28 Days Later

End of the world? Zombies?? Well, not exactly, but “28 Days Later” did a great job of giving horror fans something to sample while we waited for the release of “Dawn of the Dead” 2004. I am a big fan of movies that start with a bang. The opening (although not really a bang) is a good sample of the violence to come and is just enough to get through the opening credits and the slow beginning that follows.

The screenplay written by Alex Garland (critically acclaimed author of “The Beach”) gives us a classic story of survival where society is divided into two categories: the infected, (who are kind of like zombies with red-eyes & feral behavior) whose only desire is to draw blood, and the survivalists, which include average citizens and some military. Simple story, and we have heard it before right? Wrong!

What I really liked about “28 Days Later” is that the infection is something that is transmitted in the classic style (by blood transmission) but the time from infection to transformation is not your average expectation. No “He’s been bit and he’s gonna turn. Let’s wait and see how long he can stay in the story until he kills us or has to be killed” here. No sir, we have a 20 second turn around time. Only 20 seconds and the person infected becomes one of  The Infected. Awesome twist to the ordinary! And when I said feral, I mean savagely so.

The main character Jim (Cillian Murphy) is not your classic hero. He is not brawn and not an early favorite to be the hero but he grows on you. Selena (Naomie Harris) is his co-protagonist and we watch as they travel together to survive.

The first half of 28 Days Later is a road trip taking us from London to Manchester using deserted highways. There is plenty of time for the main characters to bond as they travel and meet some other people surviving the apocalyptic city. They meet Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his teenage daughter, Hannah (Megan Burns), and they elect to seek out a group of soldiers, led by Major Henry West (Christopher Eccleston), who claim to have the answer to the infection.

The second half is a more straightforward action/adventure. A little gore, a lot of gunfire, and plenty of what I consider to be great acting! There is some great moments of tension and just as things begin to build to a climax, there is an added rain storm. Oh, I love a well placed thunder clap or lightening flash when the suspense meter is on high! There is plenty of character building that makes you feel connected to the survivors as they journey through this nightmare experience. Also some of the tense scenes were shot in a kind of cut frames flashing sequence which makes for good terror. A great directing job by Danny Boyle (of “Trainspotting” fame) who had previously brought Garland’s “The Beach” to the big screen.

One further note, since this came out before “Dawn of the Dead” 2004, this was the first exposure to fast moving zombies. Okay these are not actually zombies because they are not dead, but the infected don’t speak in fact they groan and moan just like the undead. Also, they attack the un-infected, biting and clawing at them so although they are not ghouls revived from the dead, it’s close enough for me!!

 

•  Today's Cure song is "Push" from the Head on the Door  CD - (1985)  A jumpy tune that has a great guitar led intro with rhythmic drum sesquences. A very singable song!

"Like strawberries and cream, it's the only way to be. "

 

CJ