| Home | Movies A-M | Movies N-Z | News |
Poster (c) Fox Searchlight
Not since the classic Night of the Living Dead have we seen a good, creepy zombie movie. And it looks like it will be awhile more. Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later is barely scary, but if you take it for what it really is, a creative drama, it’s pretty good. However, instead of the position of Venus, animal rights activists release contaminated apes to the world, which are infected with rage. 28 days later, Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakes from a coma and finds London completely deserted. He sees some attacking zombies, but Mark (Noah Huntley) and Selena (Naomie Harris) ward them off. Soon he goes along with them to try to find other survivors, but to also try and find a cure.
Although there have been attempts, the last good horror film was Identity. 28 Days Later tries to be a horror film by putting in a few quick and semi-suspenseful scenes. All before the final, concluding sequence (which is the film’s greatest sequence), are quick, five-second shots of zombies trying to attack people. Boyle has the camera moving so quickly during those sequences it’s impossible to tell what’s happening. Of course, we could see all of the blood, because there’s plenty of it, but at times it looked real, but many times it was false.
28 Days Later, which I originally thought was a sequel to the Sandra Bullock romantic comedy 28 Days, really makes itself a good movie by putting in a scenario we’ve all thought about but never really see in movies. The end of the world is always an interesting subject: when will it happen, how will it occur, etc. This explores one way: an infectious virus. It probably would have played better if we didn’t know how London was empty, but the way writer Alex Garland made it work, also.
In between those scarce horror sequences, some good drama plays out. We learn more about the virus, but I thought that the relationship between Jim and Selena was very well done. Movies like this have a limited amount of characters, making us like the ones that are there. I wouldn’t call it a character-driven piece, nor a character study, but it certainly has interesting characters.
If you’re looking for a typical zombie-horror movie, look somewhere else. If you want a drama with intense scenes (and an AWESOME score), check out 28 Days Later.
Rated R for strong violence and gore, language, and nudity.
Review Date: July 4, 2003