Oct. 18, 2026
Countdown To Halloween! Zombie Horror Pick #1:“Resident Evil”
Apple Podcasts 
Spotify 
Castro 
RSS Feed Who doesn’t love a good zombie movie to get you in the Halloween spirit? Today, we are listing our favorite zombie horror films ranging from a “zom/com” to a war themed zombie movie to get you ready for October 31. Every weekend we are counting down to Halloween, giving you our top recommendations for guaranteed horror movie hits. There are so many sub-genres in the horror movie category, each Saturday and Sunday we’ll highlight our top movies within that category.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Sunday, October 18th. And our number one recommendation for zombie horror movie is one Rogues and I really debated about. Because we don't usually like to give you recommendations from new movies. And this one is brand spanking new. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. We like to do kind of the deep cuts. Maybe stuff that's not on your radar.
00:00:30
Speaker 2: Um.
00:00:32
Speaker 1: I don't know. This one did well at the box office very recently, so this might be on a lot of people's radar.
00:00:38
Speaker 2: Well, and the reason why I think actually it's perfect for this to be our number one zombie horror movie recommendation, because it's still in the theaters. And so, yes, I think you can stream it if you have the Fandango at Home app, which a lot of people do, so you can buy it. But you can still see this in the theaters, and I know this because... My daughter actually just two nights ago, three nights ago upon this recording saw it and loved it, went to the theater and just was raving about it. So I think that's cool. Yeah, Annalise just saw it. So I think it's cool if you so choose. You got a random Wednesday afternoon or Thursday night, whatever. You can still see this in the theaters and we would highly recommend. I think it's fine at home too, but it's cool to see this on the big screen. Run.
00:01:22
Speaker 1: Don't walk. To see this movie, grab one friend. to go with to see this movie and yes go catch it in theaters right now if you can while it's still.
00:01:34
Speaker 2: There resident evil that is what we're talking about and again this one was a surprise to me because i hadn't really watched the other iterations of this franchise namely because it's based off of a video game and for me as a girl i'm just saying maybe i'm generalizing myself here but just not that I'm not like a gamer person. So I was like not ever seeing the resident evil synopsis and thinking, Hmm, that's a horror movie I might like. Well, boy, was I wrong. This movie was fantastic.
00:02:04
Speaker 1: It's fantastic because of the theme, of course. It's carried the same through line of storyline of all these movies. How many have there been? There's been a bunch.
00:02:12
Speaker 2: There might have been five or six. There's a significant amount to the point where now I do want to go back and watch some of these because I loved this one so much.
00:02:19
Speaker 1: So the theme is there, right? Zombies and what's going on. But Robes, this one, and we'll talk about him more. This dude pulls off this movie... I don't want to say I'm not taking away from anybody else, but there is one guy that you're following Robes and he puts on a hell of a performance. Yes.
00:02:40
Speaker 2: His name is Austin Abrams. He is also recently has been in the movie Weapons. So you if you love that movie, he's prominently he's in that one as well. But he is this movie. He makes this movie. His character, his acting, he's an unlikely hero. And you're rooting for him the whole time.
00:02:59
Speaker 1: And he also, we should mention, is in theaters right now in another major movie. He's the guy that gets swallowed by the whale in The Whale Fall. Yeah, Whale Fall. That movie that's just hitting theaters. He's in that.
00:03:13
Speaker 2: Robes.
00:03:15
Speaker 1: To get cast in two movies like this where he really is, you have to love this guy to watch this movie. And he has to pull off so much of the humor, the humanity in the movie he has to carry. He is so impressive.
