396: 28 Weeks Later (2007)

SPEAKER_01 0:04

The final boss of 28 weeks later in this franchise apparently is Rumpel Stilskin.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Greetings and salutations and welcome to Hacker Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. Have you come in contact with the infected? If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack.

SPEAKER_03 0:29

A total joke. A waste of time.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

Or a slash. Totally killer, pun intended. We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with the perspective we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the classic horror connoisseur Sean.

SPEAKER_03 0:47

I had that same dream about your wife.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

And the paranormal paramour, Vinx. Blood makes me nauseous. This week we're traveling back to 2007 to cover the second chapter of a movie that explores what's left of humanity ravaged by a virus.

SPEAKER_03 1:02

And if you support the show, you'll also get to hear us get into all of our wild predictions for the upcoming 28 years later in our B-side at the end of this episode.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

A few years after Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later introduced audiences to the rage virus, plans for a follow-up began to take shape. While early concepts included a direct continuation featuring returning characters, or a covert rescue mission in infected London, the creative team ultimately pivoted to a story set months after the outbreak, centered on the fragile attempt at rebuild. With Boyle committed to another project, directing duties were handed to Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who worked with a $15 million budget and a new cast to explore what happens when a military-controlled safe zone opens its gates to survivors. The film examines the consequences of containment, control, and the illusion of safety. This week we're talking about 28 weeks later.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

I actually, weirdly enough, watched this pretty recently, and I don't remember why. Like what prompted me to do it. I feel like 28 days later, I've definitely seen a few times. 28 weeks later, I couldn't even tell you when was the first time that I watched it. Sadly, I think this is like one of those films where you ask people and they're like, Yeah, I saw it, but I don't quite remember what happened in the movie.

SPEAKER_03 2:19

Oh, yeah, exactly. I feel like it has been a long time since I've watched 28 Days Later or 28 Weeks Later when it's been so long, and this third installment that's coming is almost you know 20 years, it's a long time. But I remember the trailer for 28 years later coming out, and I got pretty excited, and it made me want to start revisiting these movies when we got closer to 28 years later coming out and decided to get into 28 weeks later. I got really into it, found out that my wife had never even seen 28 weeks later, only 28 days later. So we both were like, okay, let's just start from the beginning. We're gonna watch them back to back in preparation, not only for this podcast, but in preparation for this upcoming third installment. And so pretty exciting.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Wow. I need the B side that is just Ari's reaction to this movie. That's what I think we all need in our lives. We didn't do 28 Days Later that long ago, and I mentioned in that episode that I happen to own this movie physically because my mom was hunting through DVDs trying to figure out if we actually had the hard copy of 28 Days Later. So I know I've seen it, but this felt like a really new experience this time, and I think it's because there's a significant amount of time that's passed. I think I've seen this once since it came out, and I think it was seeing it on DVD in my house. So even though I've owned this movie for years, watching it now felt like a really fresh experience. And really from the opening scene, I was completely locked in. I didn't physically react, but I felt this tension just settle in my chest and it stayed there. And I didn't feel like the movie ever really let me relax, which felt really good and really different from the feeling that I got in 28 days later. And it wasn't because of like jump scares or overt horror, but it was because of how quickly safety just evaporates in this movie and how cruel the world can be when survival's at stake. And I just love the intensity of that. It's like emotionally heavy, it's relentlessly intense, and it pulls you into this chaos in a way that, like, oh god, please let me go.

SPEAKER_03 4:39

Oh my gosh. This feels like it was just as intense as I remembered this movie, to be honest with you. It just feels like pure chaos at times. It's anxiety driven, it's stress to the max, it's all of these things, along with some brutality that just makes everything feel so impactful and so wild. But I also want to point out that in this go-around, I also felt like there were moments where I felt like I was living in a first-person shooter game. Like it felt like a video game heavily. I don't know if I remember feeling that way when I first watched it because it had been so long, but it was kind of an odd feeling. It was kind of surreal. It was like, man, I feel like I'm watching maybe because we watch so many people like streaming games now that you're like used to just watching video games, but it just felt like there were moments where I was just watching a stream of a video game.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

That makes so much sense, and now we need 28 weeks later the video game, or 28 years later the video game. I bet there's gonna be something coming in Fortnite.

SPEAKER_03 5:41

It's gotta.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

Any day now, quite frankly, any day. But I definitely agree with you, Sean. It has a lot more action, obviously, than the first one. I felt like the film, though, leans very heavily on the visceral reaction that you have towards a particular character. And that reaction and that emotion is going to be rage, ironically. And rage much like the zombies. At least that's what happens to me. Every time I've seen this film, because I know that it's been a few times, I like I said, I don't remember what the fuck happened in this movie. But then when I watch it, I'm like, oh yeah, that's this movie. And then you fucking hate this character so much that you're like, oh yep, that's the one. That's the that's the indicator, right? Every so often there's a couple movies that you're like, I don't remember anything that happened. I don't remember what that movie is. Sometimes I'm like, what's that movie called? But if you say XYZ, people will be like, oh my god, it's that movie.

SPEAKER_03 6:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

This is that movie that has it.

SPEAKER_03 6:44

I totally forgot how much this movie makes you hate that character. Okay, yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Honestly, I think the best way I can summarize my feelings for that character in particular, Binks, just as you're say as you're saying, it's Nandor, what we do in the shadows, this fucking guy.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Oh, yeah. That's a great way. Yes. Yeah. For sure. For sure. And it's funny because it's like after so many times, you would think that maybe it'll dissipate and you won't feel as like viscerally upset. But no, it's it stays with you. It's kind of like trying to boost on with that. And I'll leave it there. But aside from that though, I feel like the film takes its time a little bit too much. Like I it felt a little bit draggy to me, which I know might seem insane because a lot of people would say that about 28 days later. And I love 28 Days Later, but weeks later, I feel like I I sense the pace a little bit more be because it feels like three different movies a little bit. What you think is the movie changes real quick and then it shifts gears, and then you're watching something else. But I feel like I took so much time to understand what was going on that the moment that we pivot, it's like, oh, I'm watching something else. And to your point again, Sean, about like the whole video game part of it all, I feel like I'm playing different characters to some extent. Like I feel like I'm choosing different characters throughout the film and I want to follow and see them through to the end, but then I'm going and I'm pivoting to someone else. So it I feel like I never really get to settle in and like the movie as a whole because I'm just like changing around with who I want to follow. I get bored of other characters on screen. I want to change back to watching someone else's perspective. But one thing stays true is that that one character, though, is the one it's like that's like my North Star. Everything else might be changing about this movie, left and right, in terms of my emotions. But that feeling and that character, consistent.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

This fucking guy. Listen, I think it's just the epitome of you and I being built different. You love 28 Days Later. I thought that shit dragged so much. And I'm just not a fan of that movie. I can respect it for what it is and admire the things that it does well, but it's just not the thing that I want to keep re-watching. And one of the biggest surprises for me this go-around was how much more invested I was in this. And looking at how expansive this rage virus is and the world building that takes place, it feels like a spin-off versus a simple direct continuation. And I think it feels more organic in that way, and I really, really enjoy that. There's a lot of things that surprised me, not only just about how I felt about the movie, but also how stacked this cast is. Oh my gosh, I was recognizing people left and right, and I was like, there's no way 17-year-old me could have ever imagined what these people would be doing, much less rumple fucking still skin. We had rumple still skin in this movie, folks. And if you know, you know from once upon a time.

