Joey Magidson
The Sunday Scaries are upon us once again! Yes, as the weekend concludes, most of us feel an oncoming sense of anticipatory dread about the week ahead. Anxiety about work manifests itself into a feeling that’s known as the Sunday Scaries. However, we at Awards Radar are here to combat that, by taking back the name. Now, we want you think about a horror-centric piece on the site when you hear the term. So, let us continue on with another installment of the Awards Radar Sunday Scaries! This time around, we’re again talking about the future of a suddenly very alive zombie franchise…
This weekend, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple hit theaters, riding some really strong buzz and reviews. In fact, the praise has exceeded that of 28 Years Later, and has rivaled that of the original, 28 Days Later. Last time, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland had returned to the property that they created, while this time Boyle just produces, with Nia DaCosta stepping in to direct Garland’s screenplay. The final product is excellent, not just validating this extended franchise, but making me absolutely fascinated by how it’s going to conclude.
My review here of the film had the following to say:
When 28 Years Later (reviewed here) hit theaters about seven months ago, it was not what a lot of audiences expected. The first effort in a purported new sequel trilogy to 28 Days Later (and it’s own sequel 28 Weeks Later), it felt very much like its own thing, full of original ideas and truly building on what’s come before. Now, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple continues that trend, while also exploring even bolder aspects of the story. In doing so, instead of being an unnecessary new edition, it’s the best of the franchise to date, and yes, that’s including the original.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is not just the quietest installment yet, it also manages to be, when it gets violent, the most brutal in the series so far. At one point it might be ruminating on agnosticism vs faith, while in the next, savage gore abruptly happens. What might have been tonal whiplash in lesser hands instead is the sort of heady horror that we now know to expect from this property.
Previously, when 28 Years Later opened, I had a Sunday Scaries piece on how it made me eager for the next chapter. That piece spoke about how it had done more than enough to get me curious for a sequel. Well, not only has the sequel exceeded expectations, it’s gone further and raised the series’ stature overall. Now, we know that 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is good. We also know that Boyle and Garland have gotten the green light to finish the trilogy. So, there’s no reason not to be excited, especially once you see what DaCosta has done with Boyle and Garland’s world. The new directions are truly exciting, with the promise of more to come. There’s at least one scene in this one that easily stands tall as the best in the franchise, overall.
We’ll see what happens, but at this point, it’s reasonable to expect something special out of this final film. You can argue whether Boyle or DaCosta should be helming it, but it’s happening, and that’s very exciting to me now. More on the movie when it comes out, but in a year or so, we’ll likely be talking about how this franchise wraps up. Fingers crossed that it goes out on another high note…
Stay tuned for another Sunday Scaries installment next week!
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