When last we saw "Resident Evil" heroine Alice, things weren't looking too rosy.

She had died in a crash, been resurrected by scientists in a lab and appeared to be turning into some sort of mutant/robot — quite possibly an evil one — under the control of the soulless Umbrella Corporation. On top of that, most of the world's population had been infected by the T-Virus outbreak and was rapidly transforming into bloodthirsty zombies.

But help is on the way, and it's coming from an unexpected source.

R&B songstress Ashanti agreed that it was a little odd when series overseer Paul W.S. Anderson approached the sci-fi rookie with "Resident Evil: Extinction," the upcoming third movie in the series.

"It was very funny," she said. "But I had done a 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' [episode], which was somewhat similar in the sense that I played a demon and I had to stab someone. There was blood and everything!"

"Blood and everything" would seem to be the operative words in these video game-based movies, which have so far terrified fans with undead dogs, the 9-foot-tall bio-weapon Nemesis and enough zombies to suck the brains out of a Mensa meeting. The 25-year-old Ashanti, whose movie career was helped along this year by the comedy "John Tucker Must Die" (see "Ashanti Insists Film About Killing Her Ex Is Actually 'Light' And 'Fun' "), will be joined by returning stars Milla Jovovich and Mike Epps.

"Milla is totally different from all of us," Ashanti said of the action-loving co-star who has brought Alice to life. "She's way more skilled [during the action scenes]. She knows what she's up against, and she's the vet. It's not too intimidating, because you expect it and you're like, 'OK, she has that covered.' "

"Extinction" picks up with Alice and smartass cabdriver L.J. (Epps) riding a pimped-out school bus across the wasteland once known as the United States. Desperate for help anywhere they can get it, the duo recruit no-nonsense tough girl Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) and Ashanti's character, a firepowered Florence Nightingale named Nurse Betty.

"Betty drives a really cool ambulance with these huge spiked-out razorblades on the tires to keep all the undead monsters away," the singer/actress said. "Basically she tries to nurse up whoever gets bit."