28 Years Later: The Bone Temple's Grossest Scene Will Test The Stomachs Of Even The Most Hardened Horror Fans

This article contains spoilers for "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple."

When Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal (Jack O'Connell) and his demented gang of "Jimmys" turned up in the bonkers ending of "28 Years Later," there was a heavy implication that poor young Spike (Alfie Williams) had just gone from the frying pan into the fire. Of course, both he and we didn't have too much to go on as to the extent of the Jimmys depravity. They seemed to be nomadic, violent raiders in a post-apocalyptic landscape, of course, but we've seen dozens of such groups throughout numerous zombie films as well as things like the "Mad Max" movies. Initially, the biggest hint toward the gang's psychology was the way they styled themselves after former UK media personality and sex pest Jimmy Savile. So, while they were certainly immoral, it wasn't immediately clear from Danny Boyle's movie how low they could go.

Nia DaCosta's "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" answers that question and then some. In fact, it does so right from the first scene, as Spike is forced to undergo the Jimmys' initiation ritual of choosing another member (referred to as a "finger" of Jimmy's "fist") to fight to the death in order to take their place. This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to brutality, however, as we're shown the full extent of the JImmys' "charity" when the gang descends upon a group of folks taking shelter in an isolated farm. This prolonged sequence involves the Jimmys torturing and killing most of their victims via skinning them alive, which is a level of gore that even fans of the series might not be prepared for. It's a brilliantly effective and necessary scene, one which serves the film in a myriad of ways.

In the film, Jimmy Crystal and his gang have subdued the farm family and strung up four of them. Although Crystal has made allusions and references to being a Satanist before the scene, it's here where the ritualistic nature of his gang comes to the fore, as he gives a little evil sermon before explaining to the victims that his fingers will be giving them an act of "charity," which is to be something called "the removal of the shirt." This means that the fingers begin to skin the others alive, except for one, Tom (Louis Ashbourne Serkis), who is offered the chance to become a finger by choosing Jimmima (Emma Laird) to fight to the death.

Although Nia DaCosta doesn't linger on the actual skinning alive, her camera doesn't shy away from it, either. What's more disturbing is seeing the still technically alive but dying skinned bodies hanging in the background of moments where other characters are interacting, thus making the violence upsettingly commonplace. In this way, DaCosta and writer Alex Garland are outlining Crystal and the Jimmy's M.O., literally and figuratively. Being the son of a fire and brimstone vicar, Crystal's religious upbringing has curdled to the point where he sees himself as the literal Antichrist, the son of the Devil aka Old Nick. He believes that the Rage Virus outbreak is proof that Hell has arrived on Earth, and thus it's his mission to grow his fist and commit acts of atrocity out of devotion to his dark lord. The removal of the shirt sequence feels akin to British horror films like "Hellraiser" as well as New French Extremity movies like "Martyrs," both of which feature characters flayed alive for reasons beyond mere pain.

In addition to folks being put off in general by the sequence's extreme gore, there may be those who find it too much even for a zombie movie. In this case, it's important to reiterate that "The Bone Temple" and the entire "...Later" series is not technically a zombie franchise. The virus has never been about reanimating the dead, but rather about human beings succumbing to an infection which causes uncontrollable rage. The opening scene of "28 Days Later" shows that the virus came from chimpanzees being put into a perpetually agitated and aggressive state, and implies that this state was partially created by the chimps being made to view footage of humans acting in various inhumane ways for hours on end. Thus, the virus could be said to be Evil itself; a biological representative of Man's worst impulses.

One of the most fascinating aspects of "The Bone Temple" involves Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) attempting to study and cure the virus via his Infected guinea pig, Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry). While this allows Garland to further specify the nature of the infection in the film's text, the "removal of the shirt" sequence helps specify it in the movie's subtext. Garland and DaCosta are demonstrating how broken, toxic people like Crystal and his Jimmys led humanity to this current moment, just as Kelson and Samson provide some hope for us transcending our baser natures. In the same way that Evil disguises itself as Good (using terms like "charity") and Good masquerades as Evil (Kelson's pantomime as Old Nick), "The Bone Temple" is ultimately a very moral, humanist movie wearing a grisly disguise.

"28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" is in theaters everywhere.