDENT EVIL Film?”

After its UK cinema run a short while ago, Sony are bringing out the latest film from director Zach Cregger (BARBARIAN, WEAPONS), and for a RESIDENT EVIL film, it’s surprisingly good. Prior to this the RESIDENT EVIL movie franchise consisted of seven films, plus a TV series, and had proven to be a considerable moneymaker for the Munich-based (but actually Danish in origin) Constantin Film. All this despite the films being only very loosely based on the video game that inspired them and a decidedly crazy, not to say confusing attitude, to plot logistics.

Well, Cregger’s film does away with all of that, delivering a more low-key approach while skimping not a jot on a plethora of disgusting-looking monsters. There’s no Alice (played by Milla Jovovich in six films) and the Umbrella Corporation is only mentioned in passing. Instead we get the story of courier Bryan (Austin Abrams) who we meet delivering an organ to a hospital for transplant. Is this actually how such things are done in US hospitals? One sincerely hopes not but given the current state of that nation it’s possible.

Bryan’s next job is to take an urgent specimen to a hospital in Raccoon City. He sets off at top speed down icy roads and almost straight away knocks down a barefoot woman who runs in front of his car. Somehow she’s still alive (well, after a fashion) and so he bundles her into his vehicle and sets off again for the hospital. And from there things get even more bizarre and monstrous.

It’s easy to see the inspiration of video game mechanics in RESIDENT EVIL but that doesn’t make it any less fun, nor do the CGI effects which in better days would have been physical. Just be assured that they are disgusting and gloopy and plentiful and with a refreshing lack of emphasis on zombies. The pacing slows a little on spots but for a 93 minute film Cregger gets it right an awful lot more than he gets it wrong, resulting in a film that is easily the most entertaining, suspenseful and, at times, genuinely funny RESIDENT EVIL film to grace our screens to date.

Zach Cregger’s RESIDENT EVIL is out now to buy or rent on Digital from Sony

Fargo 4K (1996)

        Arrow Films are releasing the Coen Brothers’ classic Oscar winning (for Frances McDormand and best original screenplay) crime thriller in a limited edition 4K UHD set that also includes a reversible sleeve and booklet with new writing on the film.

Jerry Lundegaard (a wonderfully twitchy William H Macy) works at a car showroom and is desperate for money to both finance a business venture and get him out of what is highly likely to turn into a serious case of fraud. He hires two men (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife (Kristin Rudrüd) and then ransom her, counting on her rich father Wade (Harve Presnell) to pay the ransom. 

To further complicate matters, Jerry has told his ‘henchmen’ that the ransom is to be $80 000 of which they will get half when in fact he plans to tell Wade it’s one million dollars. The kidnapping goes ahead but things take a turn for the murderous when the kidnappers are stopped by a traffic cop, and his subsequent killing is witnessed by a couple of passers-by who also have to be despatched. Local sheriff Marge Gunderson (McDormand) is called in and starts to work things out while the criminals get themselves into even more trouble all by themselves.

A film that’s set somewhere on the line joining comedy to thriller, with its position on that line being moved back and forth at the skilled whim of the Coens, FARGO deservedly has a big fan following thanks to a witty script, excellent performances, and marvellous cinematography which looks all the more impressive in Arrow’s 4K transfer where both the bleak, snow-covered Minnesota landscape and skeletal deciduous forests have never looked more vivid. 

Arrow’s disc ports over director of photography Roger Deakins’ commentary from the previous Blu-ray release. There’s also a new commentary from Alexandra Heller-Nicholas which begins by repeatedly referencing what one presumes is an acronym for an organisation, but unless the listener is already in the know they are left to remain ignorant as to what it actually is. She goes on to say that most fans of the film will already know all the juicy facts about it, so if you’re not that familiar with the film it’s probably worth watching all the other extras on here first before giving it a listen.

And those other extras include Minnesota Nice, a 28 minute archival making of, the electronic press kit that consists of a five minute featurette and five minutes of behind the scenes footage. There’s also an interview with Roger Deakins from the March 1996 edition of American Cinematographer, trailers, TV spots and an image gallery.

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen’s FARGO is out from Arrow Films on 4K in a limited edition UHD set on Monday 9th November 2026

Crawlers (2026)

“Arachnotastic Fun”

Horror films that are all about large numbers of normal-sized spiders wreaking havoc seem to have become popular again. First we had EVIL DEAD BURN director Sébastien Vanicek’s INFESTED aka VERMINES (2023) set in a French apartment block, while earlier this year TRIANGLE director Chris Smith’s new film SPIDER ISLAND premiered at Frightfest. Close behind it on the festival circuit has been CRAWLERS, originally shot under the title ARACHNID and now getting a digital release from Signature Entertainment with a DVD release to follow.