SPEAKER_03 9:42

Jeez. You know, it's interesting that you bring up like your feelings around 28 days later, because I remember when that movie first came out, I had a lot of mixed feelings about it. Like I coming from like a love of like traditional zombie films, like that one kind of shook it up for me a little bit. It was a different, kind of a different approach, right? And I didn't know what the filming style it grew on me over the years, but I think it had to watch it a few times to really appreciate what that movie is doing. But I will say one thing that always surprised me to your point, Chris, when you're talking about like how it this movie may stand on its own or whatever, but one thing that always surprised me about this movie is the fact that it really didn't involve much of anything from the first film, which I think is just really interesting when you go out to make a sequel and you're gonna even play on the name so heavily from 28 days to 28 weeks. And I feel like we're just not getting a whole lot of continuity with like the story that we got in 28 days later and those characters, really. And I feel like I always found myself a little surprised that they didn't get Killian in there, a little disappointed that they couldn't make it work, but it was also from what I understand due to scheduling conflicts. So it wasn't even like the idea was like we're not gonna have this person in this movie, there was scheduling conflicts that got in the way of some of these actors coming back for the movie. And so when that happens, it's unfortunate. So you kind of got to pivot and do your own thing. And it's not to say that this movie dropped the ball by any means in doing so. You got to do what you gotta do. But outside of that, I think overall the most surprising thing about this movie, because of all that, is how it was able to create that new story within the world of 28 Days Later, in that reality, in that world, not really tie these characters together or anything, but still find a way to still have that same feeling of chaos and intensity and that kind of handheld film style that carried from that first film that I think works really well in this film.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

I agree with you, and I think the coolest thing about this genre of film is that this is the perfect place to do almost anthological like sequel entries because you're just expanding the world. If I know that a particular character that I liked survived in the first film, I'm good writing off into the sunset and hoping that they just fucking made it. I really want that. I don't know if I want the complete emotional intensity of seeing them having to go through it again and again and again and again and again and again and again, but showing the circumstances surrounding that. That's one of the reasons why I got into the wal to the walking dead for a little while, but I just got so tired of it after a few seasons. But fear the walking dead, a prequel series that shows what happens like day one in an urban city to a completely different cast of characters. I love that because I want to see a more immersive world versus just one thread of it.

SPEAKER_03 12:41

True. And look at that shit now, they're all over the world. But you know, it does get to a point where like it does end up getting repetitive, though. You know what I mean? Like it still gets to that point of like, okay, we're dealing with this situation and we get past this situation, then we're gonna go through this situation. That's how these apocalyptic things go when you drag the stories on for a long time. It's just another chapter in stumbling across some fucked up thing with some fucked up guy, woman, whoever that wants to run shit their own way. You know what I mean? We've seen it across all these fucking movies, all these TV shows. It's all the same.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

It really is. And I think that what I can give credit to for at least this now franchise, I guess we could say, is that they do pace them out, you know. I mean, shit, 28 years later definitely feels like 28 years later. So at least it doesn't feel as repetitive, I suppose. And I also feel like we've in pop culture and like media, we have stepped away from this fascination of zombies and the undead for a good while. I mean, like I know now The Last of Us is a hit, right? But for the most part, I feel like we were getting a lot of undead things left and right and front and center.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

It's because we're the undead. Yeah. We're all dead inside and we need something a little more uplifting.

SPEAKER_03 13:59

It's because of the walking dead, I'm telling you. Oh, I really was it's still going, man. They're in fucking Paris or some shit now.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

Probably. No, and I also thought we were gonna get real fucking crazy with it and say, like, it's because we were waiting for COVID to actually happen, where we were all actually dead, and you know, knew what it was like to go through a pandemic and this kind of situation. There's a lot of things with this film that surprised me. Some not so great, I'll admit, others for sure. But plot-wise, I gotta say, I think a lot of people have some misconceptions about 28 weeks later and forget that although Danny Boyle did not direct this, him and Alex Garland were a large part of this movie. Danny Boyle directed some scenes, executive produced it. To your point, Sean, the only reason that he didn't do this was because of a scheduling conflict, ironically, for a movie that stars Killian Murphy, but also has Roseburn with the T.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

That's true.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

However, I think a lot of people look at 28 weeks later and they feel very polarized by it and think it's because it Alex Garland and Annie Bull aren't at the helm of it. It's something entirely different. And that ain't true, folks. So however you may feel about this movie, surprised or disappointed, etc., you gotta put it on them a little bit because they were definitely involved. And what's consistent, I would say, is definitely the fear and the tension about both 28 days and 28 weeks later. To me, I think that both are really, really good at making you terrified of a situation which zombies would look like this. The rage kind of shit is like very frightening to me. It is very reminiscent of Asian horror and how they approach zombies. I want to bring up like trained to boots on again because it's like those kinds of zombies are the ones that I would be even more terrified of than versus Walking Dead. If they're losing their shit like that, they're running.

SPEAKER_03 15:54

Fuck. I get winded, man. I get winded. I can't be running from zombies forever. You know what I mean? Like, okay. I'm not running five K's every morning out here. You know what I mean? I got a gun, you know, I'll shoot a zombie, I'll stab a zombie, but I can't run a marathon, folks.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Okay, so there is a board game called Zombicide. Have either of you played it?

SPEAKER_03 16:13

I don't think I've played it, but I know what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

It is an amazing game, and I absolutely loved it. And actually, so my original co-hosts on the show, Dan and Leah, they owned the game and several expansions, and Dan was like a developer of swords and engineer of swords, so he actually coded a custom app to create custom maps and objectives based on all the different tiles, and it was fucking incredible. But there's different styles of zombies. You had like the walkers, you had like the toxic ones that explode, and then there's the runner zombies, and I just remember us calling them the Sketcher Boys because they could fucking zoom around the entire board, and that shit was hysterical. But listen, fast zombies really fucking scary. I think what's cool about this movie though, is it isn't a movie that scares me in a traditional horror sense. It's not something that scares me with jump scares or like these like tense buildups. There is a moment that I think sources a great precursor, not just for training to Busan, but for its sequel, Peninsula, is a very similar scene that happens in this movie. And I think the fear from this movie comes from the tone, because you're talking about how it overlaps and has this sense of despair, which is like 28 days later. But I think a lot of it in this one comes from the atmosphere and from the horrifying decisions that people are forced to make. And not just in like in 28 days later, you had people going against people and some of their disgusting soldiers who just wanted to assault women, you know, and like repopulate, whatever. This was bleak in a different way, and this was more of the energy that I think I would appreciate in a zombie film because it's bleakness isn't just in violence, and it's really not in sexual violence, it's in the moral failure of being able to contain this. It's in the desperation, it's in the breakdown of control. And watching this isn't something that makes you scream, but it makes you sink into your chair or your couch and just feel the weight of what's happening on screen because of the performances of some key characters in this movie.

