us created by Dr. Alice Krippin (Emma Thompson), meant as a cure for cancer, had mutated into a lethal strain. It spread throughout the world, killing 90% of humanity. The survivors became predatory, cannibalistic beings referred to as "Darkseekers" and killed those immune to the virus. Neville's daily routine includes experimenting on infected rats to find a cure for the virus and trips through a decaying Manhattan to collect supplies or hunt for deer. He keeps vigil each day for a response to his continuous recorded AM radio broadcasts, which instruct any survivors to meet him at midday at the South Street Seaport. Neville's isolation is broken only by the companionship of his German Shepherd Sam and interaction with mannequins he has set up as patrons of a video store. When one of his rat experiments shows a promising treatment, Neville sets a snare trap and captures an infected woman. An enraged Darkseeker alpha male attempts to rescue her, but is driven back by the sunlight. In the laboratory in his heavily fortified Washington Square Park home, Neville tries the new serum on the infected woman, seemingly without success. The next day, after finding one of his mannequins ("Fred") out in the street in front of Grand Central Terminal, he is caught in a snare trap and passes out. He regains consciousness at dusk and frees himself, but he is attacked by a pack of infected dogs. Although Neville and Sam kill the dogs, one of the infected dogs bites Sam during the fight. Neville brings Sam home and attempts to save the dog by injecting a strain of his serum, but it is too late; a heartbroken Neville is forced to kill his only companion. Overcome by grief and rage, Neville attacks a group of the infected on the seaport the following night with his UV light equipped SUV. He manages to kill several Darkseekers, but they overwhelm and nearly kill him before he is rescued by a pair of immune humans, a woman named Anna (Alice Braga) and a boy named Ethan (Charlie Tahan), who followed his radio broadcasts. Anna and Ethan take him back to his home. Anna explains that they are making their way to a survivors' camp in Bethel, Vermont. Neville disputes that such a camp exists, and expresses his doubt when Anna says God told her about it. The following night, the alpha male leads a mob of Darkseekers in an attack on the house. Anna, who was unaware of Neville's precautions in covering his scent outside the house, inadvertently allowed the Darkseekers to follow their trail. When the Darkseekers charge the house, Neville stops the first wave of Darkseekers with claymore mines, but finds himself defenseless against the second wave. As Neville tries to find Anna and Ethan, a Darkseeker enters and attacks him. The Darkseeker retreats upstairs and begins tearing a hole in the roof so other infected can get in. After Neville saves Anna and Ethan, they retreat into the basement laboratory. They seal themselves in a reinforced plexiglass room with the infected woman, and they discover that Neville's treatment is now working: the subject looks much more human. The infected break in and the alpha male starts throwing himself against the plexiglass, cracking the material. Realizing that the last treatment had been successful, Neville draws a vial of the infected woman's blood and gives it to Anna before shutting them inside a coal chute in the back of the lab. He uses an M67 hand grenade to wipe out the attackers at the cost of his own life. Anna and Ethan are later seen stopping at the gated entrance to the survivors' colony, where Anna hands over the antidote. In a voice-over, Anna claims that the survivors are Neville's legacy, as his fight for a cure became legend. Alternate ending Several scenes were altered before the film's release, especially the stand-off between Neville and the infected in his laboratory. In the original ending, the alpha male makes a butterfly-shaped smear on the glass. Neville realizes that the alpha male is identifying the woman he was experimenting on by a butterfly tattoo, and that the alpha male wants her back. Neville puts his gun down and returns the infected woman. Neville and the alpha male then exchange stares; Neville apologizes to the Darkseekers; the alpha male acknowledges his apology, and the infected leave. The final shot follows Neville, Anna, and Ethan as they drive away towards Vermont with the antidote. According to visual effects supervisor Janek Sirrs: "At that point, Neville's ? and the audience's ? assumptions about the nature of these creatures are shown to be incorrect. We see that they have actually retained some of their humanity. There is a very important moment between the alpha male and Neville."

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