This week's batch of releases is peppered with horror titles. After all, this is October. What better time than now to get them out into your bloody little hands? There is none. Ha! Thought that was going to be rhetorical, didn't you? I can take my horror films any time during the year, but the weeks leading up to Halloween will traditionally bring the highest concentration of new titles to store shelves. There is nothing like walking through the local brick and mortar store, wandering over to the horror section and finding some long lost gem, or recent favorite that had slipped your mind just sitting there begging to be bought and watched over and over. So far, this season has brought us From Beyond, Witchfinder General, Severance, 1408, and Bug. This week brings a few more to the list, including this week's pick.

This week's pick is a recent film, having graced the big screen earlier this year. It is a sequel to the 2002 revisionist zombie film 28 Days Later. 28 Weeks Later steps up the scale, the bloodshed, and the action. This movie is definitely worth checking out, even if you haven't seen the first one.

The story opens 15 days after the initial outbreak of infection, placing it before the events of the first film. We are introduced to Don (Robert Carlysle), his wife, and a few others who are holed up in a farmhouse. Here the small group is intent on keeping themselves safe from the raging infected hordes. Unfortunately, their peace is short-lived. The house is broken into, many of them die, and Don is able to get away — but at what cost? It is a visually exciting sequence, as the zombies (not exactly accurate, but you know what I mean) break into the house and force Don and the others out into the treacherous open field outside. Tell me you aren't moved as Don runs across the field, looking over his shoulder, with a group of zombies racing over the hill crest after him as the score plays on — incredibly more emotional than you would expect from a horror film.

The story jumps forward to week 28. The US military is leading a NATO force in the reconstruction and re-population of England. We discover that Don survived, and is reunited with his children. When questioned about their mother, the kids get a story that is true, but not complete, as you will learn, and it is the decision Don makes in the prologue that will have the strongest of repercussions throughout the rest of the film.

Visually, the film is striking, filled with washed out colors, high speed shutter work, and some of the most frenetic camera work and cutting this side of Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum). When the infected strike, be prepared to be disoriented and lost in the action. This is a technique that can be annoying, but not here. The shaky cam and quick cuts put you right in the middle of the action. The characters are scared, and unsure of what will happen, and so are we. Simply fantastic. There are some great set pieces strewn throughout, from the firebombing to the night scope tunnel journey, to the helicopter weapon, to the frenetic shooting of the infected streaming out of the medical complex. That last one is around the mid-point and is just absolutely tragic. When you see this scene, imagine what it must be like to be in that kind of situation. It is terrifying.