Something terrible is lurking in the Hive, a vast underground genetic research facility run by the Umbrella Corporation, a faceless bio-engineering conglomerate. A deadly viral outbreak occurs, and in response, the Red Queen - a vast supercomputer that controls and monitors the Hive - seals the entire facility to contain the leak, killing all the trapped employees.

Alice (MILLA JOVOVICH) and Rain (MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ) must lead fellow commandos to isolate the virus that has wiped out Umbrella’s entire research staff. The team soon discovers, however, that the workers are…not…really…dead. They are now the ravenous Undead, and they are prowling the hive. One bite or scratch from an Undead causes infection and worse, instant transformation into their kind.

Alice and the military task force have three hours to complete their mission before the virus threatens to overrun the Earth. To access the Red Queen, the team must pass through a series of increasingly horrifying obstacles in the maze-like hive. These include deadly lasers, mutant dogs and a vast specimen room where Alice witnesses the results of Umbrella’s evil experimental research. Alice soon discovers that the former humans are the ghastly result of Umbrella’s latest project gone awry -- the T-virus.

Initially designed to combat ageing and fight nerve-based diseases, the T-virus has the ability to reanimate dead cells. Alice realises that an unknown saboteur has stolen the virus and freed it into the hive’s atmosphere. That’s how the outbreak occurred. Who would do such a thing, and why?

Confronting the giant computer, Rain demands that she guide them to the surface. The Red Queen agrees, but insists that no one who is infected will be allowed to escape. Unless of course, they can find the Anti-Virus first. Standing in their way is a genetically mutated experiment that is now a vicious creature known as “the Licker,” bent on destroying them all. The Licker’s strength increases with each victim it slays–making the team’s job even more deadly.

Will the team defeat the Red Queen and find the anti-virus in time? Or are they doomed to turn? Who, if anyone, will escape the evil Hive alive?

Screen Gems/Constantin Film/Davis Films present Resident Evil, written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (“Mortal Kombat,” “Event Horizon”). Resident Evil is based on the best-selling Capcom computer game series and stars Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, James Purefoy, Martin Crewes and Colin Salmon and is produced by Bernd Eichinger, Samuel Hadida, Jeremy Bolt and Paul W.S. Anderson. Robert Kulzer, Victor Hadida, Daniel Kletsky and Yoshiki Okamoto are executive producers. The film is a co-production with New Legacy Film Ltd. and Davis Films in association with Impact Pictures. -- © 2001 Screen Gems [Less]