28 Days Later [MA]

Within 28 days of a powerful rage virus being unleashed, England has become an empty and burnt out husk of a country. Transmitted through a drop of blood, whether by a bite, through the mouth, etc, the virus locks those infected in a permanent state of murderous rage. Jim, a car crash victim, wakes up from a coma to find the country in this state. He is soon amongst a group of survivors who aim to travel to Manchester in the hope of finding salvation. But along the road, they discover that starvation, the deadly virus, and the murderous Infected are not the only things that threaten them. 

Not to be confused with the American sequel, which admittedly I have not seen but harbour strong doubts as to whether it is any good (I saw what they did with Death at a Funeral), this British post-apocalyptic flick is pretty damned impressive! A montage of high-speed camera direction as well as a multitude of those classic sudden shocks as well as dealing with some pretty confronting themes about humanity, 28 Days Later is a horror movie that stands up within the canon and if you’re a fan of the genre, I would definitely recommend it! 

Within 28 days of a powerful rage virus being unleashed, England has become an empty and burnt out husk of a country. Transmitted through a drop of blood, whether by a bite, through the mouth, etc, the virus locks those infected in a permanent state of murderous rage. Jim, a car crash victim, wakes up from a coma to find the country in this state. He is soon amongst a group of survivors who aim to travel to Manchester in the hope of finding salvation. But along the road, they discover that starvation, the deadly virus, and the murderous Infected are not the only things that threaten them. 

I would go as far to say that not since George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead have we seen a movie that delivers the main meat of its thrills and frights through the actual questions it raises regarding the nature of humanity. Where we saw the breakdown of social order and the nuclear family in Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later goes one step further and explores the frightening ideas that, as humans, we are not as evolved as we think we are. I don’t want to give too much away for fear of spoiling the brunt of the movie, but some of the themes that get picked apart in this film are really eye opening and it’s these that make the movie really scary. 

What I think really makes this movie stand out as a horror flick as that it travels along a recognisable subgenre track, but really cannot be classed as being part of that subgenre. I’m referring to the fact that many people, for fair and arguable reasons, class this movie as a zombie flick, but it really isn’t! True, it’s set within a post-apocalyptic world and it does look very much like a zombie movie, but the Infected are not zombies! They are still very much alive, just in a state of extreme rage that completely eradicates their capacity for rational thought and judgement. This actually, I think, makes them more frightening because they are still incredibly fast, more so really because they’re running on the adrenaline mode of fight and thus the chase scenes actually make for good thrills. 

A shout out has to go to Danny Boyle who also directed Trainspotting. The guy has an incredible talent for shooting in a very indirect and off-centre way, which makes this stand out as a film alone. There is absolutely no symmetry within the mise en scene, the Infected attacks are depicted in really hurried and fleeting snippets (almost handheld, documentary style), and the blurry out-of-focus lens look is used to brilliant effect! 

Starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Noah Huntely, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, Luke Mably, Stuart McQuarrie, Ricci Harnett, Leo Bill, Junior Laniyan, Ray Panthaki, and Christopher Eccleston, 28 Days Later is a really impressive movie: confronting and compelling at the same time. Filled with survival, drama, dystopia, horror, action, and even romance, I thoroughly enjoyed it. And it’s not all darkness and destruction and heavy-handed scenes either! There are some really beautifully shot sequences that alleviate the threat of prowling rage creatures that want to disembowel you! It’s a goooood movie!