SPEAKER_03 18:21

Yeah. There's a lot of cringy moments. Shit. This one is heartbreaking at times. I think it's tense as fuck at times, it's pure chaos at times, but what it's not, it's not really all that scary. Not to your point, Chris, in that traditional sense. We just talked about like living through a world where the zombies that exist are like this. That is kind of a scary thought for sure. And it's not that we haven't seen a post-apocalyptic world, right? Zombies are not where you have to, where you have more to fear than just the fucking zombies. Because let's face it, in a lot of these scenarios, people become monsters themselves. And we've seen this all the way back to Knight of the Living Dead, obviously, maybe more currently The Walking Dead. So we've seen a lot of this stuff before, but the setting, the feeling, the fresh take on the zombies or the infection, whatever you want to call them, it feels like it definitely stands on its own. And mixed with the fact that it made its own story within the world of its predecessor, I think you just gotta give it credit there.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

I 1000% agree. I think what stands out about this is that it doesn't try to just copy 28 days later. I think there's things in here that stylistically hearken back to it for sure, but I think it builds on it, like you're saying, Sean. And I think the best thing about this is it shifts away the focus from raw survival to just the illusion of recovery and the false sense of security that you could fall into with this kind of situation. And it also shows how fragile it is, right? How easily it can all fall apart because we're not just watching infected chase people, we're watching governments fail, we're watching systems collapse, or watching personal choices that just have this incredibly horrific rippling effect that doom masses of people. And I think that's where I just really enjoyed this take on the movie and this installment in the franchise because it feels like the story widened its lens confidently.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

Thinking more on it, I've always felt a little back and forth about this because on the one hand, I completely agree with you in terms of we're seeing the impact of what this looks like on a broader scale involving the geopolitical climate for it, like in terms of the government and like you know, the US Army's involved now, this is obviously still London, like etc. Right. So there's that component to it. But I have to remind myself that this is quote unquote original for 2007. Because what I struggle with is if this was the same movie plopped into modern day, like right now, I wouldn't feel starkly different about it in terms of just like, okay, I've seen this film before. I've literally played this game before. So when I think of these like post-apocalyptic like zombie movies, I always instantly feel like I'm going to see how the world has been impacted by this. And the reason I hate to keep comparing days and weeks, right? But like the reason I really like 28 Days Later is because it felt so personal and so like singular to our main character there. Whereas this feels like, again, I'm playing different characters or I'm seeing different things. I'm seeing the perspective of XYZ character that is a part of the military, or I'm seeing, you know, our leads who are children. And although that could be compelling to some people, I feel like there's so many pieces of media that have already done that. So I guess all That's to say, like, I've always had to think about this movie and be like, yeah, Bianca, but it's 2007. There wasn't a lot of that then, you know? There's certainly so much of it now. So original for its time-ish, but it doesn't stand out in a way that an original film would though. Because then I it could be argued that if it was so original, why don't I ever fucking remember what happens in this movie? And I feel like I'm not alone with that. You know, like if it's so unique, why is it doesn't it stick out to me? I think maybe one part of what I do remember is like the ending. I think that the ending is definitely compelling enough, and like it does ramp up to a point where you're like, okay, now we're introducing almost like a little bit of a cliffhanger that's a bit more concrete than 28 Days presents.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

Yeah, I think the ending is a strong one. And I remember watching this movie just a few days ago, thinking like, damn, damn, no. But also, oh, Dawn of the Dead. And I think maybe that's where it becomes a little bit forgettable in a sense, right? Because we had 28 Days Later, we had the Dawn of the Dead remake, and that was such an incredible movie. The original Dawn of the Dead is iconic, but that remake was so effective as a remake. And so when you get an ending that is definitely not the same thing, but feels reminiscent of it. I mean, maybe you felt like there were just better movies for you to remember from the early 2000s. I thought it was effective, right? I think the emotional narrative threads tie together, and I think even if you watch this movie the entire time hoping for some level of escape, the movie wastes no time reminding you there's never any real containment. So I think it honors the spirit of the first movie while leaving you hungry for what's next, but also feeling satisfied with ending the story that it was telling present day.

SPEAKER_03 23:54

It cannot be contained. Yeah, I feel story-wise, I will agree. Prior to watching days or weeks, I didn't remember a whole lot of the story. I remembered bits and pieces. I think the most memorable parts are honestly just chaotic film style and crazed fucking raging fast zombies. Like those are the two things that stand out, which I think are arguably probably the most impactful on the genre. You know what I mean? So I think it still has that originality there, but I agree. I think the ending, it definitely leaves you wanting more for sure, which is a good thing. And if it doesn't leave you wanting more, it certainly has to leave you wondering, at the very least. Because the way that they ended the movie, it's ominous, it's just bleak enough to leave you wondering what really happened to these characters, the future is uncertain, there isn't that feeling of resolve with the way this film ended, and sometimes that makes a lasting impact. And I think for this one and this ending, it kind of does because maybe we forgot a little bit about it over the last almost 20 years. But as soon as we got that trailer for 28 years later, rest assured, everyone's fucking talking about the end of 28 weeks later and what's gonna happen there.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

So well, listen, ending be damned. It doesn't seem like our thoughts on this movie are as ominous as the ending of this one. Can't wait to get to our ratings, but before we actually score it, Sean, how would you describe the gore score?

SPEAKER_03 25:24

Yeah, this movie uses a little bit of everything, honestly. It uses makeup effects, prosthetics, digital effects, or enhancements to bring you the gore in this movie to really bring the gore to life. So you have some really good-looking prosthetic wounds, blood pumps, silicone limbs creating super realistic injuries, bites, overall bodily mutations or mutilations. And the infected in this movie were accomplished with makeup to make them look pale, bloodshot eyes with those intense like red irises from the contact lenses that were used to make these infected really look menacing, honestly. But basically, the blend that they used to bring this all to life was great. They basically used practical effects for close-up shots, CGI for wide shots, right? For like flying limbs, enhancing blood sprays, things like that. And so, you know, just the art of being able to balance the two and use the digital effects for when you really need it. I think that's a good healthy balance for the gore score. And I think when you match the gore in this movie with the intensity of the chaotic filming style, it makes this movie feel like it has a high gore level.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

What about the animal report? So luckily, animals survived 28 weeks later.

SPEAKER_00 26:39

Well, let's go ahead and get into our ratings. Then 28 weeks later from 2007, was it a hack or a slash? I just want to get this out of the way because I was not a fan of 28 Days Later, and I feel like I owe this franchise not an apology, but a second chance. This movie is a massive upgrade for me in this franchise, and I don't think anyone really finds that to be like a very common take. I know that the original is still rated much higher than this one, but I think this one is tight, it's brutal, it's emotional. I think it never overstays its welcome, so it being so surprising to hear that you think it drags, whereas I found the first one to be very slow. It balances emotional storytelling against really large set pieces, and the scale of this one just feels so much bigger. Even the hordes of the infected that we see feel so much bigger. So that world building, right? It's smart, it's impactful. I feel the consequence of this without needing a ton of exposition dumps. And I know that the first one doesn't do that either. It really like puts you smack dab in the middle of this mystery from the very beginning of the movie. And I feel like this one still respects that. But the best thing about this is its characters. Even the ones that might be seen as more like minor supporting characters, they have meaningful, they make impactful decisions. Everything in this movie has consequence, and I think it knows exactly what it wants to be, and it manages to deliver it with confidence. So if I had to rewatch anything from this series or show it to someone new, this is the one that I would pick. So it's a slash for me. It's redeemed the franchise, and it's made me very excited for 28 years later.

