RESIDENT EVIL

Resident Evil’s mutts spring PS1’s best jump scare

FORMAT PS1 / PUB CAPCOM / DEV CAPCOM / RELEASED 1996 / SCORE 9/10

Man’s best friend can be the worst. The hairy buggers will dry-hump anything in sight, eat their own weight in biscuits, and release bodily fumes so repugnant you’ll want to cleave your nose off with a scythe. Oh, and occasionally, the undead Doberman variant of canis familiaris smashes through windows, scaring the bejesus out of already-wary S.T.A.R.S. agents. Bad dogs! Heel!

The original Resident Evil’s Cerberus are the deadliest decomposing pooches you’ll ever meet. After chasing Jill and Chris inside the opulent and incredibly spooky Spencer Mansion, they sporadically pop up to nick vital keys or hone in on our heroes’ throats like toothy heat-seeking missiles. Where’s a harmless zombified kitty when you need one?

Their defining cameo occurs in the quiet confines of the L-Shaped Hallway. At first, this drab corridor seems unremarkable, aside from a choice in wallpaper that’s sooooo 1996. Then, as you wander through your claustrophobic surrounds, you notice a large windo… DEAR GOD WHERE DID THAT UNDEAD DOG COME FROM?!

Resi’s ‘dog bursts through window’ set-piece is the most wonderfully orchestrated PS1 jump scare of all time. There’s precisely zero build-up to the moment the Cerberus obliterates that pane, making its glass-shattering appearance even more nerve-shredding.

Cutely, in 2002’s REmake, Capcom even subtly tweaked the scare, replacing the pouncing pooch with a slight window crack. But when you enter the L-Shaped Hallway from the other side, doggy doom awaits. Clearly, you can teach a rotting mutt new tricks.