From The Archives: 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo1

by Daniel Robert Epstein

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo really impressed me with his debut feature film Intacto nearly five years ago. He also caught the attention of esteemed filmmaker, Danny Boyle, who had just finished his post-apocalyptic ode to the zombie genre, 28 Days Later. When it came time for Boyle to hire someone to direct the sequel 28 Weeks Later it seems that Fresnadillo was high on his list.

Fresnadillo has directed 28 Weeks Later with grand aplomb and has created a fast paced thriller that combines what 28 Days Later did with new unexpected elements. Robert Carlyle plays a man who in the wake of the rage virus spreading across England was able to hide in a safe house with his wife. When the infected break into their refuge, he makes a split second decision and leaves his wife to be infected. The story picks up again 28 weeks later, the infected have all starved to death and the US military have set up a safe haven in the middle of London. Carlyle’’s character is safe in the green zone and is able to have his children fly back into the country and the family can be reunited. But his wife has been discovered to be a Typhoid Mary type with the rage virus and she is brought into the safe zone with dangerous results.

Read our exclusive interview with Juan Carlos Fresnadillo on SuicideGirls.com.