10 More Horror Movies Way Darker Than Advertised

Resident Evil: Apocalypse arrived hot on the heels just two years after Paul WS Anderson's first foray into the video game world, with a new director (Alexander Witt) and at least a couple of the same old faces - but not in quite the same guise. And, of all the sequels, this one packs the biggest gut punch, and winds up being super dark.

Throughout the film, apocalypse survivor Alice (Milla Jovovich) is stalked by the unrelenting Nemesis (Matthew G Taylor), a leather-faced mutant beast whose bulk and brutality are matched by its near invulnerability. But while we turn up for a raucous video game adaptation, with plenty of big monsters and action sequences, we're hit by something a bit more sinister.

True to the monster from the games, Nemesis has an array of weapons and a brutal combat style that inspire genuine fear every time he shows up on screen, and yet the movie’s most shocking moment has nothing to do with his present actions or what he’s capable of, but where he came from. Turns out Nemesis is Alice's friend Matt (Eric Mabius) from the first film, and we are treated to a flashback that shows his infection, mutation and modifications at the Umbrella Corporation, who sculpted him out of his humanity and into a Cenobite on steroids. Yeesh.

Not one of us is prepared for such a tragic and diabolical twist, least not one delivered so severely, combined with the gory dissection of a presumed safely-dead character.