Infected: 28 Weeks Later

Horror movies are for the most part pretty lame these days. It's a genre littered with endless and unwanted sequels (another Halloween film later this year?!?), torture porn like Saw and Hostel, or unnecessary remakes like Black Christmas and The Hills Have Eyes. It's a relief and a surprise when a horror film comes out that to me is actually well made and worth watching. The recently released 28 Weeks Later fits the bill for me. It's a sequel, but one that works and builds on the original and isn't just a re-hash of the previous film.

Personally, I've always had a weak spot for zombie films especially George Romero's classic trilogy (the fourth film Land of the Dead wasn't that great). He brought a deft mix of social commentary and brutal gore together to make a thoughtful satire of our society. Through most of the 1980's and 1990's the zombie film genre suffered through a stretch of bad movies. It was quite a surprise when Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later was released in the U.S. in 2003. Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland reworked the zombie tradition making it a disease spread through blood that causes an insatiable rage in those infected. The jarring, hand-held digital camera work added to the shocking brutality of the film.

When I first heard that there would be a sequel and that Boyle and Garland would only be producers, I was wary. However, director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has put together a direct follow-up that uses the same style of film making but adds a whole new political commentary into the mix. Twenty-eight weeks after the end of the first film, the U.S. military has occupied London and blocked off a portion as a safe zone to start the re-building process. There are plenty of parallels to the Iraqi conflict in the film. And of course, things go horribly wrong when the infection is released back into the safe zone. Soon a small group of survivors are on the run not only from the infected, but also the military who will do anything to stop the infection from spreading. The eerie deserted location shooting in London makes a return here and just as before adds to the apocalyptic, desolate feel of the film. Granted, as in many horror films, there are some plot holes (like one zombie that keeps reappearing), but overall the film's mix of socio-politcal commentary, action, and location shooting make it well worth the viewing especially for fans of zombie films. A-