SPEAKER_01 28:25

Wow. Well, I will admit that this one is a tough one. I definitely have had to sit and think about my feelings on this one for a lot longer than I thought I would. Because the thing about it is that it's a really good example of it's either for you or it isn't, depending on how you feel about 28 Days Later, truly. Because, like Chris has shared, right? You did not like 28 Days Later, I love 28 Days Later. I feel like these films are very polarizing. Maybe for 28 years later, we'll align. And the thing about 28 Weeks Later is that it's not that I think it's like I passionately hate it. I actually that's not how I feel at all. I think it's just okay. I think it's alright. I think that there are plenty of scenes that I remember that I'll recall as I'm watching it. I feel very passionately about one particular character, sure. But do I feel a gamut of emotions towards this? Is this something that I like feel compelled to watch again that I want to tell people about, that I think is like extremely entertaining? Not necessarily. And although I've seen this movie a few times, it's one of those that feels like every time that I watch it, I feel very ambivalent about it, essentially. And I feel like that's a key part that sticks with me the most. And if I'm ambivalent about something and apathetic towards something, is it really a slash? You know? I don't really know. I think that there's a lot of pieces about this film that work. It's got a lot of tension with these craziest fuck little zombies, that's for sure. Some really cool scenes that are shot really, really well, that build that tension, that remind me of a couple other movies that scared me for sure. But on the other hand, there are some characters that are introduced that I'm kind of wondering what their true purpose is really, and it feels like it's just intended to move some kind of narrative for a bigger picture, and it's a little too obvious of that. I think that for a lot of the times when films are being like told from the perspective of children, it works. In this one, I was kind of bought in and then it kind of wasn't I feel very conflicted, right? And so I think that this is a film that I certainly would recommend people to watch once in their lives. But for me personally, after so many times, I think it has unfortunately crossed over into the hackland.

SPEAKER_03 30:52

Not the hackland. Man, it's interesting to hear both of your takes on this movie and even 28 days later, and even 28 days later had to grow on me, but both of these movies, pretty fucking good. I think 28 weeks later really picks up where 28 Days Later left off for me. Watching them back to back, I think it was kind of fun. From the first few minutes of this film, we're already like up to our throats in pure pandemonium and gut-wrenching betrayal, and it's unrelenting. And the chaotic filming style with those frantic handheld shots throws you like headfirst into this unstable world and immediately just puts you into survival mode, which is just anxiety to the max. What's interesting is it also takes you for this emotional ride as well. There's some fucked up shit that happens in this movie, and I think that there's some moments in this movie that might be questionable. There's some moments in this movie that may not be as memorable or may not feel that great, but there's so many other moments that are so heavily impactful that it kind of outweighs all that, in my opinion. And I think that's the interesting thing about this film because on one side, it's disorienting in the best way, really amplifying the tension. And on the other side, I feel like you have this heightened sense of panic. It's really defining this insane rage virus outbreak, right? And I think all of this pairs with the gore. It really elevates the impact of that brutal, like cringe-worthy violence that we get, which it just doesn't seem to flinch. It doesn't let up in some of those moments, and it's pure mayhem. But I think 28 weeks later really also dives into loss, guilt, and family, honestly, in like the most hopeless of circumstances, and it makes the horror in this movie so heartbreakingly human. You both have mentioned already, just like Train de Busan. And now I feel like we've plugged Train de Busan like three times in this episode alone. So are we actually reviewing this movie or telling you to watch Train de Busan? I don't know. But that came out after this movie for what it's worth. But it's heartbreakingly human in the way that that movie is, if you're more familiar with that than this. But in many ways, this feels like a spiritual predecessor to that. And it's the emotional stakes, it's the relentless pace, I think it's the devastating realization that sometimes the real virus is what people become when fear takes over. That's really what it is. And this film, I think it really infected us with anxiety, it ripped our hearts out. I think it spread its impact across every single gory frame that this movie had. And shit, it may have been 28 weeks later, but I feel like the virus does spread fast, and it didn't take me 28 seconds to realize that this one is a slash.

SPEAKER_00 33:37

No conflict here. Well, there you have it, folks. 28 weeks later from 2007 has earned one hack and two slashes so far, but there is so much to unpack when we get back from our break. We're gonna talk about the brutality, we're gonna unpack Rumpel Still Skin, and we're gonna dive into how this movie transitions us into 28 years later. If you haven't seen this yet, you can find it streaming for free on Tubi, which is wild, but go check it out, then join us in the second half where we unpack those spoilers together. We'll see you in a bit.

SPEAKER_03 34:13

Here at Hackerslash, we don't go anywhere without a 28 seconds later dose because we've been through too much, seen too much, to let this rage virus turn our party into a mass outbreak. It's the only fast-acting antidote designed to stop the rage virus dead in its tracks before it stops you. So whether you were bitten during breakfast or blood barfed on by brunch, don't panic. Just take 28 seconds later and put the apocalypse on pause. Think of it like the morning after pill for poor decisions made during pandemics. Just one dose and you'll go from homicidal to huggable in just 28 seconds. Bitten by a loved one? No problem. Infected via eye spraying blood splatter? All good. Caught making out with some questionable stranger with a case of the red eye? We got you covered. No matter the situation, 28 seconds later has your back and your bloodstream. Designed for those, oops, I got infected moments. It's the emotional support epi pen of the end of time. So don't infect, inject! With 28 seconds later, because love means never having to say, I'll eat you. Side effects may include sudden remorse, flashbacks of betrayal, mild to moderate survival guilt, and in rare cases becoming the sequel. The only problem is most of these were like mass filler deaths from shooting. So let's get into the meat and bones of this kill count because I gotta know which one of these kills was infectious enough to make you rage out of control.

SPEAKER_00 36:30

Alright, time for Binks and I to have the same favorite kill. You go ahead. Kick us off. Well, I want to start with the one that I hated the most, actually. And that's Alice's death. It gutted me emotionally. She didn't deserve such a shitty husband. She got broken, she got her heart broken once, infected once, then disrespected herself enough to allow this man to kiss her again because she loves him. I know we're in a rock and a hard place here with the infected, but she definitely looked mad at him, and in a lot of despair in the beginning of the film, she welcomes this kiss back and then he fucking destroys her. Devastating. You have some hope. I really expected and wanted when I first saw this movie, and thinking about this again on the rewatch, I wanted this movie to be her giving the big old fuck you and just annihilating him.

SPEAKER_03 37:29

I mean, I kind of felt like she set him up.

SPEAKER_00 37:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:32

But I feel like she trapped his ass. It I know it's a double-edged sword, but would you want to be like in her state, maybe she just didn't give a fuck.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

I think she did because of the kids.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

Yeah, I don't think that she would have even really known that she could infect somebody the way that she did.

SPEAKER_03 37:49

I don't know. Maybe. You know? I mean, I get it. Like, you don't really see there's nothing that's confirming it one way or the other, but in my heart, I want to say that like either she knew what she was doing or we got something we didn't see, like a little nip on the tongue or something weird like that. You never know. She could have just like projectiled some blood right down his throat. You know how these zombies be spraying blood at you, you know.

SPEAKER_00 38:13

Listen, all it takes is a little bodily fluid, and that's a little bit of making out, and they emphasize how much spit was coming from his mouth into hers. And just to be clear, just to be clear, I could go for fame famed femme fatale Alice. I could go for that. But I just wish she wasn't taken out by him. Taken out by anything else, okay. Sure, if she doesn't make it to the end of the old movie, but for her to be let down by this fucking piece of trash twice, uh, and then he just fucking wouldn't die. Calling the fucking Teflon Don because ain't shit was sticking to him or going through him.

