Why is the voice acting in Resident Evil so bad?
The 1996 original is praised in the same reviews that laugh at it. Next Generation criticized the laughable dialogue and voice acting while scoring the game for its fear; GamePro called the storyline and cinematics mostly laughable and the game terrifying. Both halves of that verdict have a documented production story behind them.
HOW IT WAS MADE
Live actors in Japan, voices in a Tokyo studioThe live action sequences were filmed in Japan with American actors: Charlie Kraslavsky as Chris, Inez Jesionowski as Jill, Greg Smith as Barry, Linda as Rebecca, Eric Pirius as Wesker. The voices were recorded separately, at a studio in Tokyo, by a cast whose Jill is still credited as Unknown. Voice director Lynn Harris, who also played Rebecca, directed the performances toward camp, loosely on Dawn of the Dead, The Blob, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The B movie tone was, at least in part, an instruction.
Japanese voice performances were also recorded, and left unused: Mikami found their quality inadequate. All Japanese releases therefore carry the same English voices, with Japanese captions.
WHY NOBODY CAUGHT IT
The makers could not hear itLead programmer Yasuhiro Anpo later explained it directly: all of the development staff were Japanese, and they were unaware of the poor localization, which apparently hindered the realism and immersion of the international release. There was no native ear in the building positioned to object. That admission became one of the stated reasons for the complete re-dub, with new actors and a rewritten script, in the 2002 remake.