00:03:30
Speaker 2: There's a scene in the car. When you watch this, just remember when you see the scene in the car, we were laughing out loud. The synopsis, packing unforgettable scares into a sleek runtime while Austin Abrams crack comedic timing provides crucial levity. Zack Kreger's Resident Evil is a propulsive tribute to the pleasure and terror of playing a truly spooky video game. That is, I mean, I can't even describe. how great this movie is. It re and Zach Cherry, I looked him up because he is kind of the, he plays next to Austin Abrams. He's in there a little bit, but he is a comedian by trade. He has a lot of credits, but he plays off of Austin Abrams. So, well, that's the car scene. Um, they're the two of them in the car together, but it's almost like, wait, am I watching a zombie horror movie or am I watching a comedy? And it, but it's not like, It's not silly. It's smart. It's funny. There's really good comedic timing and there's quick snippets. And then you'll have sheer terror and horror and jump scares in the next second. So it's just so good.
00:04:37
Speaker 1: Hit the theme of the storyline with his girlfriend he's trying to get to.
00:04:50
Speaker 2: Oh, my God.
00:04:51
Speaker 1: That's funny the whole time. It's so good.
00:04:53
Speaker 2: And the director, as we just mentioned in the synopsis, Zach Kreger, that name should be familiar to most horror movie fans because he's had some crazy hits in the last few years. Companion got a 92 score on Rotten Tomatoes. Weapons, which got a 93 score. And Barbarian, which got a 93 score. Those are his last three horror movies. They have all been crazy box office successes and loved by critics and audiences alike.
00:05:19
Speaker 1: He's one of those, not to the level of Christopher Nolan, but there are certain directors who have fans that just follow him.
00:05:28
Speaker 2: Sam Raimi, like there are certainly those.
00:05:31
Speaker 1: But Rob, there are just a handful. But in the horror genre, this guy, you say his name, you folks will line up for whatever he's doing.
00:05:40
Speaker 2: And there's a reason to line up for this one. This one is great. The runtime is an hour 34.
00:05:44
Speaker 1: Perfect.
00:05:45
Speaker 2: Perfect time. I wonder if they know this and they tell their editors... Get as close to an hour 30 as you can.
00:05:51
Speaker 1: I wonder.
00:05:52
Speaker 2: I wonder because it does seem horror movies specifically hit that exact runtime almost every time. It's rare you have one.
00:06:01
Speaker 1: The good ones do.
00:06:02
Speaker 2: They don't need more than an hour 30 to make it happen. Now, Rotten Tomatoes, we finally, finally, babe, we're getting validated. 96% from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes. That is hard to get. And then a 90% from the audience.
00:06:18
Speaker 1: That's a horror movie.
00:06:19
Speaker 2: People love this. In fact, they had so many good reviews. Rotten Tomatoes doesn't always do this. They have a critic consensus, which we usually read for you. They also have an audience consensus. So I'll read them both to you. The critic consensus, packing unforgettable scare. Oh, I already read that. Sorry. That was, you know what? I read the critics. I read that for the synopsis. Wow. That was fun for me. The audience consensus, Zack Kreger's Resident Evil capitalizes on the thrills of the game, delivering a gruesome, twistedly funny addition to the saga with a relatable hero in Austin Abrams. It's funny, Austin Abrams' name is mentioned in almost all of the reviews.
00:06:59
Speaker 1: He is worth the watch, even if you don't like horror movies. His performance is worth going along for. This... I wasn't really wanting to see the whale fall movie until I saw, oh, that's him that's in it? He makes me want to watch it. I'm claustrophobic. I don't know if I can watch it. That's a tough one. Whale fall.
00:07:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I'm interested. I haven't seen the reviews for that yet.
00:07:21
Speaker 1: I'm curious.
00:07:22
Speaker 2: We need to look and see. That's out this weekend as we're recording this. So that is something we will keep in mind. Now, can I actually read the actual synopsis since I messed that up? From the mind of visionary filmmaker Zach Kreger comes a thrilling and terrifying reinvention of the Resident Evil franchise. In an all-new story, Resident Evil follows Brian, who's played by Austin Abrams, a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos. And it is funny because he's trying to get this... You think it's like... You don't know if it's a heart or a liver... or whatever it is, but it's some sort of medical thing. He thinks that he's trying to get to someone. And yes, his girlfriend constantly being annoyed with him for not coming home is hilarious while he's like literally fighting for his life. He's worried about his relationship. Isn't that true, Bo? Isn't that so relatable?
