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They did use CG; they just decided to use real actors and models for the monsters (a good choice) - but CG was then used to "refine" movements or to create a few of the less human creatures or the most extreme effects.
I agree with Bogart about the camera style and angles; he was not speaking of the angles in the "cinematic sequences", but of those that are commonly used merely to serve the gameplay, not to "communicate" something. A good director knows why he should use a camera movement instead than another, or why a medium shot is better than a long shot for a particular scene; while most horror movies are B-movies, the genre is often characterized by a well calculated usage of classic elements of the cinematographic language in order to guide the attention of the spectator, and in general to convey different emotional states, including fear or anxiety. Even those that can be considered the earliest horror movies - like German Expressionist movies of the early '20s, or the extraordinary Vampyr - were characterized by an extreme use of the camera, the scenery, and light and shadow to lure the spectator into their fantastic ghoulish world. Producers of American horror movies of the following decades (like the popular Frankenstein and Dracula movies) used the lesson of these early "art movies" to create commercial products; sometimes, the use of these techniques in these American movies was dull, some other times it was smart enough to create movies that entered the realm of popular culture.
Surprisingly, movies inspired by survival horror games - and videogame to movie adaptations in general, and movies that want to convey a "videogame feel" - seem to use way too often cinematographic techniques just to make the image look "cool" instead of meaningful. They do not invent new elements of the language, they just ignore, with a purpose (pleasing the average gamer, their "target audience"), the ABC of cinema. That's another reason that can make a person who hasn't played the game feel that the movie is "strange", "awkward", or completely idiotic. Of course, a fan of the original videogame has all the rights to like the movie (as some of you have mentioned these movies are made for the average gamer), but this doesn’t mean that from the point of view of a cinema enthusiast, these movies are often dangerous for the brain. And the heart. And don’t get me wrong – I enjoyed a lot of ugly movies. I mean, I grew up with Stallone and Schwarzenegger and a lot more awful, awful action flicks of the Eighties; but those were masterpieces compared to the amazing shit we are fed nowadays. So, while some of you have the right to say they liked the movie, some others can say they would sue Sony Pictures for tricking them into watching it.
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