Latest news with #Infected
Metro
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
'I'm the 6ft 8in Alpha in 28 Years Later that's haunting your dreams'
'Terrify me.' That was the instruction given to Chi Lewis-Parry by director Danny Boyle in his 28 Years Later audition. 'I didn't really understand what that meant. Like, how do you want me to go about this?' Lewis-Parry laughs. 'But I'm guessing I terrified him good enough!' The actor and MMA fighter didn't know the movie he was reading for initially, it was just 'Untitled Danny Boyle project'. But as he says of the name attached: 'It didn't matter what it was. I could have played a bin bag, and I'd have been happy.' * Spoilers ahead for 28 Years Later!* Lewis-Parry gets rather more than that as he portrays the 'king of the Alphas', Samson, in 28 Years Later – the most feared, and genuinely nightmare-inducing, of the newly evolved strain of the Infected. Over 20 years since Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland introduced their take on the zombie horror flick to the world with 28 Days Later in 2002, they're back with their hotly anticipated follow up, which was released in cinemas on Thursday. It's not a sequel, but – like the less well-received 28 Weeks Later in 2007, which Boyle and Garland only executive-produced – it's set in the same post-apocalyptic world, ravaged by the blood-born Rage Virus that turned humans into the flesh-eating Infected. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video But, after 28 years and with mainland Britain now under quarantine, new variants have emerged, and the most fearsome of all is the massive Beserker or Alpha. Not only are they bigger, stronger and meaner, but they display intelligence – and also the truly hideous habit of 'despining' their victims. Another variant is the Slow Low, a blubbery and bald creature that crawls on the ground slurping up worms. 'I saw it as you became what you are in your society,' Lewis-Parry tells Metro of the Infected's evolution. 'So if you are an alpha in your everyday life, then you are an Alpha as the infected. The traits and characteristics of the Infected didn't necessarily change from when they were human, but they are fuelled by rage, so control is lost.' We see one Alpha chase father and son Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Spike (Alfie Williams) down the causeway to their human haven on Holy Island after an educational hunting trip. But Samson, who is so named by the iodine-stained and eccentric Dr Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), gets a little more character development. After we see him take out a patrol of NATO soldiers – ripping one man's skull and spine out and then using it to beat another to death – he announces his arrival in an abandoned train carriage in similar fashion after Isla (Jodie Comer) helps a pregnant Infected give birth. Samson is shown to be more in control of his Rage than normal, aware of his surroundings and clocking the Infected after seeing her feet, leading to an interaction that informed the rest of that claustrophobic encounter between him, Spike and Isla. 'I remember when we shot that, it wasn't on the page. That was something we came up with. Danny just said, 'I want to include something here that shows he is conscious, what do you think?'' 'That's his creative genius is he lets you talk about things because we all inspire each other. There's no ego involved – and he literally just made it up on the day, based off our conversation.' Spike and Isla are then stunned to see Dr Kelson sedate Samson rather than kill him – something which would take as many as 12 precious arrows anyway in a society without guns. Suddenly, he's not just a scary killing machine – especially as Kelson reveals he has spent 13 years tending to the dead among both humans and the Infected alike, building his towering 'memento mori' of their skulls and bones. 'A lot of people would be put off by a person like Dr Kelson, and Jamie even says that he's gone mad, but he's a complicated man, in a very dire situation, and he's also very lonely,' suggests Lewis-Parry, who also played Phoebus in Gladiator II. And as to their characters' unexpected 'sweet relationship', he adds: 'I think in Samson he sees something that is probably more attractive than the humanity that's left, because this is something that's just operating off instincts, not hatred or a dislike for people, it is just existing. I think there's a nice sort of innocence to it.' That's one way of describing the huge naked zombie with wild hair and a long beard, red eyes and a thirst for blood – oh, and near-unstoppable strength. And yes, because everyone will be wondering – the Infected wear prosthetic genitals for both modesty and also legal reasons, due to working with the then 12-year-old Williams (or as Lewis-Parry confirms of the behind-the-scenes processes for the appearance of nudity: 'I never at any point thought I was going to be walking around in the nip'.) But it's not just how Lewis-Parry looks – being 6 ft 8in barefoot helps with the intimidation – but how he moves as an Alpha too that gives him such impact on screen. There's a very neat story behind the first person he explored Samson's physicality with, actor and the film's movement coach, Toby Sedgwick. Sedgwick actually played the Infected priest who Cillian Murphy's confused courier Jim interacts with in 2002's 28 Days Later, when he's trying to work out why he's woken up from a coma to find London abandoned. It was also him who invented the iconic stilted but petrifyingly fast run of the Infected. But Lewis-Parry knew he needed to do something different as he saw his Alpha having 'more control over the state that the infection puts him in, so that actually makes him more dangerous'. 