A revived version of 'Resident Evil'

Zach Cregger, the director of such respected horror films as Weapons and Barbarians, has grabbed the Resident Evil reins. Cregger's fans may wonder why a director known for giving horror a comic twist would take on a franchise that has its supporters but hasn't garnered much critical favor. Working from a screenplay he wrote with Shane Hatten, Cregger acknowledges the series' video-game origins, presenting the movie's unlikely main character with escalating challenges. That may sound familiar, but Cregger embraces the task with an emphatic boldness that limits references to the previous movies, staking a fresh claim in the blood-splattered literature of survival horror. Austin Abrams, who appeared in Weapons, plays Bryan, a delivery man who transports organs to hospitals for donation surgeries. Early on, Bryan has trouble getting anyone from a hospital to sign for one of his deliveries, a suggestion that frustration is part of his daily life. Supposedly done for the day, Bryan accepts…