Resident Evil & The Last of Us Inspired 28 Years Later’s Terrifying Zombies

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Summary

  • Alex Garland, writer of the 28 trilogy, reveals Resident Evil inspired the fast movements of rage zombies.
  • Garland aimed to create terror in the audience by making zombies move quickly, like in Resident Evil.
  • The Last of Us also influenced 28 Years Later, introducing a child-parent dynamic to the upcoming film.

28 Years Afterward, the eagerly awaited upcoming zombie film by Danny Boyle is unveiling a fresh trailer, showcasing some terrifying scenes for horror enthusiasts. Now that the zombies appear as fierce and frightening as they’ve ever been, writer Alex Garland discloses the popular video game series that inspired the creation of the rage virus.

As a passionate movie enthusiast, I eagerly awaited the first trailer for “28 Years Later.” It was a heart-pounding sneak peek filled with chilling moments from the movie, such as bloodthirsty zombies charging down a slope, a macabre pile of skulls, and a spine-tingling scene where a zombie emerged from a field to surprise Jodie Comer. Some ardent followers of the series speculated that the “field zombie” was none other than the Academy Award-winning actor Cillian Murphy, making a surprising return, but alas, this theory was eventually disproven; it was Angus Neill, a fresh face in the franchise, who played the role.

In an intriguing interview, Alex Garland, the mastermind behind the 2002 film “28 Days Later,” revealed that his writing for the original movie drew inspiration from George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” series and the 1951 novel “The Day of the Triffids.” Moreover, Garland candidly admitted that he borrowed elements from another film titled “Kes” while crafting the script for “28 Years Later.”

Now, Garland sheds light on what motivated the rage zombies’ movements within the franchise, and it turns out that a timeless horror survival game served as his muse.

Resident Evil Inspired the Terrifying Rage Zombie’s Movements in the 28 Years Later Franchise

In an interview with GQ on YouTube about his most memorable films, Alex Garland, known for writing the 28 series, admitted that the zombies in the Resident Evil games inspired the eerie movements of the Rage Zombies in his movies. He explained that just before penning 28 Days Later, he began playing Resident Evil on his PlayStation, rekindling his love for zombie stories. Realizing there hadn’t been a good zombie movie in a while, Garland mentioned that while he found the regular zombies not frightening due to their slow pace, the fast-moving zombie dogs gave him quite a few startles because they would suddenly appear and move swiftly.

In Garland’s creative process, the concept of swift-moving zombies sparked his imagination, leading him to design “zombies that move at high speeds” as a means to evoke the same fear in viewers that the ferocious Dobermanns did while he was playing the game. For many years, zombies were typically portrayed as slow, mindless cadavers, primarily because of George A. Romero’s movies. However, this perception was dramatically altered with Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later in 2002. Rather than presenting its infected humans as aimlessly wandering for brains to eat, the series revolutionized the zombie genre by transforming the victims into enraged beasts capable of sprinting at top speed and tearing through flesh in mere seconds.

Recently, Garland had a conversation with Neil Druckmann, the writer of “The Last of Us”, during an episode of “Creator to Creator”. In addition to “Resident Evil” and “28 Years Later”, Druckmann mentioned that the post-apocalyptic series featuring Ellie and Joel significantly impacted Garland’s work. Not only did Garland draw inspiration from characters like Clickers and Stalkers, but his new narrative also emphasizes a child-parent dynamic between Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Spike (Alfie Williams), similar to the relationship between Joel and Ellie in their journey through the wilderness. Furthermore, Garland expressed that he believes “The Last of Us” surpasses “28 Days Later”, given that the upcoming movie is set to be released within a few months, this statement carries a lot of weight.

28 Years Later will be released in theaters on June 20, 2025.

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2025-04-22 17:57