SPEAKER_03 38:49

Teflon Don. I can't.

SPEAKER_01 38:52

You see, that's one of the parts that just frustrates me about this movie. That's what you know docked at a few points because it's like, what do you mean? This poor woman has gone through enough, bro. And I'm already like, what am I, like 30 minutes into this movie now, it feels like? And you just introduce her to remove her, to introduce her again, to then remove her. Like, yeah, what the fuck is that?

SPEAKER_03 39:17

It's the emotional roller coaster. You've got the ultimate betrayal where you're that whole scene, you're just like, what the fuck? This guy really fucking did that. This guy literally just fucking bounced and consciously just left them behind to save his own ass. Okay, we now hate this guy, we feel for her. Now we find her again. We're like, oh my god, she's reunited with her kids. He's got she's gonna tell them the truth. Oh my god, this is so great. And then, you know, whatever. I guess you're right, probably didn't intentionally infect him because afterwards she was screaming like she did not want to die. So I guess that's true. But, you know, that happens, and then you know, he attacks her, of course, because she's the only fucking one in the room now, and he's raging out of control. And so now we've got the emotional swing again. We're like, damn, this fucking asshole is gonna still get her in the afterlife.

SPEAKER_00 40:08

I want to throw it back to the Fear Street Prong Queen episode. Ladies, love yourself more than this. Listen to Binks. This is crazy.

SPEAKER_01 40:16

It's absolutely unjust like unacceptable. It's just unacceptable. But here's the other part to it that I think about. What do you even mean that this is like military forces? You have kept the infected at bay, we've spent all this time, they've gotten hungry, they've all died out, you know, you seem to have everything under control in terms of this infection in the city, blah blah blah. And you don't think to be a little bit more cautious about the one person who somehow has not been infected? Like, what do you mean that this man is lollygagging around with a janitor card or whatever the fuck he's holding and is just prancing around the hospital? What about Rumpel Stillskin? Makes him invincible. I'm just trying to figure it the fuck out because fucking guy.

SPEAKER_03 41:11

I mean, he's like everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 41:13

Everywhere. He's running around everywhere, like it's all fine and dandy.

SPEAKER_03 41:16

Like he's just like he had all his own thoughts and everything.

SPEAKER_00 41:19

Like I run the place. I'll access pass.

SPEAKER_03 41:24

Clearly, the motherfucker does run the place because he's everywhere. You can't escape this guy, he can't die. He's fucking trolling this entire cast.

SPEAKER_00 41:32

It's because the portrayal and mediocrity of men continues to be the most dangerous thing in our world.

SPEAKER_01 41:38

It's so crazy. And that's what gives this movie a little bit more original points because it's starting to talk about something that's real and relevant even now. Absolutely. No, I gotta say, Don is like a roach that just won't fucking quit. And it feels like he also has traveled by uh like miles, bro, like miles. I'm sorry to get Spanish about it, but it's just like I'm shook. It's bringing out the Cuban in me because quite frankly, this man is like a jump scare. It's a cameo every other like 20 minutes, it feels like. Like, why is this guy like not taken down immediately? The military. You're in a you're in a base of the military, and all of a sudden you got a whole fleet of snipers. A whole yeah, yeah, yeah. But no one could take this guy down. They left him alone with his wife, with the one person who might be immune, and with his little janitor card, and now he's out here taking everybody down. What is happening? Because no one knows those halls better than him.

SPEAKER_03 42:41

Dude, he runs a place. He runs a place. Nick, it's kind of almost the fun of the movie. If you can even find fun in this movie, it's almost the fun, like almost campiness of the movie. It's not, but it's almost if you look hard enough, right? You really want if you really want to really pry it out of the film, those are the moments that you just gotta have fun with, I feel like.

SPEAKER_01 43:03

You know what? What you're teaching me right now is it's all about mindset. If I just switch my mindset, I could have a good time with this movie. You know what? I take it back. It's a slash, folks. It's a comedy, it's a horror comedy.

SPEAKER_00 43:17

I do have a question, and I know we had to get into more kills, but there was a lot of violence in the beginning of this movie, and I just have to know if you are in Don's position, you run upstairs to get your wife. Your wife is also there with some strange child that has been brought into the room and to the house, and she obviously is caring for this child almost as a proxy for her own children. Are you closing the door on your wife?

SPEAKER_03 43:44

No. You're not closing the door on the wife. You can't. I mean, listen, with zombies This coming from Sean says a lot, okay.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 43:53

It is, yeah, I get it. I mean, the kid throws a wrench in the plans. I get it. She made the bad call. Fuck that. This kid, you know what I mean? I think maybe the plan you gotta think, like, you know, I'm gonna try to channel like maybe my inner Rick from The Walking Dead, you know, because I wanna be like, I know I can save them. Like, we are the ones that live, you know what I mean? So, so I gotta channel that energy. But I think maybe, you know, the strategic way out, throw the blunt object, hit the kid in the head, kill the kid, say, okay, now you don't have to save the kid, let's fucking go and take the wife and we run. But and that's what happens.

SPEAKER_00 44:27

She looked at you the same if you murdered a child.

SPEAKER_03 44:30

My argument is you're still alive.

SPEAKER_00 44:32

Okay, that's fair. Or are you tripping the kid and letting it be bait?

SPEAKER_03 44:39

Hey, that works too. That works too. Hey, you might even be able to pull that off like that. Never happened. We saw that in The Walking Dead too. Well, whoopsie. Didn't make it. Sorry. You really saved us, though.

SPEAKER_00 44:50

We honor your sacrifice.

SPEAKER_03 44:52

Yeah, we honor that sacrifice. It's a tough call, though. I think from a human perspective, I want to say a lot of people's instincts would be to just run and save yourself, if we're being honest.

SPEAKER_00 45:02

Yeah, I know that that's for sure an instinct, but I think in the dire circumstance, I think in the best case scenario, I would like to think that I would have the courage to try to at least finagle or something. I think in also the very real scenario, there's no way I'm slipping out as effectively as he did that quickly. That motherfucker was running forever. I also don't understand how he quite escaped that closely. I mean, he there's a lot happening. I know there's a lot of distraction there, certainly, but my god, he really just slipped out at the exact right second. And I don't think in any reality anyone's timing is actually that good. I also don't know that I would be able to live with myself bearing that guilt if I just walked out on somebody, and this isn't just like a friend, an ally, someone that you establish, and you're thinking about like, okay, who are the people I have to go on for? This isn't that. This is your wife, this is the mother of your children, and I think that adds a different layer here of loyalty that I just think you can't cross.

SPEAKER_03 46:06

Definitely. But I mean, even right after that, this motherfucker with with Jacob like really screws this guy over. This dude's trying to get his boat going, and this I mean, come on, dude. This guy runs up out of nowhere. He brought all the infected to this poor guy. He's just trying to motor boat his fucking way across the pond and fucking Rumpel Stillskin over here just fucking hops, skips into jumps onto his boat, takes off, and gets this guy fucked up, man. Like, that's a dick move.

SPEAKER_00 46:36

And you're just gonna have it coming now.

SPEAKER_01 46:39

Listen, if you didn't have it coming, I was gonna say some crazy fucked up shit. Like, that's borderline racist, but you know what? Neither here nor there. I just feel very strongly about Don, much like I did about Rumpel Stillskin in Once Upon a Time. So, quite frankly, it's like 28 weeks later was just foreshadowing that show.

