28 Days Later (2003) / 28 Weeks Later (2007)

Next year, the modern zombie movie will celebrate its 40th anniversary marked by George A. Romero's 1968 flick Night of the Living Dead. Zombie movies have moved away from just providing cheesy horror to symbolizing a sign of our times.

In my continuation of the Halloween/Zombie movie review, I'd like to focus on a film called 28 Days Later that
provides a revisionist theory about zombies. This movie introduced two new twists on the classic film. First - these zombies could haul-ass. They moved with lightening speed to eat you alive. The second twist was that these zombies were not "undead" but rather still living humans infected by disease.

Cillian Murphy awakes in an empty hospital in an all but abandoned London to find that this disease has affected the most of the population - and “zombies” are wiping those not infected out with relative ease. He (along with a select few others) learns to survive in this post apocalyptic world. The story is a compassionate tale of survival while maintaining on-the-edge-of-your-seat hysteria as to what lurks behind every door.

No spoilers here - but there is another unique twist to the story regarding the fate of the zombies and their own survival. This flick is definitely worth viewing.

Which brings me to its sequel, 28 Weeks Later. Picking up, as the title suggests, a mere six months after the infectious disease has presumably wiped out entire populations, I had little hope of this film's success since the major players from the first (director & writer) were not returning. However, while professional film critic reviews were mixed, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Once again, here is a tale of compassion while providing the heart pounding fear of not being able to escape creatures that move at the speed of light. Once again, a twist prevails - regarding adaptability and survival of the fittest (zombies? humans?) - You will have to decide for yourself.

End.