28 Weeks Later

Five years ago a small British film called 28 Days Later took the world by storm. Low budget but ripe with a fresh take on the zombie movie by not having actual zombies, instead re-imagining the undead as living people infected with a rage virus that attacks the blood and leaves them frothing bloodthirsty creatures. Through it’s use of carefully crafted characters, exciting set pieces and London locations the film was a breath of fresh air, and so it is with great pleasure that I am able to say the same about this sequel, a film who’s existence I didn’t know about until recently but that ups the ante considerably taking what made the first film a hit and expanding the building upon it in a way few sequels manage. Set, as you never would have guessed, 28 weeks after the outbreak the film focuses initially on one family headed by Robert Carlyle who is reunited with his children with a safe area of London. They make up some of the people who have been brought back in to start the process of rebuilding the country. Despite the fact that no infected have been found for months having died of starvation the country is taking no precautions enlisting the help of the US military who manage the camp. However their safe existence is short lived as soon a survivor is found who is actually a carrier of the disease, but who shows no symptoms. Soon of course someone gets infected and all hell breaks loose literally as the military lose control of the situation and begin neutralising the whole area. It is down to a small group of people including the aforementioned children to escape the city before the infected or military get to them. This film is brutal and intense from the start and relentless as it gets going. Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo manages to imitate and expand upon Danny Boyle style from the original and expanded budget allow for some impressive set pieces and heart pounding scenes. The actors are excellent all round and though the characters aren’t as clearly developed as the first film they are still interesting and sympathetic. More than a thriller than a true horror this still has its fare share of scares and more than a bucket or too of blood really selling the danger of the infected and the military really putting you in the shoes of this desperate band of survivors. On looking back there are a few plot holes and credibility issues but the whole thing is put together so well and keeps you riveted throughout that they don’t detract from the experiece as a whole In fact the last half an hour of the film is arguably the best and that is the one area if any that the first film fell short on.

So a nice surprise then and a genuinely great gory, shocking and exciting film guaranteed to get your heart racing. It’s rare that sequels get this level of time and energy and as such it should be admired and enjoyed because looking at the summer ahead it seems there will be plenty more coming up that fall short. Shocking, intense and unforgiving this is not for the feint of heart but this is a bigger, louder and more exciting sequel that expands and builds upon the original. For horror fans this is not to be missed and a genuinely pleasant surprise.