SPEAKER_03 47:00

Did you put a disclaimer out there that like Robert Carlisle, you're probably a really cool dude. And if you're listening to this episode, not that you would be, but if you are, we just don't like these characters. Rumpel Stillskin and fucking Don, not good, man. Not good.

SPEAKER_00 47:16

It says something about his performance, though, to be able to really just pull this much reaction to him.

SPEAKER_01 47:22

Oh, absolutely. As an actor, I mean, he he's incredible because he's very fucking good at doing what he does when it comes to playing these kinds of characters, without a doubt. Because holy shit, this movie does remind me that this guy is literally the scum of the earth, and that's why I feel so passionately about him surviving almost practically till the end of the movie, just for the sake of it being some kind of like, you know, because the daughter's gonna have to be the one that kills him, and oh my god, how sad is that? Like, bitch.

SPEAKER_03 47:54

I mean, that was pretty impactful.

SPEAKER_01 47:56

Was it because I really wanted him to just narrow me out.

SPEAKER_03 48:01

I think, well, I see you want more of his death, maybe you want more you want him to die like in a better, maybe a more impactful way, but yeah, or or at the same time. But I'm thinking I'm thinking of the fact of like from just Tammy's perspective, because I don't know that the kids ever learn about the betrayal, like that never actually happens.

SPEAKER_00 48:20

They don't know the full scope of it, but she is like, what the fuck?

SPEAKER_03 48:25

Because Well, they know they know that she's alive, and he said that she was dead, saw her dead. So there's some questions there, but the level of the betrayal, I think, is not really there. And so for her to think she lost her mom, found her mom, realize that she probably lost her mom again, and then saw that her dad got infected and now has to be the one that takes her dad out and leaving her without any parents and having to survive in this world with just Andy, you know what I mean? It's that's where I'm looking at it from.

SPEAKER_00 48:55

You know, what's interesting to me is I did not receive or perceive a strong layer of loyalty and warmth. Obviously, the kids love him and he loves them. There is that, I'm not going to deny it. However, once that betrayal hits and she is calculating and clocking this shit, sure, she doesn't know the full extent of it. She doesn't know that he was looking her in the eye and then closed the door and just kept on fucking running. But I think she's closer to putting those pieces together. And I think she knew she lost her dad in that moment. Even if he never got infected, she lost the man who she thought her dad was. And I think that is such a huge thing. I remember even feeling something similar for me. I remember the moment I realized my father wasn't the man I thought he was. And when you have that kind of complexity layered into this, and then she also has to fight him, he is gone. The dad she knew is gone, the dad that she realized he was is gone, and now there's just this husk, this shell, this twisted, murderous thing that has caused so much death, so much violence, has taken her mother away again. And I think that is such a huge moment for her character, and I love that.

SPEAKER_03 50:15

Damn, but we also have to talk about Scarlett's death, too.

SPEAKER_00 50:20

Holy shit. Oh my gosh. Wow, what a great found footage movie this could have been. Except night scopes on guns don't record video. Great POV shot, fucking great POV shot. I hated the fact that she left, but oh my gosh, what an effective way to show this, and what a brutal way to show it.

SPEAKER_03 50:42

Brutal, fucking brutal. That's what it was for me.

SPEAKER_01 50:45

I thought that it was really, really fun and it was giving like wreck quarantine type vibe. I thought it was fantastic and so sad. Because again, like if you just listen to women, dog, if people just listen to women, she was trying to say it from the beginning. She just wanted to get it tested. She had a good feeling about it. This whole thing could have been prevented if you just listened to her. But instead, you went and got some pizza, you got a donut, you left the infect the infected woman who was immune by herself, and the janitor dad, or whatever the fuck we want to call that pizza shit, just went in the city. The king, what do you mean?

SPEAKER_03 51:26

He's got the key to the city, this guy, Infectadon, man.

SPEAKER_01 51:30

Infectadon. It's fantastic. Yeah. Incredible name.

SPEAKER_00 51:34

It's terrible, but also I just want to point out that she goes from being let down in this movie to also having a shitty husband and Patrick Wilson and Insidious. Sorry, still fuck that guy. I'm not a fan of them in their in their marriage.

SPEAKER_01 51:47

No, that's fair. He's not great either. No, her track record is looking real poor when it comes to the city.

SPEAKER_00 51:52

Her track record is continuing to deserve better and also delivering great performances every step of the way.

SPEAKER_03 51:58

Such as life and horror.

SPEAKER_00 52:00

I want to see her make it and like really get all the great things that she deserves. But I also want to point out the helicopter sequence when we have the mass casualty of just complete brutality, complete chaos, fucking hilarious. It was like a slip and slide of slick gore. Ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01 52:20

Now that we're really unpacking this movie, the more I'm convinced that it really was a comedy. You're so right, Sean. Also, the fact that it's a video game, because what in the GTA was that?

SPEAKER_03 52:32

I mean, creative, I guess, you know, and very skillful, might I add, to be able to tip your helicopter and get the blades to just mow down a horde of zombies without the blades ever hitting the ground. That's impressive.

SPEAKER_01 52:45

And if that's the kind of skill that you been had, sir, this shit would have been wrapped up a lot sooner than 28 weeks later.

SPEAKER_03 52:52

Yeah, we could literally just call it landscaping and throw some helicopters down and just mow these fuckers down.

SPEAKER_01 52:57

That's it. That's what I'm saying. I completely agree. I completely agree.

SPEAKER_03 53:02

That should have been the uh sponsor, you know? Some zombie landscaping.

SPEAKER_00 53:07

Zomscape.com.

SPEAKER_03 53:09

Zomscape.

SPEAKER_00 53:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:11

Ridiculous. Man, but I mean, yeah, there's some crazy scenes in this movie, but overall, it's the cinematography and it's the editing, and it's all of that mixed together. It's that chaotic editing matched with that camera work that's kind of like found footage, kind of handheld, jiggling around. It's fucking unstable. And I just feel like they both worked to play this huge role in really selling the gore in this movie and selling the violence in this movie. Those quick cuts, the shaky framework, the lighting. I feel like it all helped to hide the seams between some of those practical and digital effects. Maybe not the helicopter scene, but I think it makes the violence feel almost unrelenting. So I really do appreciate what they were able to do with that.

SPEAKER_00 53:57

Yeah, I agree. I think one of the things that I love most about this movie is that it feels more cinematic and then also wield some of the techniques from its predecessor to really ground it in the spirit of what the franchise is. So I didn't love the sequences we get where it's like super grainy and slowed down, and it's just uh okay, get me out of 2002, get me out of 2003, get me out of 2001. I don't want to be there anymore. We're in the later aughts here, and I'm I'm I'm not interested in continuing to watch this super slowed down footage. But one thing that I love is how they played with lighting in this movie and getting creative in moments of total darkness, right? So we were just talking about Scarlett's death scene with the night vision and her having to navigate and guide these kids through this underground portion with bodies scattered everywhere with only a night scope. It's haunting, it's fucking chilling. And then the other elements where we use light and shadow, I'm thinking about the code red has been activated. We have this military service member saying, I'll be right back, and then he encounters Rumpel Stillskin, and you just know as these kids are watching out, the lights are flickering, all they can see are the double doors. You know, one of the two of them's coming in, and it's a shame that it wasn't the dad. It's a shame we didn't get a little rumple in there. Then we have Scarlet coming in to save the day and shooting the infected. That whole scene, that whole moment was just beautifully sculpted with light, and I just fucking loved it.

