28 Days Later Writer Weighs in on Debate About Film Being a Zombie Movie

Horror fans are a passionate group who are happy to debate any number of topics, which includes trying to define what does or doesn’t belong to specific subgenres. Take, for example, the 2002 film 28 Days Later, and whether or not it can actually be considered a zombie movie. According to writer Alex Garland, the film is definitely in the zombie subgenre, despite not fulfilling the criteria some believe all zombie films have to adhere to. The film would go on to earn the sequel 28 Weeks Later, leaving fans to wonder if we could ever get a follow-up film that jumps even further into the future.

“I’m aware for years and years there’s been debates about that,” Garland expressed to Empire Magazine. “Over whether or not it’s a zombie movie … It’s a zombie movie … Whatever technical discrepancies may or may not exist, they’re pretty much zombies.”

The film focuses on a virus that spreads and amplifies a victim’s inherent rage, turning them into chaotic beasts who know nothing other than violence. The virus spreads either through blood or by saliva, transmitting in similar ways to how most zombie viruses perpetuate. 

The major points of contention when it comes to whether or not 28 Days Later is actually a zombie movie is that, according to some audiences, a zombie has to be a reanimated corpse. In the wake of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead in 1968, most zombie films stuck to strict criteria about what it meant to truly be a zombie film, with the resurrection of the dead being a major component. Since the monsters in 28 Days Later definitively aren’t dead and can be killed in similar ways to how a normal person would be killed, some consider it to be an infection or contagion film instead of a zombie film.

Despite Romero’s films helping establish the lore of zombies, his were far from the first narratives to tackle the subject matter. Some of the earliest examples of the creatures in cinema, such as White Zombie and I Walked with a Zombie, use voodoo rituals for the source of individuals being stripped of their humanity, reflecting societal fears of becoming mindless drones. In addition to debates over whether zombies have to be dead or not, a number of different zombie stories have entirely reinvented the source of zombification, from supernatural forces to scientific discoveries to otherworldly visitors.

Back in 2018, Garland sadly cast doubt on 28 Months Later ever getting to move forward.

What do you think of the filmmaker’s remarks? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!