It was a midsummer day in 2006 that Rotten Tomatoes got the call to drop in on production on Resident Evil: Extinction, and what a tantalizing invite that was. Based on our day on set, the third part of the hugely successful, if critically ravaged Resident Evil series looks to once again capture its core audience, fans of the original Capcom video game hungry for the same all-out action and gore that infused the first two films. The addition of a few new castmembers and a beautifully desolate setting (post-apocalyptic Las Vegas) further promise a jumpstart to the RE franchise under director Russell Mulcahy. Plus, who doesn't want to see Milla Jovovich strap on the guns one more time?

Mexico City in the summer is brutally hot, but just imagine what it's like in the desert. Thankfully, we had been invited to visit the set of Resident Evil: Extinction right after filming moved from the arid expanses of Mexicali's desert into the big city complex of Churubusco Studios. Good thing, too, because our group of web journalists might have melted in 128 degree heat.

Milla Jovovich in Resident Evil: Extinction

In our air-conditioned comfort we received a warm welcome from RE3 helmer Russell Mulcahy, the Australian director (his Video Killed the Radio Star launched MTV into pop culture history) perhaps known best for his 1986 fantasy spectacle, Highlander. "I hear you're going to do some interviews today," he said as we entered a busy soundstage. After a moment's pleasantries, he was off to finish a scene.

The production had already completed filming of sequences in the desert heat -- zombie scenes, an extensive undead crow attack, and Jovovich performing wire-work stunts while brandishing Alice's Khukuri knives -- but we hung with the crew as they took it down a notch. We watched as they filmed a caravan scene on a soundstage. Sitting inside an army-green truck perched atop jacks, Jovovich, Oded Fehr, and newcomer Spencer Locke (who plays teenage survivor K-Mart) filmed an interior dialogue scene as a crewmember provided the occasional road-bump jiggle. The exterior window shots would later be filled in via CG with scenes of the Mexican desert, substituting for a ravaged and desolate Las Vegas. Mulcahy quieted his rambunctious actors with a "You're in the moment!" and filmed a hushed conversation between Alice and Carlos.