SPEAKER_01 55:36

It's funny because we have talked about this before, and and already in this episode, in terms of like your disdain for how it's filmed, because of just like your experiences with having to film with some shitty fucking cameras. But for me, it's really like how analog it feels. I actually feel like the graininess, the grit, the quick editing, like you were saying, Sean, like all of that feels like it's in a time capsule, you know. I I feel like it's so far removed from present day that if I were to look at 28 weeks later in years, you can really fucking feel that it's been some time. I would imagine. And we haven't even seen the movie yet, but I can only anticipate that obviously it's been almost 20 years since this movie, so of course it's gonna look different. But I will say that I I almost feel like it's um nostalgic to an ex to an extent in terms of how it's filmed production-wise. And I think for me, the biggest example of that is my favorite scene, which is the opening scene that coincidentally is directed by Danny Boyle, that particular portion. And I feel like it's an incredible opening because you aren't quite sure are like who these characters are, and you think, like, is this gonna be the new ensemble that I'm following throughout the movie? Is this gonna be the people that I'm watching? And then it takes such a quick turn that it almost feels like its own movie. That's why I keep reiterating. Like, I feel like I'm playing several different games or I'm watching several different movies. That opening shot in and of itself feels like a short film. I'm watching a whole group get together. I'm quickly getting to know everyone pretty decently. There's conflict, there's betrayal, there's love, there's empathy, there's a lot of things happening in this one fucking moment, and I'm like, wow, this is fantastic. And it moves pretty quickly. I wish that kind of momentum stayed for me personally throughout the film, but that opening scene almost it doesn't even feel like it's fair to say it's my favorite scene because it feels like a whole other fucking movie.

SPEAKER_00 57:44

Well, I'll say it's my fucking favorite scene. It was the thing that I felt most passionate about in this movie, and it's because it sets the tone so perfectly. It does again that world building and really showing you who these people are, how they've come together. It's clear that they're not all there because they're connected, but rather they're there by circumstance and chance. And for me, just like what I was saying about the lighting a moment ago, this is where it comes into play because these people are actually in broad daylight, but they're so shuttered in and closed in together that you would never know that it's broad daylight outside until they go to open the door because of the knocking outside. And to see that disconnect from what's going on outside is just absolutely incredible to me. And we go from so much intimacy to then panic to betrayal to violence and brutality, and it's the bit it's really like the genesis of one of the most emotional and visceral moments in the movie. This loss of love between Don and Alice, maybe not a true loss of love, but certainly a loss of trust and that look of betrayal and the pain that you see in Alice's eyes the further Don runs away. It really sets up the rest of the movie beautifully.

SPEAKER_03 59:07

I mean, yes, the opening scene definitely sets the tone. I think anybody can watch this movie and say that's gotta be, if it's not their top, one of their top scenes, because yes, there's so much going on, you get all the feels, it's intense. Those fucking infected are fucking insane. They just come like tearing through the house. That's like another thing, too, to keep in mind is like one, they're fast, so like you don't have a lot of time to think or get away or defend yourself, but also they will just literally run through your house, like they will just break through your window, break through your door, whatever it is, because they don't give a shit. And that I think makes it even more insane. But there are a couple of other scenes that I think were also kind of impactful, maybe not to that level, but and I don't even know how we didn't talk about this in kills, but Doyle's kill, I think, was very impactful, right? I want I just think, man, it's the scene though, just the nerve, whatever gas they use that was just billowing down the streets, right? Like that was an intense scene. You're getting the streets getting filled with that gas, you're getting, you know, the military coming through in you know, the hazmat type suits or gas masks, and they got flamethrowers, and they're really just trying to cleanse these streets. And Doyle making that decision to save these people, right? Knowing that this is now after that talk of like this being bigger than him because of these kids carrying the possible antibodies and maybe the cure for this thing, and the way he just like gets out and just accepts his fate and getting burned alive, and like, man, it was intense, it was brutal, it was heartbreaking, actually.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:55

It really was, and I think that's again a testament to the quality of the characters in this movie. Also, shockingly how stacked this cast is. I mean, I don't watch any of the Avenger movies, but I know that he eventually goes on to become Hawkeye. But looking back and seeing just the emotional turmoil for him, and he is very clearly set in his ways, he knows his job, he's there to execute, but then he gets what he perceives to be an unlawful order and chooses to leave. He chooses to stay on his own ethics and his own ground, and I loved his commitment to that. And it's really just this sense of selfless service, not because of just his role, but you can tell it's just who he is and how he's made up as a human, and I absolutely love that. It's it's so heartbreaking to see his death in the movie, but also what a gamble. He had to be so fucking sure that this car was gonna function and also have gas. Could you imagine getting yourself flombeed and that shit has no way of starting because there's something else wrong mechanically with the car?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:06

Shit. Terrible, terrible, yeah. I mean, absolutely terrible. It is interesting though, Jeremy Renner. Like, is he always some kind of military dude? Is he always like almost this type of character, almost this exact I mean, the exact same look across every movie is a little bit hilarious to me.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:26

Listen, isn't he the main guy in Hurt Locker? Like the guy is just an icon and also oh, just a real life survivor and like soldier because holy shit, the guy had a terrible accident happen to him and survived that too.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:45

Yeah. Props to him. Major props. I do want to get into this one other scene, though, that I think is it was a very different feeling, I guess, for a moment that led up to a really great moment as well. So when Andy and Tammy like first like run off and they escape into the streets of London, there's that moment where they're like zipping around on the scooter and everything is like empty, there's nothing around. There was this almost, it was the really almost like the first sense of peace in the movie. Like you had this calm before the storm. It felt peaceful just being in that moment and riding through these empty streets in this post-apocalyptic kind of format or this city, right? And that was just a different feeling that I don't think you get again really throughout the rest of the movie. But it also led to the scene where they go to their house, and it's actually probably for just a second there, one of the creepier moments, right? Because Andy's upstairs, he's like going into that room, it's nasty. There's like un there's like maggots crawling all over old canned food and things like that. And he like hears or sees something in the mirror, and it's like, you know, we don't know that he doesn't know that it's his mom or anything yet, but like it's creepy, like it's a real, that's like there's a lot of horror in that scene right there. You know what I mean? And they built that pretty well as she's even as she's crawling up, you're just not sure if she's gonna snap at him, jump at all that stuff, right? So it builds tension in a much more traditional sense in just that moment.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:20

Oh man, the look of love, and when he said, Oh, I knew it, mixed with her horror and thinking about just a this urge that she had to fight what she was feeling.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:34

The rage, the rage.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:35

Exactly. But you know what? Hey, a mother's love can overcome any rage.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:40

I mean, it's a testament, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:42

