DEATH ISLAND (デスアイランド) is the fourth film in the animated BIOHAZARD / RESIDENT EVIL series, following DEGENERATION (ディジェネレーション), DAMNATION (ダムネーション) and VENDETTA (ヴェンデッタ).

UNIT 6 is dispatched to Raccoon City to deal with an emergency situation. Their mission is to assist evacuation of Umbrella Corp executives and government officials out of the city. The city is currently under lockdown, and they have the authority to shoot to kill any civilians who attempt to flee.

Two best friends, JJ and Dylan receive an order from Umbrella Corp to kill everyone who is infected including their own people. Dylan refuses to obey the command, he attempts to prevent JJ from killing the injured teammates. Suddenly, their teammates turn into zombies and start attacking them.

At present time, in 2015, Leon Scott Kennedy is on a mission to rescue Dr. Antonio Taylor who has been kidnapped by an unknown organization. But Leon is ambushed by a female assailant who crashes his bike rendering him unable to pursue Dr. Antonio further.

TerraSave sends Claire Redfield to investigate an orca corpse after TerraSave tracker was found on it. Claire notices that the bite mark which killed the orca is so much bigger than any existing sharks.

Rebecca Chambers discovers that twelve cases of unexplained infection have all tested positive for an improved version t-Virus, and the infected persons all have needle marks. The new virus strain is no longer transmitted through airborne particles or saliva. The victims all died from their wounds and did not turn into zombies.

Several whales that TerraSave was tracking have inexplicably disappeared around Alcatraz Island. A strain of t-Virus is also found on the bite wound of orca carcass. It appears that every the infected person recently visited Alcatraz. Chris, Jill and Claire must travel to Alcatraz Island hoping to find the origin of this new t-Virus.

The new villain is quite interesting, he gives a twisted vibe which makes him stand out comparing to other villains in the series. Until he talks too much, explaining why he does what he does and then he reveals his master plan to everyone. Sigh.

BIOHAZARD: DEATH ISLAND struggles with a script that may have been better, but in reality it’s just on par with the rest of BIOHAZARD animated films that came out before. Have they ran out of fresh ideas?

This film functions more as a fan service, bringing together all of the beloved legacy characters. Of course, Capcom can sell more BIOHAZARD merchandise as well.

DEATH ISLAND takes place 17 years after the outbreak at Raccoon City, which began in 1998.. All of the characters have aged into their late 30s except Jill Valentine who looks almost exactly the same. According to the creator, t-Virus infection has slowed her aging. And in this film, the rest of the team are also infected with t-Virus. Does that mean they will look younger in the next installment? Maybe that’s not how it works, but why not.

The film was theatrically released as RESIDENT EVIL: DEATH ISLAND in Singapore on 22 June 2023. BIOHAZARD: DEATH ISLAND had its theatrical release in Japan on 7 July.