28 Weeks Later

Exclusive clip: "Andy's Dream"

The sequel to Danny Boyle's ferocious zombie thriller "28 Days Later" takes us back to London six weeks after the virus has decimated Britain and ostensibly burned itself out. The American military patrols a "green zone" within the city. The plan is to slowly clean up and repopulate the city with those lucky few Brits who escaped the island or were abroad when the virus spread like a wildfire. As if it's going to be that simple. Boyle and Alex Garland, the director and writer (respectively) of the original, step into producer roles for the sequel and bring in Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (of the excellent "Intacto") to helm and co-write. He builds on the brilliant premise to create his own take on the complete breakdown and utter, nightmarish chaos when the virus inevitably spreads once again. Fresnadillo drives the scenes of zombie mayhem with a jumpy camera and a fractured editing style that adds a sense of panic to the chaos, as if seen through the terror-stricken perspective of an adrenaline-laced bystander. To add to the primal fury of the blood-crazed victims is a strange subplot with an infected father (Robert Carlyle) who stalks his children across the city, driven by some twisted paternal instinct corrupted by guilt and bloodlust. That's the least convincing element of an otherwise smartly made and effectively executed horror. Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau and Idris Elba co-star. Available in separate wide-screen and full-screen editions.

"When infection is around, the camera is infected as well and the editing is so fast to show that the attack and the affected people are very, very dangerous," explains director Fresnadillo in the commentary track, which he shares with his less-talkative producer/co-writer Enrique Lopez Lavigne. They discuss the development of the story and style as well as production details, and even point out a few scenes shot by Boyle, who spent a couple days helping out the second unit. The 14-minute "Code Red: The Making of 28 Weeks Later" is a standard documentary featurette, but "The Infected" is an interesting piece on the development of the look and performance of the crowds of ravenous zombies, guided by a dancing coach to help them develop their feral body language. Also features deleted scenes with optional commentary, the seven-minute "Getting Into the Action" (on stunts and action scenes), the flash-animated graphic novel "28 Days Later: The Aftermath," and the trailer.