00:08:17
Speaker 1: Hey, love, man. Love will get you home.
00:08:21
Speaker 2: All right. When we come back, we're going to tell you, yes, where you can watch it. We kind of already gave that away. And why this is a guaranteed horror hit. Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ. We are finally at our number one recommendation for zombie horror as we Head into Halloween, and this one, yes, you can see it in the theaters, Resident Evil, and you can stream it. I believe you can pay for it always if you want to. I'm sure that's like, what, $ 24. 99 usually? You refuse. It's a constant battle in our house, but you just, on principle, refuse to rent or buy a movie.
00:09:05
Speaker 1: Sweetheart, we have every streaming service. We were just talking about this. All that stuff's available. There are literally thousands of things to watch. Why are we paying?
00:09:17
Speaker 2: Because sometimes you really, really, really want to watch this. Like, okay, if Resident Evil, if we had missed it in the theaters and we didn't have a show time, a play time that would work for us, would you say, you know what? Let's pop some popcorn here at home and let's buy or rent the movie and we watch it on our couch.
00:09:33
Speaker 1: See, now that's different. That's a brand new movie that's out.
00:09:36
Speaker 2: Oh, okay.
00:09:37
Speaker 1: What drives me crazy is when you want to watch something from 2014 that costs $ 1. 99. No, you will not. Oh, my goodness.
00:09:46
Speaker 2: All right. So this was fun. And you know what? I think at the end, a little bit, you got the video game thing. But I think that's important to point out because I think that, for me, as a woman, that would have been the biggest turn off like ugh a video game horror movie really am I I'm too old to be watching this stuff there really you didn't even sense the video game part of it at all there was a little bit of a nod to it at the end but not much.
00:10:09
Speaker 1: Yes good for you to honor those hardcore gamer fans and game players have been with this game for a long time I thought that was cool to do so, even though it wasn't my thing and I didn't totally get it. Exactly.
00:10:22
Speaker 2: And I thought it was cool to make that nod to the folks who are diehard Resident Evil fans and have a certain expectation. I'm hoping because everyone, from the critics' standpoint and just everyone who's seen it, This is a new interpretation, a new basically a new way of telling this Resident Evil story. And so there's a lot of hope out there because of the success, because of the critical acclaim that this will be the first in another new series of these types of movies, Resident Evil.
00:10:50
Speaker 1: I'm on board. I'm completely on board. Are they going to? Let him have the franchise now?
00:10:56
Speaker 2: They would have to. I think he'd have to agree to it. It would have to be his brainchild because he delivered in every way. So the reason why this is a guaranteed Halloween horror hit, it is truly the perfect balance of funny, comedy, laugh out loud funny, and scream out loud scary. Those two things are combined in such a brilliant way. I just, I love when my senses are thrown, like, wait, I was just laughing. And now I I'm like, so scared. I'm like, my heart's pounding. How did he manage to do that? And I say, he, everyone involved in the film, I mean, from Craig or to the actors, like the, it was just so well executed. Yeah.
00:11:40
Speaker 1: And those funny moments, this isn't a silly movie. It doesn't have a, it doesn't feel comedic, even though there are these just unbelievable moments. Well, yeah, and the way it's shot, it's dark. Right? Is there ever daytime in this movie?
00:11:56
Speaker 2: No, it's always dark. It's nighttime. I mean, the only light is when he's in the hospital trying to pick up.
00:12:02
Speaker 1: But even those are like grimy. It's a cool looking movie as well.
