I love zombie apocalypse movies. Shaun of the Dead, Train to Busan, Zombieland, Rec, The Sadness, I am Legend, World War Z… hell, Resident Evil? If it's about the end of the world, I'm in. I've seen enough of them to know, then, that the best kind of zombie apocalypse movie isn't the one with the most ambitious CGI or explosive action, it's the one that is as much about the collapse of a human psyche as it is the breakdown of society.
Inspired by the haunting isolation of John Wyndham's exquisite sci-fi horror novel The Day of the Triffids and the sharp social commentary of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later, which recently rereleased in cinemas, is a prime example of how to do a story about flesh-eating ghoulies right. Released in 2002, it tracks London-based courier Jim's bleak journey up north after he wakes from a coma to discover that a rage-inducing virus has destroyed Britain – making mega stars of Brendan Gleeson, Naomie Harris, and Cillian Murphy, popularizing "fast" zombies, and paving the way for hit series like The Walking Dead and The Last of Us.
