28 Weeks Later

I've never made a secret of my eclecticism: I'm happy to discuss my appreciation of Sterne and Wittgenstein, along with my addiction to Neighbours.

One of my guiltier pulp pleasures is horror movies. I'm not talking about the new crop of sickening gorno, nor about the B-grade schlock of most 80s slashers. But, much like sci-fi, horror done right is a genre that confronts humanity with an unflattering self-reflection: as we peer into horror's glass, we recoil at the sight of Caliban leering back.

2002's 28 Days Later was a very intelligent piece of horror. It was part-Prometheus, part-Triffids, and a thorough thrill. (I'd recommend watching it on DVD, then getting the full experience of the sequel in the cinema!)

While folks may once have shivered at the sight of powerful brain-sucking zombies lumbering largo into view, Garland and Boyle delivered creatures far more likely to terrify the cynical young: humans infected with the Rage virus — hyperkinetic, acid-fuelled, with a nasty tendency to projectile-vomit blood and, er, bite. Hard.

Despite a complete change of personnel, 28 Weeks Later is a fitting follow-up. Since 2002, there has been quite adequate horror in the real world: the SARS virus threatened (threatens?) not just an isolated island, but the whole globe; the West has been plunged deeper into an unending conflict with Bush's unseen 'Enemy'.

And American hubris is neatly needled in this film: the US military is sent to clean up the ruins of Britain, but merely manages to live up to its real-world track-record. Happily, this also gives occasion for the addition of some serious hardware, not to mention what is surely the best helicopter-related splatter yet committed to celluloid.

Some of the acting is not quite on par with that of its lower-budget forebear, but the tension still runs high, and we're treated to the same frenetic editing, rich make-up, and thumping, screaming, squelching soundtrack. More haunting images of an abandoned London are still moving, despite losing some of the wow-factor of the first film.

Most satisfyingly, the sequel also shies away from the saccharine or melodramatic coda that sours most American horror. The stage is set: we shall see if the concept can be stretched to 28 Months Later.