00:12:07
Speaker 2: It is. And I think this is a good way. Critics know what they're doing. And I love the way this one critic summed up this movie. This movie is wickedly funny and disgustingly perverted. It will have you giggling as you jump out of your seat. I thought that was the perfect way to put this movie. So yes, you began this episode saying, run, don't walk to the theaters to see this movie. That's how we'll end it. Please, everyone, we urge you, if you just love an action-packed movie with a lot of comedy, some heart, and a lot of scares, this is absolutely your movie. So with that, everyone, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach, alongside TJ Holmes. We will talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Sunday, October 18th. And our number one recommendation for zombie horror movie is one Rogues and I really debated about. Because we don't usually like to give you recommendations from new movies. And this one is brand spanking new. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. We like to do kind of the deep cuts. Maybe stuff that's not on your radar.
00:00:30
Speaker 2: Um.
00:00:32
Speaker 1: I don't know. This one did well at the box office very recently, so this might be on a lot of people's radar.
00:00:38
Speaker 2: Well, and the reason why I think actually it's perfect for this to be our number one zombie horror movie recommendation, because it's still in the theaters. And so, yes, I think you can stream it if you have the Fandango at Home app, which a lot of people do, so you can buy it. But you can still see this in the theaters, and I know this because... My daughter actually just two nights ago, three nights ago upon this recording saw it and loved it, went to the theater and just was raving about it. So I think that's cool. Yeah, Annalise just saw it. So I think it's cool if you so choose. You got a random Wednesday afternoon or Thursday night, whatever. You can still see this in the theaters and we would highly recommend. I think it's fine at home too, but it's cool to see this on the big screen. Run.
00:01:22
Speaker 1: Don't walk. To see this movie, grab one friend. to go with to see this movie and yes go catch it in theaters right now if you can while it's still.
00:01:34
Speaker 2: There resident evil that is what we're talking about and again this one was a surprise to me because i hadn't really watched the other iterations of this franchise namely because it's based off of a video game and for me as a girl i'm just saying maybe i'm generalizing myself here but just not that I'm not like a gamer person. So I was like not ever seeing the resident evil synopsis and thinking, Hmm, that's a horror movie I might like. Well, boy, was I wrong. This movie was fantastic.
00:02:04
Speaker 1: It's fantastic because of the theme, of course. It's carried the same through line of storyline of all these movies. How many have there been? There's been a bunch.
00:02:12
Speaker 2: There might have been five or six. There's a significant amount to the point where now I do want to go back and watch some of these because I loved this one so much.
00:02:19
Speaker 1: So the theme is there, right? Zombies and what's going on. But Robes, this one, and we'll talk about him more. This dude pulls off this movie... I don't want to say I'm not taking away from anybody else, but there is one guy that you're following Robes and he puts on a hell of a performance. Yes.
00:02:40
Speaker 2: His name is Austin Abrams. He is also recently has been in the movie Weapons. So you if you love that movie, he's prominently he's in that one as well. But he is this movie. He makes this movie. His character, his acting, he's an unlikely hero. And you're rooting for him the whole time.
00:02:59
Speaker 1: And he also, we should mention, is in theaters right now in another major movie. He's the guy that gets swallowed by the whale in The Whale Fall. Yeah, Whale Fall. That movie that's just hitting theaters. He's in that.
00:03:13
Speaker 2: Robes.
00:03:15
Speaker 1: To get cast in two movies like this where he really is, you have to love this guy to watch this movie. And he has to pull off so much of the humor, the humanity in the movie he has to carry. He is so impressive.
00:03:30
Speaker 2: There's a scene in the car. When you watch this, just remember when you see the scene in the car, we were laughing out loud. The synopsis, packing unforgettable scares into a sleek runtime while Austin Abrams crack comedic timing provides crucial levity. Zack Kreger's Resident Evil is a propulsive tribute to the pleasure and terror of playing a truly spooky video game. That is, I mean, I can't even describe. how great this movie is. It re and Zach Cherry, I looked him up because he is kind of the, he plays next to Austin Abrams. He's in there a little bit, but he is a comedian by trade. He has a lot of credits, but he plays off of Austin Abrams. So, well, that's the car scene. Um, they're the two of them in the car together, but it's almost like, wait, am I watching a zombie horror movie or am I watching a comedy? And it, but it's not like, It's not silly. It's smart. It's funny. There's really good comedic timing and there's quick snippets. And then you'll have sheer terror and horror and jump scares in the next second. So it's just so good.
