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MAJOR HENRY WEST (28 Days Later...)

A lot of bad dudes have emerged from zombie pictures over the decades. In fact, sometimes they seem to be an even larger threat than the zombies themselves (it’s almost as if there’s some sort of message they’re trying to send in these movies…). But the absolute worst of the bunch has to be Major Henry West, the deranged military leader played with just the right manic zeal by Christopher Eccleston, who unfortunately has not done a horror film since. Power hungry maniacs are nothing new to movie villains, but it takes at least five kinds of crazy to point out the elephant in the room when it comes to dystopian futures. Those of you who have seen the movie probably know what I’m talking about.

Why does he deserve to be on the list? That’s right, you guessed it. Major Henry West’s big plan for world domination is to repopulate the world not by creating a master race of android clones, but by imprisoning women and forcing them to bear the children of his soldiers. And how many days after the apocalypse is this? O right. Twenty-eight. And he’s already resorted to impregnating unsuspecting women to manage the population. That’s sort of like resorting to cannibalism after five minutes of being stuck in an elevator. Funny thing about that; every woman I know who has seen 28 Days Later... has remarked that Major Henry West’s plan is more than a little illogical, while every guy I know has remarked how completely plausible it is that such things would happen. Maybe I need new friends…

Why doesn’t he get more recognition? As big a splash as it made upon its original release, it doesn’t seem like Daysis going to hold up in horror history the way we all thought it would (which is too bad because I feel it to be one of the decade’s strongest entries). Also Eccleston hasn’t really built much street cred in the horror department, working mostly in British period pieces, which might make him harder to embrace than someone like Jeffrey Combs or Bruce Campbell.