The cult classic film that inspired Resident Evil is finally available to watch for free

Sweet Home, a cult classic horror film you might not have heard of that inspired Resident Evil, is finally available to watch online.

Before Resident Evil, there was Sweet Home. Haven't heard of it? That's ok, cult classics are exactly that for a reason. Released in 1989, Sweet Home is a Japanese horror film directed by none other than acclaimed horror director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, best known for his works like Pulse, Cure, and Creepy. It follows a film crew visiting an old, abandoned mansion once inhabited by a famous artist, now haunted by ghosts. Up until now, there's been no easy way to watch it in high quality, but thanks to film preservation group Kineko Video, you can finally watch it subtitled in English and in 4K quality, completely for free.

Sweet Home (1989) [Full Film, Domesday Capture, Subbed]

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Here's the odd thing about Sweet Home, though: yes, it served as inspiration for Resident Evil, but not just because of the creepy mansion aspect. There was actually a video game released on the NES in the same year… developed by Capcom! In fact, Resident Evil was originally conceived as a remake of Sweet Home, with iconic video game make Shinji Mikami on directorial duties, and Tokuro Fujiwara - the director of the Sweet Home video game - serving as producer.

One of the wildest parts about the Sweet Home game is the fact it was an RPG, something you rarely see in the horror genre. Not only that, it was incredibly ahead of its time, utilising the classic BioShock move of diary logs and notes to further tell a story way before the PS3/ Xbox 360 game even released. Sweet Home is one of those incredibly influential titles that makes so many other games make a lot more sense once you know it exists.

The game, unsurprisingly, follows more or less the same plot as the film, though expands upon some of the story. If you fancy just a taste of it, though, you can watch it above.