28 Weeks Later is a sequel I never thought I'd see, and quite frankly, I didn't want to see it. 28 Days Later is a perfect little horror movie, and the idea of a follow up really irritated me. I'm tired of rehash, but, as it turns out, this isn't a rehash at all. It actually expands on ideas developed in the first film and moves it ahead with an inspired story of it's own.

As the film opens, we're introduced to Don. He and his wife have found safe haven in an English country side cottage during the first film's deadly outbreak. The couple share the property with a small band of survivors. Of course all good things must come to an end, and before long, the infected find the peaceful little utopia, and attack without warning. Somehow, Don manages to escape (in a horrifying bit of visceral terror), but some of the other survivors aren't so lucky.

Months pass, and the plague appears to have been contained. Safe havens have been set up throughout the country, but the military maintains a watchful eye in the event of another outbreak. Don is eventually reunited with his children and put up in a new home. Life begins again. That is, until the inevitable happens. To the military's shock, the virus resurfaces, and in a matter of minutes, it spreads like wild fire turning harmless folk into rabid monsters.

28 Weeks Later takes it's predecessor's concept and amplifies the tension, and while it lacks the drama and character of the first film, it does take the story in new horrifying directions while maintaining that same ominous sense of dread.

One of the most interesting aspects of this follow up is how the virus re-surfaces. Without giving too much away, let's just say it's at the dramatic core of the movie. What's more, we discover that some individuals have developed an immunity to the plague and this takes the movie in a very interesting direction.

28 Weeks Later is a pure horror movie, but it's much different than, say, Zack Synder's take on Dawn of the Dead (although the openings of both films are comparable). As was the case with that movie, this is a film in which any character might die at any time, but the tension in 28 Weeks Later is far more constant. Be it a terrifying scene in which three survivors have to make their way through a pitch dark subway tunnel filled with dead bodies, to a sequence in which the military fire bombs the city, there is no shortage of sweat inducing thrills in this movie. What's more, 28 Weeks Later doesn't shy away from the unexpected, no matter how shocking (one character dies in an unpredictable and brutal fashion).

Not to be outdone, 28 Weeks Later ups the gore factor, and there's nothing cheesy or b-movie-ish about any of this stuff save for a helicopter sequence that might have been more effective had not Grindhouse pulled the same stunt a month and a half earlier.

Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has much in common with Danny Boyle in terms of the way he's shoots a movie. 28 Weeks Later was shot digitally, and much of it was hand held. The difference is, Fresnadillo's film takes a while to find it's footing. Some of the shaky camera work and quick cutting choices in the early goings on of the movie, make it difficult to see what's going on. Things do open up as the film progresses.

The screenplay does feature some silly dialogue and stock characters, and certainly falls into typical horror film cliches. For example, I found it a bit inane that two children decide to break out of the safe zone, and go cruising through a dangerous area by means of a motorcycle. What's even more ridiculous is how easily they pull this little stunt off. There are other flaws to be found in the movie. The biggest involves an infected civilian (and a key character in the film) who conveniently manages to pop up in the perfect place at just the right time. I'm being a wee bit vague here, because this happens to be a pretty big plot point.

For the most part though, the movie works. It's fast paced and full of enough thrills and chills to excite fans of the genre, and it gets bonus points for a gutsy ending. 28 Weeks Later is provocative and haunting, and I was completely surprised by it.