Frenetic, tragic and terrifying: a near-perfect horror sequel

Rating: 9/10 (23 October 2008)

Horror sequels are almost by definition a cheap excuse to cash in on the originals. There are exceptions, like Wes Craven's meta-horror New Nightmare or George Romero's zombie saga, but they're a rarity. Thankfully, 28 Weeks Later, the follow-up few people expected to be made, retains its predecessor's sense of fear and desperation while adding its own dramatic elements, resulting in a film that fares a lot better next to other horror continuations of 2007 such as Hostel: Part II or Saw IV.
Stepping back as a director (he was busy doing Sunshine) but remaining on board as an executive producer with original writer Alex Garland, Danny Boyle found it wise to hand over 28 Weeks Later to Spanish filmmaker Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, whose feature debut Intacto was deemed good enough to trust him to do his own thing and not just another sequel. And that's exactly what he does: whereas 28 Days Later was merely about survival (with a hint of Romero-like satire of the military's excessive power), the new installment has a stronger central theme - family. In fact, the scarily intense prologue (the film's best scene, and one of the most effective opening sequences of all time), set within the time frame of the first movie, shows how the Infected, still as merciless as ever, rip apart entire families, leaving Don (Robert Carlyle), one of the few survivors, desperate over the loss of his wife Alice.
28 weeks (seven moths) pass, and with the help of the US Army the Rgae virus has been completely wiped out. Britain is no longer quarantined, so Don can be reunited with his children. While they explore their new home, an American scientist (Rose Byrne) tries to determine whether there's any chance the virus might return, a possibility her military superior (Idris Elba) writes off as unlikely. Then all of a sudden Alice, seemingly immune to the disease, returns to everyone's surprise. An even worse surprise, though, is the fact that her not being infected doesn't mean she can't infect someone else. And so, before anyone can fully realize what's happened, London is once again under attack by the Infected, leaving it to Scarlet (Byrne) and a soldier named Doyle (Jeremy Renner) to save Alice and Don's children, who may have inherited their mother's resistance to the Rage virus.
The film is shot almost entirely with hand-held cameras, a stylistic choice that adds to the gritty realism Fresnadillo is seeking (this emerges most clearly in the aforementioned prologue). It's not really that different from what Boyle achieved in 28 Days Later, with the notable exception of the sequel being much more fast-paced, taking full advantage of the fact that the Infected, unlike your average zombie, are quite skilled runners. That, paired with a murky cinematography and most of the movie taking place in dark, closed spaces, instills a relentless sense of dread, meaning 28 Weeks Later manages to do what few others have done before: it's every bit as scary as the original.
Cast-wise, Fresnadillo has made choices as smart as those of his predecessor: Carlyle, a familiar face in Boyle's body of work, may not be as good-looking as Cillian Murphy, but what he lacks in physical appearance he makes up for in dramatic talent, giving a heartfelt portrayal that is miles away for his more famous roles (Begbie in Trainspotting above all). Byrne (who, coincidentally, also appears in Sunshine), after a few less fortunate career choices (minor roles in average stuff like Troy or Attack of the Clones), does a c ompetent job, as does Renner, with additional gravitas coming from US TV veterans Elba (The Wire) and Harold Perrineau (Oz and Lost).
Overall, in a genre that is usually doomed by crappy follow-ups, 28 Weeks Later stands out as one of the better exceptions to that rule. It's artful, it's moving, and most of all, it never lets go of the fear factor.