A large bearded wildlife enthusiast with what looks like a special interest in spiders judging by the number of framed specimens he has on the walls of his flat comes home one day with a large blister on his back. He drops down dead and the blister bursts, yielding hundreds of tiny spiders that start to get very big very fast. Exactly what they are eating to achieve this growth is never explained, but then it’s not that kind of film.

Meanwhile live-in building manager Serena (Matilda Lutz) is having the usual day dealing with leaky pipes, a horrible boss, and apartment tenants who do nothing but complain. Then she discovers the dead body and the building is placed in lockdown (“like that COVID”) says one character. And so we have a motley assortment of characters who find themselves having to fight off an increasingly massive horde of deadly spiders while trying to escape the building.

It’s easy to see why CRAWLERS has been a festival hit as, compared with a lot of festival fare, it stands out as being very competently directed (by Angel Gómez Hernández) and displays a wicked sense of humour in its attempt to depict as many gross-out human-spider interactions as possible during its 80 minute running time. Despite the similarity of location it's not a remake of INFESTED and while it’s as light in gruesome tone as SPIDER ISLAND it’s rather better than that. 

        Mathilda Lutz makes for a personable lead and is making something of a name for herself in the genre with Coralie Fargeat’s 2017 REVENGE, MAGPIE and the RED SONJA remake. The CGI spiders are very CGI indeed but there wouldn’t have been any other way to tell the story. While it’s no SNAKES ON A PLANE, CRAWLERS is fun, has a number of entertaining characters and plenty of horrible spider stuff, plus for those who might be interested the climax features Mathilda Lutz having to don a PVC full body suit (plus mask) that she finds in the apartment of a dominatrix, which is likely a first for any 'when animals attack' movie.

CRAWLERS is out on Digital from Signature Entertainment on Monday 9th November 2026 and DVD on Monday 7th December 2026

The Vampire Lestat (2026)

        Following its UK premiere on the BBC, the show that could equally be called Interview with the Vampire Part III (as it’s the follow on from those two excellent series), is getting a Blu-ray, DVD and Digital release from Acorn Media International.

After an opening sequence set in the future where some mysterious catastrophe has occurred we find ourselves in 2025. Lestat (Sam Reid) is now a rock star in the style of Jim Morrison, although his band isn’t selling out venues in the way he had hoped. Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian), the ‘author’ of the original Interview with Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) is now shooting a video documentary on Lestat, grabbing interviews where and when he can. These are frequently on tour buses but sometimes in a studio. Meanwhile Armand (Assad Zaman) has joined an addict’s support group. 

Lestat has agreed to the documentary because Molloy’s book Interview with the Vampire is now a bestseller. However, Lestat claims that much of what the book says about him is lies. The interviews allow us a greater insight into Lestat’s past, how he became a vampire, and especially his relationship with the undead Gabriella (Jennifer Ehle) and his involvement with the very first vampire Queen Akasha (Sheila Atim) aka the Queen of the Damned, which will be the title of the forthcoming Season Four.

The returning cast members are as excellent as ever, especially Reid who is completely believable as both a Rock God (or wannabe at least) and centuries-old vampire. Anderson is still here and he's still very good, but understandably the show is concentrating on Reid's character. But there’s something not quite right this time around - whether it’s the lack of the rich period look of the first two series, or the determination of the storytelling to be so fragmented with flashbacks within flashbacks that it ends up being a bit too clever for its own good, THE VAMPIRE LESTAT isn’t quite up to the quality of its predecessors. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, but you may find yourself a little less satisfied than with the previous offerings. Plus, things become seriously outrageous in a final episode that will have some loving it and purists likely hating it, so be warned.

Acorn’s Blu-ray set offers all seven episodes (which run between 45 - 55 minutes) spread over three discs, with a generous collection of extras. Key to the extras is a series called ‘After Dark’ which is essentially a post-show discussion with members of the cast (Reid, Anderson and others) and key creatives including ‘creator’ Rolin Jones and executive producer Mark Johnson, best viewed after each episode. Disc one also comes with an After Dark Preview Special (26 minutes) as well as post-show discussions for the first two episodes (25 and 33 minutes). Also on this disc are music videos (including a karaoke version of the song Long), Highlights of The Vampire Lestat live music performance (10 minutes), and the Vampire Lestat panel from 2025’s San Diego ComicCon featuring Reid, Anderson, Jones, Johnson, Bogosian and composer Daniel Hart.

Disc Two has three After Darks for episodes three, four and five (29, 26 and 34 minutes respectively) while Disc Three covers the final two episodes (27 and 33 minutes) as well as including a feature called Backstage Pass for all seven episodes, which are essentially 5-9 minute long featurettes. 

THE VAMPIRE LESTAT is out on DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital from Acorn Media International on Monday 2nd November 2026