10/23/16 – day twenty-three of thirty-one days of horror!
Director Danny Boyle reinvented the zombie (and make no mistake – for
all narrative purposes, the “rage infected” are de-facto zombies) for
the modern era with 28 DAYS LATER, so when the sequel 28 WEEKS LATER
dropped in 2007 without Boyle at the helm, I had concerns. Imagine my
surprise at finding that Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s continuation of the
series to be just as intense and terrifying as the original. Taking
place six months after the rage virus outbreak, the story concerns
the re-occupation of a small section of London, overseen by US Army
forces, focusing on a small family led by the always great Robert
(TRAINSPOTTING) Carlyle who abandoned his wife to the infected while
hiding out in the British countryside. As this is a horror sequel things
go horribly wrong, and soon Carlyle’s kids find themselves on the run
from the infected, aided by the likes of soon-to-be stars Rose Byrne,
Jeremy Renner and Idris Elba. There’s a personal element to the
action-packed proceedings that I won’t spoil, and though it doesn’t
adhere to iron-clad logic, I feel that the emotional impact is more than
a fair trade. A nice alternative to the usual zombie faire, this merits
a watch or a re-watch, even better as a double dose of rage with
Boyle’s original.
