NEW YORK (OSV News) – “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” (Sony) is the fourth installment in a splatter-stained franchise centered on zombies that reaches back to 2002. Not only does the film maintain its predecessors’ tradition of bloodletting, it also features a devil-worshipping theme and abundant instances of gratuitous nudity.
Director Nia DaCosta and screenwriter Alex Garland resume the saga of Spike (Alfie Williams), the 12-year-old who served as the protagonist of the most recent movie in the series, released last year. He’s now trapped in a hyper-violent Satanic cult in which all the members are referred to as Jimmy, including its would-be messianic leader, Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell).
Sir Jimmy calls his followers his “fingers” and orchestrates a series of sadistic murders targeting the few people who have somehow managed to evade the ongoing rampage of the undead. Sir Jimmy posits himself as the son of Satan and, when not busy plotting slaughter, enjoys making his acolytes re-enact the idiosyncratic dances of the Teletubbies.
Also returning is gentle, philosophic Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes). He lives in a fortified bunker where he likes listening to Duran Duran albums on old-fashioned vinyl. He has also found time to construct an array of towers made up of skulls and bones.
Kelson has limited medicine at hand. But he may have found a cure for the “rage virus” that turns people into zombies. He tries this out on a muscular specimen of the walking dead he names Samson (Chi-Lewis Parry). Samson, in turn, becomes so enamored of civilized behavior that, refreshingly, he starts to wear pants.
As with the previous chapters, this is a slice of noxious post-apocalyptic life set in a world propelled mostly by shock value. Whether intentionally or not, the picture’s only effect is to coarsen its audience.
The film contains skewed values, warped theology, pervasive gory violence, full nudity in a nonsexual context, a couple of profanities and frequent rough language. The OSV News classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
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