Movies
Michael Biehn Takes Over ‘Victim’ Directing Duties, Drops Out of ‘ChromeSkull’
Two odd pieces of news came together on the same day starting with a prediction (more like an observation) made by Chris Eggertsen after his visit to the set of The Victim. A press release confirms that star Michael Biehn (Terminator, Aliens, Grindhouse) has taken over directing duties on the film that also stars Ryan Honey (“ER,” Hallowed Ground), Jennifer Blanc (“Dark Angel,” “Party of Five”), Denny Kirkwood (Never Been Kissed, Groove), and Danielle Harris (Hatchet 2, Rob Zombie’s Halloween, Stake Land). The new endeavor had a small domino effect as Biehn was forced to drop out of Rob Hall’s slasher sequel ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2. He’ll be replaced by Owain Yeoman. Filming is currently underway on both indie productions.
Pictured: Michael Biehn on the set of VICTIM
Zach Cregger is no stranger to violent movies, with his first two at-bats in the horror genre yielding the films Barbarian and Weapons. But even those movies can’t compete with the level of violence on display in his next movie Resident Evil, he teases in a new chat.
Zach Cregger tells Empire Magazine that Resident Evil is “definitely the most violent thing I’ve done.” He teases, “You gotta go grotesque! I wanted to go all the way.”
“So it’s gnarly. It’s brutal,” Cregger continues. “A very bloody affair.”
He also tells Empire, “Fleshing out what [the Umbrella Corporation is] up to and how the T-virus works, that’s not what this movie is. This movie is about one dude’s journey on foot, fighting monsters. I don’t give a fuck about checking boxes. All I cared about was just telling a fun story. We step on the gas at about eight minutes in and never take our foot off the floor.”
Resident Evil opens in theaters and IMAX September 18 from Sony.
The film is being billed as “a thrilling — and terrifying — reinvention of the Resident Evil franchise” from the mind of visionary filmmaker Zach Cregger (Barbarian, Weapons).
Austin Abrams (Weapons) stars as Bryan, a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in a non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos.
Zach Cherry (“Severance”), Kali Reis (“True Detective: Night Country”), Paul Walter Hauser (“Black Bird”), and Johnno Wilson (“Twisted Metal”) round out the cast.