Which Came First?

Doppelganger movies are one thing, but when a B movie turns into a big number 1 hit television series, that’s something else altogether. Just last year I became a HUGE fan of  The Walking Dead on AMC. Not since The Wire has a series captured my interest and the cast, my heart. I’m not sure if it’s because of the plot, the characters or the fact that it’s filmed in Georgia. Actually, I know the latter has a lot to do with it, but I don’t want to seem biased.

Now imagine my absolute excitement when I came across my new favorite movie. It was released in 2002 in the UK. I don’t think it was a big hit here in the US, but it is the cinematic cousin to The Walking Dead.

I was just sitting at home one Friday night, minding my own business. Not feeling like going out, not wanting to talk, noticing that nothing exciting was on TV to watch. So I go to my handy dandy On Demand selections (thanks to Xfinity) and a quick view of their free movie listings guided me to a little something called 28 Days Later. I read a brief description that noted the movie was about a man who wakes up in a hospital in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. BAM! Why, that sounds like my most favoritest cable series since The Wire!

The Walking Dead has my mind engrossed in the what-could-be world of zombieism and I LOVE IT. So when I watched 28, I immediately noticed the similarities between the movie and the series. Most notable are:
• Man wakes up in Hospital during the middle of a zombie apocalypse.
• Strangers rescue him and tell him what’s going on
• Serena has machete that she uses to slay the zombies and does not hesitate to kill a friend who may be infected
• They meet a father and daughter, daughter wears baseball cap all the time
• They follow a recording that declares safety, and have to go through a tunnel to get there – there is a big blockade in the tunnel that slows them down
• Views of the empty highway
• Horses running within a fence
• The "Who have you killed" questions.

 I’m not sure which came first, the movie, the comics or the series, but I love them all. I would recommend the movie to anyone who loves the series. You may notice even more similarities than I did. So Let’s Discuss!