'I felt like it looked like he was trying too hard, and I didn't want him to be trying anything – everything he did was just incidental. So I started to look at legendary movement, people like Andy Serkis, who is, in my opinion, the greatest all time. I looked at how he moved.' Although he couldn't directly copy Serkis due to – in his words – 'how vastly different our sizes are', he knew it was all about intention. 'What was his intention when he was moving, when he was crawling, when he was standing or when he was breathing?' shares Lewis-Parry, who was also inspired by creatures in 1980s and 90s horror movies like Predator and the Wolf Man. '[Samson's] very predatory, but he's not hiding the fact that he's coming after you. He's not trying to sneak up on you or conceal his presence. He's just like, I'm running through this wall, and if you're on the other side of it… The motive I gave him was that nothing will stop me.' And it appears that nothing has yet, as – although Lewis-Parry is very careful about giving anything away regarding next year's sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple , which was shot back to back – Samson is still alive and kicking as a zombie can get at the end of this year's film. More Trending 'What can I tease? There's a part two,' he smiles before hesitating as he picks his next words carefully. 'It's different, it's amazing.' And that's all I'm getting. 28 Years Later is in cinemas now. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple will be released on January 16, 2026. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Netflix fans devour 'unrelenting' horror movie as sequel hits cinemas MORE: The 'best horror film of 2025' has arrived on Amazon Prime's Shudder MORE: Jurassic World Rebirth embraces hardcore horror: 'I waited for the studio to say no'
BBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
28 Years Later 'an opportunity for North East actors'
A supermarket worker chosen to portray one of Danny Boyle's "Infected" in 28 Years Later said she hopes the film, shot mainly in north-east England, will lead to more opportunities for local Fulguzi, from Gosforth in Newcastle, was stacking shelves in Asda when she got the message she had been chosen to appear in the third instalment of the popular movie described the whole production had been "really exciting", but admitted the make-up made her "terrified" of some of the people she was working than 80% of the film has been filmed at North East locations including Holy Island, Hexham and Waskerley in County Durham. Ms Fulguzi - who plays one of the victims of the lab-leaked Rage Virus which was last shown reaching Europe at the end of Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later – found the role while working her day job at Asda."But I couldn't tell anyone," she said. "I just had to carry on my shift as normal."The extras were all trained in how to move and speak as an "infected", Ms Fulguzi said, while the make-up she wore for the role rendered her "completely unrecognisable".North East Screen official Gayle Woodruffe said the movie highlighted the North East as a versatile place to film."You can be in a city centre, 20 minutes later you're on a beach, 20 minutes later you're in a castle, countryside all that," she well as attracting future projects, Ms Woodruffe hoped the film would lead to a boom in tourism as people seek out 28 Years Later Fulguzi also looked to the future, adding: "Hopefully the film leads to more opportunities for North East actors." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Evening Standard
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Evening Standard
28 Years Later star: 'I'd die straight away in a real zombie outbreak'
Williams sees Spike's childhood as a fairly normal one up until the film picks up. Cocooned in the safe world of the island community, with the threat of the Infected at a remove on the mainland. 'It's just like anyone's childhood. He has friends, he goes to school,' he says. 'But there was training, he would still have to do archery, practice trying to survive the Infected.' He developed a story around the stone pendant his character always wears. 'I always thought that Isla and Spike went down to the beach one day and she picked out a little stone for him,' he explains. 'That's why he holds it so dear to him.'