00:04:37
Speaker 1: Hit the theme of the storyline with his girlfriend he's trying to get to.
00:04:50
Speaker 2: Oh, my God.
00:04:51
Speaker 1: That's funny the whole time. It's so good.
00:04:53
Speaker 2: And the director, as we just mentioned in the synopsis, Zach Kreger, that name should be familiar to most horror movie fans because he's had some crazy hits in the last few years. Companion got a 92 score on Rotten Tomatoes. Weapons, which got a 93 score. And Barbarian, which got a 93 score. Those are his last three horror movies. They have all been crazy box office successes and loved by critics and audiences alike.
00:05:19
Speaker 1: He's one of those, not to the level of Christopher Nolan, but there are certain directors who have fans that just follow him.
00:05:28
Speaker 2: Sam Raimi, like there are certainly those.
00:05:31
Speaker 1: But Rob, there are just a handful. But in the horror genre, this guy, you say his name, you folks will line up for whatever he's doing.
00:05:40
Speaker 2: And there's a reason to line up for this one. This one is great. The runtime is an hour 34.
00:05:44
Speaker 1: Perfect.
00:05:45
Speaker 2: Perfect time. I wonder if they know this and they tell their editors... Get as close to an hour 30 as you can.
00:05:51
Speaker 1: I wonder.
00:05:52
Speaker 2: I wonder because it does seem horror movies specifically hit that exact runtime almost every time. It's rare you have one.
00:06:01
Speaker 1: The good ones do.
00:06:02
Speaker 2: They don't need more than an hour 30 to make it happen. Now, Rotten Tomatoes, we finally, finally, babe, we're getting validated. 96% from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes. That is hard to get. And then a 90% from the audience.
00:06:18
Speaker 1: That's a horror movie.
00:06:19
Speaker 2: People love this. In fact, they had so many good reviews. Rotten Tomatoes doesn't always do this. They have a critic consensus, which we usually read for you. They also have an audience consensus. So I'll read them both to you. The critic consensus, packing unforgettable scare. Oh, I already read that. Sorry. That was, you know what? I read the critics. I read that for the synopsis. Wow. That was fun for me. The audience consensus, Zack Kreger's Resident Evil capitalizes on the thrills of the game, delivering a gruesome, twistedly funny addition to the saga with a relatable hero in Austin Abrams. It's funny, Austin Abrams' name is mentioned in almost all of the reviews.
00:06:59
Speaker 1: He is worth the watch, even if you don't like horror movies. His performance is worth going along for. This... I wasn't really wanting to see the whale fall movie until I saw, oh, that's him that's in it? He makes me want to watch it. I'm claustrophobic. I don't know if I can watch it. That's a tough one. Whale fall.
00:07:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I'm interested. I haven't seen the reviews for that yet.
00:07:21
Speaker 1: I'm curious.
00:07:22
Speaker 2: We need to look and see. That's out this weekend as we're recording this. So that is something we will keep in mind. Now, can I actually read the actual synopsis since I messed that up? From the mind of visionary filmmaker Zach Kreger comes a thrilling and terrifying reinvention of the Resident Evil franchise. In an all-new story, Resident Evil follows Brian, who's played by Austin Abrams, a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos. And it is funny because he's trying to get this... You think it's like... You don't know if it's a heart or a liver... or whatever it is, but it's some sort of medical thing. He thinks that he's trying to get to someone. And yes, his girlfriend constantly being annoyed with him for not coming home is hilarious while he's like literally fighting for his life. He's worried about his relationship. Isn't that true, Bo? Isn't that so relatable?
00:08:17
Speaker 1: Hey, love, man. Love will get you home.