I also want to talk, though, about obviously we had significant moments here, but we had Idris Elba's character and the decisions that he had to make and to have to execute a code red. This was something that was devastating to watch. And it's one of those situations where you can see on his face, right? And I'm thinking about the scene where everything is being decimated, it's being firebombed, the fire's ravishing everything, you hear people scream, it's somber and it's sobering. But when you look at him and his reaction through all of it, he has such a nuanced and I envy his talent here because he has this ability to bear his responsibility as a true burden. You can tell that these are the decisions that he has to make, not the ones that he wants to make. But he's constantly looking out for what he perceives to be the greater good. And that is something that is always so hard to watch or experience in any kind of movie or setting where you know a high ranking military officer has to make and give an order like this. I'm thinking about even one of my favorite TV shows, 911. I recently had a similar situation where they had a high ranking officer. Officer basically saying, Okay, we gotta cut our losses losses and contain this because we cannot risk the impact to the greater population. And it's always really easy to hate those people. But I couldn't hate him here because tough call to make. Exactly. He knows and he stands by the decisions that he's made, but you can see in his eyes and his body language and his posturing, there's an extreme loss of life that is not lost on him. And not often enough do we get the impact or the reactions of the people who are pushing the buttons for these things. And that's how I think, even going back to my own military service, I was on an aircraft carrier. We were not super direct, right? Like we launched the aircraft who did these things. But I had so many of my peers, and one of them actually was a conscientious objector, and he was separated from the military from it because he could not reckon with it, he could not grapple with it. And so there's a very real and human reaction here when you realize what you're a part of and what your actions do and what they're in service of. And I just this was such a significant moment. Again, every supporting character in that scene, phenomenal.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:11

Yeah, it is crazy to think about, but even not even just the code red of it all, but even the having to make the call of like, hey guys, just shoot everybody. You can't tell, and we gotta contain fuck a code red. This fool at first had to say, just shoot everybody.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:29

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:30

That's a call that's hard to make, too, man. That is hard. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:36

And yet, I'm just saying, efficient. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:39

But Infectadon, man, he dodged all those snipers, dodged the firebombings, sucked up that gas, didn't phase them, and still found his way through, man. What the fuck?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:51

He's literally okay up at night.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:54

Nevertheless, he persisted. Can we also just acknowledge a couple more folks from this cast, though? I I gotta it cannot be lost on us. We have Imogen Poots, who plays the daughter Tammy. She's in the 2019 Black Christmas and many other films. But then we have Harold Perrino, who plays Mercutio in the 90s Romeo and Juliet.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:15

Oh, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:16

And of course he would be the one with the fucking crazy campy ass helicopter kills. Of course he would.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:23

Of course he would.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:29

Sorry, his name is Macintosh Muggleton, and I just think that's the funniest thing ever in a cute and delightful way.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:35

He sounds like a cereal box. I love it. A Harry Potter serial box.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:40

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's interesting, but good for him.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:44

You know, there's so much good in this movie, and for all the highs that I really feel when I'm watching this because of those characters, I think it really just narrows down that my only real issue with this movie is the use of that grainy slowdown digital footage just to put it back towards the original. Again, I know it's meant to echo 28 days later, it's not lost on me, but it just doesn't work for me and it distracts me from what I think were otherwise very strong sequences. So everything else, sorry, the performances, the pacing, the writing, the direction, solid. But this is one of those things where I'm like, ugh, okay, could have done without it.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:25

Yeah, I think for me, the interesting part is that I think the worst part of this movie might just be how little they really flushed out some of the characters for me. Because even though the dynamic between what happens between Don and Alice and the kids, there's some emotional stakes, like there's some heart-wrenching stuff, there's some brutality, and there's some impactful things that you know will stick with you. It's just the dynamic of this family just seemed so odd to me. Like the kids are staying at their aunt and uncle's or whatever, convenient, strange, but okay. Like during an outbreak like this, they're just like visiting some relatives, you know, and they're just like stuck in this house, this farmhouse trying to survive while their kids are like on vacation, is what it felt like. Is that how they kind of presented it to me? That's how I felt when they unraveled that a little bit. So very, very interesting. And I don't know, I think that might be the worst part because I think it's just that. And then to your point, Binks, just the ridiculousness of like how Don gets infected and is somehow able to just persevere throughout the entire movie. You have to laugh at it because this guy shows up fucking everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:39

It feels like he cost a lot of money, and so the contract said he needed to be in a large portion of the film. It's absurd. What I will say is the best part for me, it's women. The women in this movie. Truthfully, they persevere. They persevere for as long as they could. They're also complex. Alice had to persevere 28 weeks of being by herself, just ruminating, because you know a bitch was spiraling, about how her man left her and abandoned her. And sure, she kissed him back because again, complex feelings, emotions, whatever. Then we got Scarlett, who was trying to tell y'all to take this more seriously. No one listened to her. No. Persevering. And Tammy, young little Tammy girl, you gotta shoot your dad. Well, quite frankly, I guess better you than me somehow trying to find my way into this movie and doing it for you, because everybody else tried to kill him and he couldn't. So it had to be you, the final boss of 28 weeks later in this franchise, apparently is Rumpelstilskin. I'm just saying that women really were championing a lot of this. And shout out, honorary, I guess, shout out to our boy Jeremy Renner, for sure, because I'm glad that we brought him up. Because Ally, all right, he really also was trying to do the best. And yes, he got flambé, but I feel like he was trying to prove that he would have listened, that he would have done more. I think that honestly, I'm hoping that in 28 years later we see a little bit more of like strong women in the film somehow, some way. I'm not really I haven't even looked too much into who else is in this cast for this new movie. And I'm glad that we have revisited this and even 28 days later that we saw relatively recently. We did our episode on that not that long ago, that I'm prepped, I'm ready for 28 years later. I feel like I I won't have to revisit this again, fingers crossed, but somehow I don't also want to like say that I won't, because like Infectadon, somehow I still keep watching this movie. It never fucking stops. I don't know why, but I s I keep watching it.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:01

Yeah, I think this is far from a movie that I want to actively re-watch often. There's a lot of zombie movies I would re-watch before this, but when pressed, I would absolutely watch this one of the franchise so far when wanting to deal with this particular type of infected or thinking about just this franchise as a whole. Again, great timing for us. We're watching this, and very soon, 28 years later comes out. So yeah, I agree with you, Banks. I'm completely feeling prepared for this moment. My one thing is I'm gonna try to take Ally to see 28 Years Later with me, and I'm realizing I don't think she's seen any of them.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:40

Dang. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. But yeah, I mean I already just sat down to re-watch 28 days later and this one 28 weeks later to prep, you know, not only for this show, but also for the upcoming 28 years later. So yeah, I don't think I'll be watching this one again anytime soon, but rest assured, I will be, because I do love both of these movies, and I hope I like 28 weeks or 28 years later, because I should be on the lookout for one of those collectible box set whatever DVD sets when all three are available, because I think if the upcoming movie is as good to me as the first two installments, I think it's gonna be a pretty solid trilogy.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:24

Well, they're saying that this 28 years later is actually gonna be part like a one like a start of its own trilogy.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:33

They'll just keep on keeping on.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:35

Well, it's time for us to keep on keeping on, because there you have it, folks. 28 weeks later from 2007 has earned one hack and two slashes. Although that hack was suspiciously turned into a slash for being a comedy. But we've certainly had a robust discussion here, and the conversation doesn't end here by any means.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:54

If you want to find out how you can survive until 28 years later, consider supporting the show by visiting patreon.com slash hackerslash, where you can enjoy even more of the show, including bonus content with early access, extended episodes with our B-sides, movie nominations, and live shows.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:12

And if you hate Dawn as much as we do, leave us a five star review wherever you get your podcasts. This helps us to continue to deliver great content for all you horror fiends out there.