28 Days Later

28 Days Later is an expansion on the traditional zombie movie, and the expansion is the Rage virus. Danny Boyle’s infected don’t climb out of the grave and shuffle. They turn, and they run. I still like the Night of the Living Dead kind of zombie. This is the sprinting, swarming version — a precursor to World War Z — and it lives in that newer lane of the genre.

The Rage virus

The idea is the infection. People get sick, they get furious, and London empties out around them. The early stretch is the part that sticks: one man walking through a city that used to be full. Then the Rage shows up and the movie becomes a chase. That’s the twist on the old formula. The classic dead close in. These ones are already on you.

I still want the classic dead

Give me the Night of the Living Dead zombie. Slow, inevitable, a crowd that does not get tired. 28 Days Later is built for panic, and that panic is what the genre picked up afterward. World War Z is down this road: an outbreak as a stampede. Boyle got there early, and I can see why it mattered. My favorite version of this genre is still the older one.

Night three on the scare schedule

This was night three of 31 Nights of Halloween — one horror film a night, all October. The rest of the month is mapped out if you want to follow along as the scores pile up.

31 Nights of Halloween schedule

Final verdict — 5 / 10 popcorn buckets

It’s a good watch if you are into zombies. It is not the best of those movies. The Rage virus is a real change to the rules, and the empty city still looks right, but I keep coming back to the traditional dead. Worth the night when the genre is your thing.