New Releases

"28 Weeks Later" (2007)

After the rage virus broke out in London in the 2003 horror film "28 Days Later," the story continues 28 weeks later when the virus seems to have died off, allowing a United States military project to repopulate Great Britain. The film opens with a scene during the outbreak, somewhere around the time of "28 Days Later," giving viewers a grisly glimpse of the terror that was, and very predictably, will be again. The entire plot construct relies heavily on the desperate introduction of the possibility of a genetic immunity to the virus, though luckily they don't run with it too far. "28 Weeks Later" starts off pretty well, following a young boy, who is later suspected to carry the immunity, and his sister as they are protected by a medical researcher and a rogue, yet noble, soldier. The film is very successful stylistically; the desaturated, overexposed cinematography and creepy, tense music match the rapid social decay of a zombie outbreak. However, many choices in direction are questionable — the movie evokes no pity and even less pathos. Characters are flat and uninteresting, so their haphazard deaths aren't significant, and things are often all too coincidental to keep the movie going. Like "28 Days Later," this sequel is more about what humans digress to during social disasters rather than when they've been bitten by zombies, but it largely fails to deliver the chill of the first.

3 stars out of 5

Classics

Dracula (1931)

It is very likely that every image you've seen of Dracula stemmed from this 1931 film adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel of the same name. Bela Lugosi, who has become forever associated with his groundbreaking role as the vampire, created the image of the count that has lived on for more than 75 years now — the smooth Transylvanian accent, the dark, shiny eyes, the slicked dark hair accenting his trim suit, black as night and, of course, that unnerving laugh, most recently made comical by Count von Count on "Sesame Street." Point being, "Dracula" is a landmark in horror cinema, setting the mold for a slew of vampire movies to come and placing Count Dracula among the rest of the Monster Mash cast. Feeling more like a film coming from the ’50s than the early ’30s, "Dracula" conjures clean, sinister imagery with a grand set and brilliant use of light, and especially darkness. Interestingly enough, one of strongest aspects of "Dracula" is the recently added score composed by Philip Glass ("The Illusionist," "The Hours") in 1998. The DVD gives you the option of viewing the original score-less version or the musically enhanced one. I strongly recommend letting Glass imbue the air with the tension of his haunting, repetitive strings. Although the film owes it to Stoker, "Dracula" transforms the verbose novel into storytelling at its best. If you've a true lust for the vampiric, it's practically a duty to watch "Dracula" — it's also very rewarding.

4 1/2 stars out of 5

Foreign

Uzumaki (2000)

(Translated: The Spiral)

This week's horror theme continues with a foreign flick from the land of the rising sun, which has already brought us many bad scare movies ("Premonition," "Infection") and inspired even more bad American versions of their originals ("The Grudge," "The Grudge 2," "The Ring 2," "Dark Water"). In fact, J-Horror has defined itself pretty narrowly and usually with a campy connotation. Manga adaptation "Uzumaki," however, is an interesting, incredibly bizarre break from that stereotype. Calling it a horror movie might not even be accurate, as it's really more creepy and surreal than horrifying. "Uzumaki" takes viewers to a small Japanese town where the sun doesn't seem to shine very often and a weird obsession with spirals is slowly taking over the minds of the people. A teenage girl, Kirie, and her protective best friend, Shuichi, notice the madness early on in their fathers and struggle to get out before it's too late. Disturbingly dark, and often tinted green, the cinematography is unconventional and sporadic — rarely using the same style for too long and often dizzying, as the title would have it. B-grade acting is overlookable as the creepy sensation — somewhere between Tim Burton, "The Twilight Zone" and the French flick "The City of Lost Children" — is never lost. Though it does drag a bit at times and could have used a bit more bizarre imagery and subtlety, "Uzumaki"’s maddening whirlpool of the grotesque and unusual is a refreshing, albeit slightly rough-edged, variance from the archetypical horror film.

4 stars out of 5

Also out this week: Zealand horror comedy "Black Sheep"; comedy sequel to "Bruce Almighty," "Evan Almighty";and another intolerable addition to the slew of animated movies with talking animals, "Surf's Up."

Coming out 10/16: Autobots face off against Deceptacons for the time-defying cube in "Transformers"; Richard Gere stars in comedy-drama "The Hoax"; poorly reviewed horror movie with Christian undertones "The Reaping" is also proof of Hillary Swank's dying career; and Angelina Jolie shines in a solemn role in "A Mighty Heart."