28 Days Later/28 Weeks Later

28 DAYS LATER (18)

D: Danny Boyle

Fox Searchlight/DNA/UK Film Council (Andrew MacDonald)

UK 2002

104 mins

Horror

W: Alex Garland

DP: Anthony Dod Mantle

Ed: Chris Gill

Mus: John Murphy

Cillian Murphy (Jim), Naomie Harris (Selena), Brendan Gleeson (Frank), Megan Burns (Hannah), Christopher Ecclestone (Maj. Henry West)

Danny Boyle once again puts British horror back on the map with this zombie flick with a biological twist.

A bicycle courier wakes from a coma to discover London is deserted following the outbreak of a virus which had turned humans into raging, bloodthirsty (and athletic) creatures whose bite can infect the recipient and turn them into one of them.

With a trio of other survivors, they head north to Manchester, where the promise of military protection turns out to be a lie.

For the most part, this horror film is well above par, with truly terrifying monsters as its principal villains. Unfortunately, this falls apart in the third act where the story seems to be more about military ethos and the real monsters are those who are sworn to protect.

Still, this did as much for genre as George A. Romero's Night Of The Living Dead (qv), producing a sequel and clearly inspiring the pilot episode of TV's long-running zombie hit "The Walking Dead". There are some issues with plot holes and a couple of ropey performances, but for the most part this is an effectively chilling drama with real terror as the driving force of the story.

7/10

28 WEEKS LATER (18)

D: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

20th Century Fox/Fox Atomic/DNA/UK Film Council (Enrique Lopez-Lavigne, Andrew MacDonald & Allon Reich)

UK 2007

95 mins

Horror

W: Rowan Joffe, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Enrique Lopez-Lavigne & Jesus Olmo

DP: Enrique Chediak

Ed: Chris Gill

Mus: John Murphy

Robert Carlyle (Don), Rose Byrne (Scarlet), Jeremy Renner (Doyle), Harold Perrineau (Flynn), Catherine McCormack (Alice), Mackintosh Muggleton (Andy), Imogen Potts (Tammy), Idris Elba (Stone)

This sequel doesn't get much better than its opening scene, where a man abandons his wife in a boarded up farmhouse when bloodthirsty zombies attack.

Weeks later, the man is reunited with his children in the London docklands, which has become a sanctuary for survivors. But, when there's an outbreak of the virus once again, his son and daughter are helped by a doctor and an American soldier to escape.

Though reasonably enjoyable, this is in pale comparison to the first film which was fraught with tension from beginning until end. This has moments of high tension, but much of it feels rushed and the threat isn't quite as scary the second time around, especially following the excellent opening scene.

5/10