2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Samantha King)
Film fans have confessed to experiencing 'genuine fear' after viewing the first trailer for Danny Boyle's forthcoming horror film 28 Years Later. Unveiled yesterday (December 10), the trailer plunges audiences back into a grim reality where a virus has transformed the majority of mankind into violent, zombie-like beings. The new chapter follows on from 2002's 28 Days Later and 2007's 28 Weeks Later, taking place 30 years after the initial outbreak of the 'rage' virus.
The official summary states: "It's been almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. "When one of the group leaves the island on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.
" A reading of Rudyard Kipling's Boots is heard throughout (Image: Sony Pictures) Read More Related Articles Cillian Murphy's 'upsetting' appearance in Danny Boyle horror sparks fan complaints Read More Related Articles R-rated festive film with 97% Rotten Tomatoes score dubbed ‘new holiday classic’ While the trailer showcases disturbing scenes like a television airing the children's programme Teletubbies splattered with blood and a horde of twitching, zombie figures emerging over a hill, it's the soundtrack that has truly sent shivers down viewers' spines, reports the Mirror . The trailer for 28 Years Later features a reading of Rudyard Kipling's poem, Boots. The 1903 poem, which speaks of war and suffering, is set to eerie visuals and its repetitive phrasing mirrors the relentless march of soldiers towards their grim fate.
The rendition heard in the trailer was recorded by American actor Taylor Holmes in 1915. Starting off serene, it gradually escalates into screeching leaving viewers feeling uneasy. Interestingly, this same recording is actually used by the military to train people in surviving hostile environments.
The trailer has left viewers terrified (Image: Sony Pictures) The US Navy utilises this audio in their Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) programme. Trainees are subjected to the 1915 recording on loop while confined in a cell, as part of their preparation for survival in hostile conditions. Reddit users who claimed to have participated in SERE training shared their experiences with the haunting audio.
One user wrote: "Did SERE and didn't remember this. Found it on YouTube and now I remember it and wish I hadn't looked it up," while another commented: "It's not just the poem. It's the voice of the person reading it.
More than 20 years later, and I have chills thinking about it." Another user recalled: "When I did SERE in 1991, this reading was on loop with Boots and Electric Orgasm by Yoko Ono for pretty much 48 hours while being interrogated, put in 'stress positions' and locked in a tiny box." 28 Years Later releases in cinemas on June 20, 2025.
