While much has been made of the current pop-culture obsession with vampires, there has been an equally fervent fixation on zombies (e.g., "Zombieland," "28 Days Later," "30 Days of Night," AMC's upcoming "The Walking Dead"), and this week marks the release of the fourth "Resident Evil" film.

In this latest installment, [movie id="432594"]"Resident Evil: Afterlife,"[/movie] the story picks up roughly six months after "Resident Evil: Extinction." Alice (Milla Jovovich) is desperately searching for survivors -- first near a small town in Alaska, where she finds Claire Redfield (Ali Larter), and then in desolate, undead-ridden Los Angeles. Despite being the fourth film in the franchise, "Afterlife" contains a couple of notable firsts: the appearance of Chris Redfield (Wentworth Miller) and an Alice vs. Albert Wesker fight sequence.

Speaking of fighting, when we caught up with the film's two leading ladies recently, we asked them to share their preferred method/weaponry for eliminating zombies.

"I like to get in there," Jovovich said. "In 'Resident Evil 3,' I had my cookeries. I like the hacking, chopping bit. It's nice to hit some flesh and bone and [hear the] crack. It made me feel really strong and powerful," she revealed. "In this movie, I have a lot more guns, that was fun too."

Jovovich went on to compare the shooting of machine guns to playing guitar. "I never realized shooting guns is a lot like playing guitar -- you need calluses for it," she said. "After a day of shooting machine guns, I got blisters on my fingers. It's like, 'Oh, I need to practice a bit more and get those calluses going," she said. "But thank god I don't have to shoot machine guns every day."

Co-star Ali Larter agreed with Jovovich's preference for hacking things, but admitted she has a special place in her heart for fancy Italian firearms.

"I get to use an Italian Beretta in this film that's never been on camera before, so that's fun," Larter bragged. "I also like using my knife and getting at Wesker. That's pretty cool."

Larter went on to say that she and her co-stars were pretty bruised and battered by the end of the shoot as a result of the intense action sequences.

"We spent a lot of time with stunt coordinators, with the weapons experts, making sure that we were doing it right and we were doing it safe. When you have five actors lined up and you're shooting blanks -- it's one thing if everyone is 50 feet away, but when you're within 3 feet of someone, you can really get hurt," Larter explained. "It's making sure that with all of us you really take the time to be professional."

"You also want to look real," she added. "I don't want to look like a sissy with a Beretta. I want you to believe that I will take your ass out."

From the saucy Jessica Alba in "Little Fockers" to James Franco's grueling journey in "127 Hours," the MTV Movies team is delving into the hottest flicks of fall 2010. Check back daily for exclusive clips, photos and interviews with the films' biggest stars.

Check out everything we've got on "Resident Evil: Afterlife."

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