00:08:21
Speaker 2: All right. When we come back, we're going to tell you, yes, where you can watch it. We kind of already gave that away. And why this is a guaranteed horror hit. Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ. We are finally at our number one recommendation for zombie horror as we Head into Halloween, and this one, yes, you can see it in the theaters, Resident Evil, and you can stream it. I believe you can pay for it always if you want to. I'm sure that's like, what, $ 24. 99 usually? You refuse. It's a constant battle in our house, but you just, on principle, refuse to rent or buy a movie.
00:09:05
Speaker 1: Sweetheart, we have every streaming service. We were just talking about this. All that stuff's available. There are literally thousands of things to watch. Why are we paying?
00:09:17
Speaker 2: Because sometimes you really, really, really want to watch this. Like, okay, if Resident Evil, if we had missed it in the theaters and we didn't have a show time, a play time that would work for us, would you say, you know what? Let's pop some popcorn here at home and let's buy or rent the movie and we watch it on our couch.
00:09:33
Speaker 1: See, now that's different. That's a brand new movie that's out.
00:09:36
Speaker 2: Oh, okay.
00:09:37
Speaker 1: What drives me crazy is when you want to watch something from 2014 that costs $ 1. 99. No, you will not. Oh, my goodness.
00:09:46
Speaker 2: All right. So this was fun. And you know what? I think at the end, a little bit, you got the video game thing. But I think that's important to point out because I think that, for me, as a woman, that would have been the biggest turn off like ugh a video game horror movie really am I I'm too old to be watching this stuff there really you didn't even sense the video game part of it at all there was a little bit of a nod to it at the end but not much.
00:10:09
Speaker 1: Yes good for you to honor those hardcore gamer fans and game players have been with this game for a long time I thought that was cool to do so, even though it wasn't my thing and I didn't totally get it. Exactly.
00:10:22
Speaker 2: And I thought it was cool to make that nod to the folks who are diehard Resident Evil fans and have a certain expectation. I'm hoping because everyone, from the critics' standpoint and just everyone who's seen it, This is a new interpretation, a new basically a new way of telling this Resident Evil story. And so there's a lot of hope out there because of the success, because of the critical acclaim that this will be the first in another new series of these types of movies, Resident Evil.
00:10:50
Speaker 1: I'm on board. I'm completely on board. Are they going to? Let him have the franchise now?
00:10:56
Speaker 2: They would have to. I think he'd have to agree to it. It would have to be his brainchild because he delivered in every way. So the reason why this is a guaranteed Halloween horror hit, it is truly the perfect balance of funny, comedy, laugh out loud funny, and scream out loud scary. Those two things are combined in such a brilliant way. I just, I love when my senses are thrown, like, wait, I was just laughing. And now I I'm like, so scared. I'm like, my heart's pounding. How did he manage to do that? And I say, he, everyone involved in the film, I mean, from Craig or to the actors, like the, it was just so well executed. Yeah.
00:11:40
Speaker 1: And those funny moments, this isn't a silly movie. It doesn't have a, it doesn't feel comedic, even though there are these just unbelievable moments. Well, yeah, and the way it's shot, it's dark. Right? Is there ever daytime in this movie?
00:11:56
Speaker 2: No, it's always dark. It's nighttime. I mean, the only light is when he's in the hospital trying to pick up.
00:12:02
Speaker 1: But even those are like grimy. It's a cool looking movie as well.
00:12:07
Speaker 2: It is. And I think this is a good way. Critics know what they're doing. And I love the way this one critic summed up this movie. This movie is wickedly funny and disgustingly perverted. It will have you giggling as you jump out of your seat. I thought that was the perfect way to put this movie. So yes, you began this episode saying, run, don't walk to the theaters to see this movie. That's how we'll end it. Please, everyone, we urge you, if you just love an action-packed movie with a lot of comedy, some heart, and a lot of scares, this is absolutely your movie. So with that, everyone, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach, alongside TJ Holmes. We will talk to you soon.