When he was a child, Frank Sears's mother killed his father and then herself. But not before literally carving the location of a secret government vault into his palm and telling him that if it were ever opened, the world would end.

Fast-forward a few decades. Frank grows up to be a scientist like his parents, and when he finds out the base where the vault's located is about to be decommissioned and destroyed...maybe dug up...he rushes to the site in a frantic attempt to warn them.

Of course he's treated like a lunatic and placed into custody. Of course there's no record whatsoever of any such vault. Of course they only discover the truth when they find records of his parents working at the base years ago, find the vault hidden behind yards of concrete, and crack it open, unleashing millions of animal/plant hybrid tentacles that grow exponentially. Great work!

Worse, the "Organizm" (it's never called that in the film) cannot be stopped by force--any energy, kinetic or otherwise, makes it stronger and grow faster. Now Frank and the only other person who believes him (another military scientist named Carrie Freeborn) must find the clues to a special compound, take it to the Organizm's epicenter (Frank's dad's body), and survive long enough to administer it before the army nukes the site!