In “28 Days Later,” an engineered virus called the “rage virus” escapes a laboratory, quickly infecting all of Great Britain. The rage virus is highly contagious, and its effects are almost instantaneous. Anyone infected loses their sanity, becomes intensely enraged, and wants to kill anyone who is uninfected. The infected are much like zombies, but they’re not undead.
These aren’t your grandpa’s zombies. The infected are terrifying and ruthless, sprinting after and tearing apart their victims. They use anything from blunt weapons to their teeth — they use whatever they can find to kill, and they’re highly efficient. What makes the infected more frightening than zombies is that they can still reason somewhat, showing signs of limited intelligence — something explored in more detail in the sequel, “28 Weeks Later.”
Of course, the infected are completely enraged, so they’re not exactly sentient any longer. Still, they’re horrifying, and the rage virus itself is incredibly scary. In one scene, a tiny drop of blood falls into a man’s eye, and within about 10 seconds, he begins to show signs of cognitive decline and rage directed at everyone around him, including his daughter. The worst part is that he knows he’s changing and there’s nothing he can do about it, just beg his friends to stay away from him.
