28 Days Later & 28 Weeks Later

28 Days Later

28 Weeks Later (May 8/07)

Though the creative team behind 2002's 28 Days Later - director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland - is only minimally involved this time around, 28 Weeks Later immediately establishes itself as a cousin to its predecessor in both style and tone. After kicking off with an unusually engrossing pre-titles sequence that must just be too effective (ie nothing that follows can live up to its promise), the film continues the story laid out in the original by following a group of survivors (including Robert Carlyle's Don and Jeremy Renner's Doyle) as they contend with the return of the deadly rage virus. Filmmaker Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has infused 28 Weeks Later with a grittiness that proves to be entirely apt, though there's little doubt that his relentless use of jittery camerawork and choppy slow-motion ultimately lends more than a few scenes a lamentably incoherent vibe. Likewise, there's certainly no denying that the film becomes increasingly uneven as it progresses - with some sequences absolutely riveting and others decidedly less so. Yet one can't help but admire the extent to which Fresnadillo emphasizes the more dark and downright disturbing elements within the screenplay; the film, which is consequently quite difficult to watch at times, possesses the sort of bleak atmosphere that's sorely missing from the majority of contemporary horror flicks (John Murphy's memorably chilling score only cements this feeling). That 28 Weeks Later ends with the promise of another sequel isn't necessarily a bad thing, as the series is shaping up to be the most effective take on the recently-revitalized zombie genre.