28 Years Later Trailer
If the movie is as good as the trailer dating back to 2002 film that started this franchise, then the anticipation was worth the wait.
by Tracie Reddick
As a kid, I remember watching Willy Wonka terrify Golden Ticket holders during his trippy boat ride through a dark tunnel.
How the flashing, creepy images seemed to propel Gene Wilder’s frantic admission: “I don’t know where this is going.”
Meanwhile, the rowers kept on rowing as I sat on the edge of my seat, mind spinning, wondering how this freaky field trip would end.
That’s the first — and last — recollection I have of a movie giving me goosebumps.
Until I saw the trailer for the upcoming film, 28 Years Later. It was absolutely terrifying in the most terrific way.
We’re foot-slog-slog-slog-slogging over Africa. Foot-foot-foot-foot slogging over Africa. Boots-boots-boots-boots movin’ up an’ down again! There’s no discharge in the war!
First time I heard Rudyard Kipling’s 1915 poem, Boots, was in my high school advanced literature class. I found it interesting, giving off a rhythmatic flow like the dark, repetitive vibe of an Edgar Allen Poe verse.
Back then, I didn’t appreciate its relevance, relating more to his ode, If.
Plus, I’m a visual learner and this trailer clearly conveyed the meaning, if not the message, of how British infantry soldiers, who had no break from the relentless sound of marching boots, were driven mad as they trekked across Africa during World War II.
Fast forward to the future and all I can say is: Wow!
What a brilliant way to modernize the poem by substituting British soldiers with their country men now battling the same type of despair brought on by the nonstop, pitter-patter of footsteps.
Growing louder. Closer. Fleeing from the continuous, onslaught of the undead.
Seven-six-eleven-five-nine-an’-20 miles today. Four-eleven-seventeen-thirty-two the day before. Boots-boots-boots-boots moving’ up and down again!
Taylor Holmes’ stirring rendition of the poem is offset by bleak, post-apocalyptic images paralelling the countdown to insanity sparked by a rage virus that turned into an epidemic 28 Days Later (2002).
It also laid the ground work for the landmark film featuring reapers that revolutioned the zombie subgenre by turning the slow-moving, walking dead into full-fledged, flesh-eating sprinters.
Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) and written by Alex Garland (Civil War), the film revolved around Jim (Cillian Murphy), a bike courier who woke up from a coma after the world was decimated by the disease.
He joined a rag-tag group of survivors seeking salvation at a military compound that supposedly had the answer to the cure.
Upon arriving, they quickly learned the living are scarier than the dead, narrowly espacing horny soldiers seeking someone to blow their bugles, before finally finding refuge in a zombie-free, hillside haven.
28 Weeks Later (2007) the virus spread across theaters with a new director, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, and cowriters Rowen Jaffe, Enrique Lopez Lavigne and Jesus Olmo.
Their version featured a new cast and a different plot revolving around a family separated during the initial outbreak but were reunited at another military-governed safey zone.
Living with the infected became the new normal, folks got complacent, rules were broken and next thing you know, an undead horde was feasting on a heaping, helping of humans.
Then the franchise that resurrected the endless flow of zombie flicks went dead -although the reanimated feins continued to dominate theaters with other trailblazing films like: World War Z (2013), The Girl With All the Gifts (2016), Train to Busan (2016) and the reboot of the godfather of ghouls, aka, George A. Romero’s 1978 film Dawn of the Dead (2004).
Don’t-don’t-don’t look at what’s in front of you. Boots-boots-boots-movin’ up and down again! Men-men-men-men-men go mad with watchin’ ’em! An’ there’s no discharge in the war!
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With a June release date, 28 Years Later marks the franchise’s return, which some fans surmised is a set-up for a triology, which anyone whose ever watched Scream knows is pretty rare in horror movies.
Besides, Boyle has already stated 28 Years will not pick up where 28 Weeks left off and will link to the first film created by him and his cohorts.
Sounds a bit like the poor reaction to last year’s Day One prequel to Director John Krasinski’s 2018 hit film, A Quiet Place.
Krasinski is back on board for the next installment of the film featuring the hearing impaired alien invaders that’s slated to be released later this year.
Also, there’s already a fourth film in the works dubbed, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, that’s scheduled to be released in 2026. Not sure why this one wasn’t called 28 Months Later for the sake of continuity, but I’m looking forward to next year’s movie.
Why? Cuz it’s directed by Nia DaCosta, who turned Candyman into a poster child for the Black Lives Matter movement, thus ruining the concept and character the late Tony Todd didn’t get a chance to reclaim as one of the few beloved, black Boogeyman villains.
But, I digress.
Who cares if 28 Years Later is a sequel, prequel or trilogy. Boyle is back — along with all the pivotal players.
Try-try-try-try to think of something different. Oh-my-God keep me from going lunatic.
“Time didn’t heal anything,” according to the tag line.
What does that mean? Does the audio offer a clue by noting how the more things haved changed, the more they’ve remained the same — and the only thing that has evolved is the virus?
Is Boyle about to transform the zombie subgenre once again with a new breed of zombies dubbed the infected? Based on the images in the trailer, it appears they’ve morphed into giant-sized mutants.
Count-count-count-count the bullets in the bandoliers. Boots-boots-boots-boots movin’ up and down again! If-your-eyes-drop, they will get atop o’ you!
We-can-stick-out hunger, thirst and weariness. But not-not-not-not the chronic sight of ’em. An’ there’s no discharge from the war.
There’s a lot of madness to unpack while breaking down the trailer, leaving me with questions than answers.
Like: What’s up with that skull monument? Does it have some sort of religious context related to a death cult?
Or, is Jim just showing off his kill count with a towering collection of decapitated heads? And is Jim even alive? Cuz that emanicipated zombie rising up from the weeds looked a lot like him.
And where is my girl, Selena (Naomi Harris)? She was an iconic, machete-wielding character in the first film, who no doubt was the inspiration for The Walking Dead’s Michonne ((Danai Gurira) and a nod to Duane Jones from Romero’s 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead.
Taint-so-bad-by day because o’ company. But-night-brings-long-strings of forty thousand million. Boots-boots-boots-boots movin’ up and down again! There’s no discharge from the war!
I-have-marched-six weeks in all an’ certify. It-is-not-fire, devils, dark or anything but: Boots-boots-boots-boots moving’ up and down again!
When it comes to using sound to illicit fear, as opposed to piling on a lot of gory details, this trailer is a prime example of how to simply do it.
Don’t believe me? Check out Paramount’s trailer for its Yellowjackets series that also used the Boots poem. You don’t get the same urgency, intensity and chilling effect because there’s a disconnect between the message, words and the over hyped, bloody depictions.
Neverthless, I’m pretty sure I’ve replayed the trailer for Boyle’s new film at least 28 times, helping it become the second most watched horror movie trailer in history.
To date, it has garned more than 156.1 million global views and counting.
You should check it out if you haven’t already done so.
Meanwhile, if zombie’s aren’t your thing, check out my previews of other upcoming films slated to be released in 2025.