Metro
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Phenomenal 28 Years Later is the first horror film to make me cry
I don't remember the last time a horror film started with the Teletubbies, but 28 Years Later wins the award for the most impactful use of the famous British kids' TV show's opening – as well as the most upsetting. It should also win awards as one of the most triumphant ever revitalisations of a franchise that transcends the idea of mere genre. 28 Years Later is the most heart-wrenching, emotionally involving horror film I have ever watched, while also turning up the gore and terror to 11. Plunging straight into a bloody and violent opening, it seems like this could be a nightmare to begin with – but it's not. And this won't be the last time you have that rather desperate wish while watching this movie. Original 28 Days Later director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland firmly take the reins once again for a follow-up to the film that cemented their careers in 2002. Like the less well-received 28 Weeks Later in 2007, which Boyle and Garland only executive-produced, 28 Years Later is not a direct sequel. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video It's set in the same post-apocalyptic world where humans contaminated with the blood-born Rage Virus are instantly transformed into the zombie-like Infected. With the British mainland now quarantined – and patrolled by boats – survivors have been left to fend for themselves in the intervening years, including a small island community that has protected itself thanks to its connecting causeway, only traversable at low tide. Here, 12-year-old Spike (brilliant newcomer Alfie Williams) is taken on his first hunting mission to the mainland by his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who is determined to toughen his son in the face of danger and death. We discover how the Infected have evolved too, from the blubbery, bald strain who creepily crawl along the ground, slurping up worms, to the advent of Alphas, who are bigger, stronger and meaner. They have the intelligence to hunt more stealthily – and also the truly hideous habit of 'despining' their victims. Everything about 28 Years Later is more extreme than its predecessors, but particularly when it comes to its gruesomeness and scariness, from each death being a blood-spattered snapshot at the moment of the kill, to the horrors of a carved-up victim hung by his ankles and choking on the bag slowly gathering his blood that's tied over his head. I hope you're not squeamish. The tension is also exquisite, with a pursuit scene that manages to be both heart-pounding and beautiful thanks to Young Fathers' haunting soundtrack combining with stunning shots of the starry night sky, pinpoints of light and water spray, creating an almost psychedelic experience. It's truly incredible what Boyle has managed to capture on the screen with returning cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, especially when the film was largely shot on iPhones. Spike's vulnerable mother Isla (Jodie Comer) then sparks the determination in him to embark on a quest with her for a cure to her undiagnosed illness, putting them on the path to meet fellow survivor Dr Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), who is on his own memento mori mission. An oddball but compassionate figure, the character of Kelson helps emphasise the close connection to death necessary in this world. The perspectives crystalised in such an extreme post-apocalyptic scenario are deftly intertwined, which also then cracks the audience open for the emotional damage yet to come. 28 Years Later is a brutally moving film, and the first horror movie to make me cry. More Trending It's also a phenomenal piece of cinema, and just when you think it's all over, the ending introduces a very uncomfortable reference for British audiences in Jack O'Connell's late-arriving character. He tells Spike, 'let's be friends', and you'll immediately be worried, but it tees up fans perfectly for what fresh horrors await in January's sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. 28 Years Later is out in UK cinemas on Thursday, June 19. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: M3GAN 2.0 risks crossing 'really fine line' with explicit jokes MORE: Netflix adds 'unrelenting' horror movie days before follow-up drops in cinemas MORE: Most 'unpredictable' horror movie of the decade is now streaming on Netflix
Metro
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Jodie Comer on her character's agonising journey in unseen 28 Years Later clip
Sorry, this video isn't available yet. Jodie Comer has given insight into the struggles of her 'confined' 28 Years Later character in a new mini trailer with gruesome flashes of the film's Infected. The 32-year-old actress plays Isla, a mother who is trying to cope with an undiagnosed and debilitating illness during the unforgiving landscape of the highly anticipated sequel to classic 2002 British horror 28 Days Later. In a clip shared exclusively with Metro, Comer teases a little more about how Isla fits into the narrative, which is also set in the same post-apocalyptic world as 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later, but is not a direct follow-up. 'Twenty-eight years ago, this infection infiltrated its way into these people's lives,' Comer explains on set, as we see graves and a wooden barricade on the beach while some Infected storm a house, attacking in a violent frenzy while their victims scream, with blood pouring from their eyes. 'My character Isla lives in a small community, but she's been confined to the walls of her home. 'Her son Spike makes the choice to take her off the island onto the mainland, which is the most dangerous place, to find help,' she adds. Isla is shown lying in bed, disoriented and knocking over a glass as Spike, played by newcomer Alfie Williams, asks: 'What's really wrong with her?' Throughout the promo clip there is also a terrifying glimpse at the pockmarked back of a stalking Infected – who now appear to crawl along the ground alongside their creepy, stilted run from the previous films. Glowing eyes lurk in the dark of a red, night-vision shot, while Ralph Fiennes as another survivor, Dr Kelson, is seen in a graveyard of bones with Spike and Isla, who in another flash is briefly seen holding a baby. However, Free Guy and The Bikeriders star Comer also insists that there's 'a real thread through it of humanity and emotion' as she and her onscreen son fiercely embrace in a fiery inferno. More Trending The latest clip still has more horrors in store though for fans thanks to a decomposing hand reaching out and the blistered and scarred yowling face of an Infected. 28 Years Later also stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Alfie's father Jamie, as well as Jack O'Connell. The movie, directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, was shot back to back with its sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which has been helmed by Nia DaCosta and is scheduled for release early next year. 28 Years Later is out in UK cinemas on Thursday June 19. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: M3GAN 2.0 risks crossing 'really fine line' with explicit jokes MORE: Netflix adds 'unrelenting' horror movie days before follow-up drops in cinemas MORE: Most 'unpredictable' horror movie of the decade is now streaming on Netflix
