Resident Evil is one of the premier survival horror series of the industry, and thus it is no surprise that the franchise is home to many horrific, terrifying and downright unsettling sequences. Resident Evil Village features many new ones for players to burn into their memories, but none as terrifying as Beneviento House.
Beneviento House is the second domain of the four lords, and the player explores it shortly after completing Dimitrescu Castle. The castle does little to prepare the player for what comes next; the house is the scariest the series has been in years, or possibly, ever.
The trek to the house is eerily quiet. Dolls litter the snowy path before the player, hanging from trees, sitting beside gravestones and hiding in bushes. Ethan stumbles across his dead wife Mia, lamenting that everybody in her life leaves her as the player cautiously follows on. The segment is utterly devoid of enemies to break the tension. Eventually, a locked door bars the way, writing on the wall beckons Ethan to "give up (his) memories." After depositing the family photo the player has had since the beginning of the game, the door opens and House Beneviento is waiting for them.
The house is quiet and empty, just as the path towards it was. Exploring will require the player to take a lift to a maze-like structure deep underground. Beneviento's doll Angie sits motionless in a chair, the flask that Ethan has sought placed in her lap. It is obviously too good to be true, and the lights go out as Angie taunts the player. When they turn on again, all of Ethan's weapons and gear are gone.
An autopsy table houses a creepy-looking mannequin, which the player must pull apart to locate items to solve puzzles in the underground labyrinth. Amid new sightings of Mia and various other ominous happenings, the player eventually acquires a key for the breaker box just outside the lift. Following the long hallways back through the maze, a giant, fleshy cord is seen extending into the darkness. As the player reaches their goal, they discover the source of the cord: an enormous, disgusting creature crawls out of the darkness, and the only option is to flee.
The labyrinth is choking. Pitch-black hallways lead in circles as the player frantically looks for a place to hide, the distorted laughter of an infant gurgling from the putrid abomination that pursues them. Taking a cue from more modern horror games, the player is expected to hide in closets or under beds as they wait for the exact moment to sprint back towards the breaker box. When they finally do, the box reveals a puzzle piece for a door back within the labyrinth, forcing them to turn back towards the creature.
After solving the next puzzle, the player activates the power and makes it inside the lift by the skin of their teeth, the monster sobbing right behind them. Everything about this section is utterly terror-inducing; the player's ability to familiarize themselves with the area for an extended period before the creature's appearance builds tension excellently. Noticing the prompt to hide within each closet builds the expectation of something appearing, and when the colossal fetus-like monster finally appears, it does not disappoint.
Leaving the basement is not the end of this horrifying jaunt, though. The once empty house is now full of dolls, littered across the floor, tables, windows and chairs. Angie appears before Ethan, asking him to play with her. Thus commences the most stressful game of hide-and-seek ever conceived. Angie must be located three times; each time, Ethan will stab her with scissors obtained in the basement. If the player takes too long, some of the many dolls will attack Ethan with blades and knives, severely damaging him.
This horrific race against time is made all the more difficult by how distracting and off-putting the dolls become. They constantly laugh and spasm, their heads flailing and vibrating as the player seeks the malicious Angie. After finally locating her for the third time, Ethan stabs and kills Angie and Donna Beneviento, ending the madness and granting the player the ability to finally leave.
The entirety of Beneviento House is a masterclass in horror. The notes strewn around the area mention a special plant in the village, one that can produce hallucinations. This setup allows for seemingly supernatural occurrences and creatures that take the player completely off guard. There are certain rules by which Resident Evil games adhere to, and Beneviento House throws them all away while still operating comfortably within the series' lore.
The sheer terror of the basement is unlike anything the series has ever done before. Players usually find some comfort in Resident Evil games' bombastic arsenal, so stripping it all away and placing them in an area that feels more Silent Hill than Resident Evil is a stroke of genius. If this section represents anything the series plans to do in the coming installments, then players are in for a world of stomach-churning misery.
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