28 Weeks Later (2007)

Directed by Juan C Fresnadillo

Movie Review by Al Fleshrot

Summary
In this sequel to 28 Days, a story much like the original movie is retold in condensed form during the first few minutes: a group of survivors holed up in a farmhouse are finally found by the infected and only one man, Donald Harris, escapes. In the heat of the moment he leaves his wife Alice to the fate of the infected and cowardly runs away. Fast forward 28 weeks later and all of England has been ravaged, the infected have all perished and the US military has come to London to clear all the cadavers and oversee repopulating the city.

All seems well, but Alice Harris never died back at the farmhouse. In fact she carries a rare gene that allows her to be a carrier of the virus but not succumb to the symptoms. And when the two Harris children, Andy and Tammy, finally arrive in London to be reunited with their father they sneak into the city, go to their old house and find their mother in a ragged state, but alive nonetheless. A military search party soon arrives at the house and brings the children and Alice back to the lab. One of the scientists soon discovers that not only does Alice Harris have a rare immunity the to virus, but her son Andy seems to share the same trait.

Donald Harris desperately seeks exoneration from the guilt over leaving his wife to die, but poetic justice prevails. Alice is restrained on an exam table in the military facility, but Donald sneaks in and soon becomes infected after kissing her. In a chilling scene the infected Donald assaults his wife, helpless to defend herself as her arms are restrained, and gouges her eyes out with his thumbs. The thrills and chills only get better - the military puts the entire area under lock down and a large group of citizens are trapped in a large room. Enter infected Donald and all hell breaks loose. Mass panic ensues as the virus spreads rapidly. Soon the entire area is out of control and the military goes from shooting infected to killing every living thing on the ground.

Andy and Tammy Harris, aided by a scientists and soldier mange to escape the immediate chaos and plan to meet up with a helicopter. Along the way the soldier and scientist are killed, but the children finally rendezvous with the chopper, but not before a run-in with their father Donald. They survived the encounter, but Andy becomes infected and carries the deadly virus. The helicopter flies across the English channel and soon Europe is rudely introduced to the Rage!

Review
Usually sequels disappoint (ala Resident Evil: Apocalypse), but that is not the case with this movie. It preserves the atmosphere established in the original movie, and carries it one step further by showing the effects of the Rage virus on a larger scale. Despite taking the action to a new level, the characters are still very engaging. Again I must clarify that the infected may not technically be zombies, but you won't find many true zombie movies that can thrill and chill like this one. Much like Dawn of the Dead 2004, if you are spotted by a horde of "infected" it's over unless you have a massive arsenal at your disposal.

Perhaps the most suspenseful and terrifying sequence in the movie occurs when Andy and Tammy Harris, escorted by one of the American scientists, are forced to flee in the pitch black darkness of a subway station. Their only means of sight is the night vision scope of a rifle. Their infected father Donald is lurking in the area and brutally attacks and kills the scientist and then finds Andy. But Tammy kills her father with the gun and they escape.

In the end I still think 28 Days is a better film, but this one stands on its own as a great horror film and a fringe zombie film.

Best Zombie Death
Andy and Tammy are still being held in quarantine when an infected soldier charges into the adjoining room. The only thing keeping the soldier from them a glass window. As he beats his fists against the glass his head suddenly explodes into a bloody mess (if you watch it in slow motion the special effects are awesome). Once the bloody scene clears we see the cause of it - another officer blew his head off with her sidearm.

Memorable Scene
When a helicopter tries to land and pick up some survivors one of them prematurely grabs and hangs from one of the skids. I'm no expert on the effects this has on a helicopter's stability, but in this case it causes some major control problems for the pilot. But as the pilot tries to keep the bird from crashing, it conveniently does a low altitude sweep through a horde of infected with its rotors tilted almost to the ground. The ensuing carnage is a joy to watch - blood and limbs galore!

Al Fleshrot wants your brains

Add a Comment