In exactly 28 days the sequel to Danny Boyle's 2002 zombie romp "28 Days Later" opens and for residents of London and Dover, this week, the virus came within a hair's breath of moving away from the big screen as giant projections against the Houses of Parliament and the famous White Cliffs announced that the country was "contaminated."


The film is, of course, "28 Weeks Later", and it paints a picture of a post-rage virus Britain 6 months on from infection, desolate except for a small zone in which the survivors of the virus are attempting to restart the country.

This isn't the first time that projection has been used to attract eyeballs, and the Houses of Parliament is a popular site for such stunts. The building may be contaminated right now but in the past it has played host to everything from the WWF panda to television presenter Gail Porter's behind.

The film, which stars Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne and Harold Perrineau, opens on May 11th and is directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, with Boyle serving as executive producer. And despite new spin-off Fox Atomic's other big sequel of the year, "The Hills Have Eyes II", being a disappointment to critics - with a rather disappointing 13% on the Tomatometer - early word from critics here in London is that the zombie sequel delivers, finding a new twist that avoids the common horror-sequel pitfalls.