I recently rewatched 28 Days Later before going to see its sequel, , because I wondered if Danny Boyle’s 2002 zombie apocalypse would live up to my fond memories.
It really did, from that stunning opener, in which Cillian Murphy stumbles through an eerily empty London in a hospital gown, to the horror of Christopher Eccleston turning into a baddie in an eyebrow-raising few weeks.
I’ve also just reread John Wyndham’s , above, which kicks off similarly: a man escapes disaster through hospitalisation, and wakes to devastation. Googling, I discovered that, according to , the writer of 28 Days Later was partly inspired by Wyndham. So, was the very similar opening of The Walking Dead also inspired by either of the above? Not according to various comics industry reports…
I’m way behind the times in any event – and the bottom line is that a classic zombie film and a classic sci-fi novel are still very, very good – and start the same way.
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