28 Days Later Review

28 days later sums up the new age of horror films that have surfaced so far from british film and cinema, the raw energy that director Danny Boyle gives to this film is apparent, his love of film genres is on display here, while this film has been compared to zombie films, it is not one of them.

The infected is the only comparable theme, the rage virus is quite quick to infect people with a drop of blood as the catalyst. The story starts when a group of animal activists break into a animal research laboratory and release an infected monkey which bites one of them, infecting and inflicting the rage virus on London and the whole of the world.

The brutal nature of the man created rage virus is one of the main themes of the film, the eboala type symptom of vomitting blood is quite ugly, but then then is a horror film so what would you expect.

The best scenes in the film are when things happen obviously, but also when nothing is happening creates some kind of tension and atmosphere, for instance when our central character played by Cillian Murphy wakes up in a hospital bed there is an unnerving quiet about the whole situation, the later view of the London Bridge all deserted looks calm but eery in an early morning sunlit sequence.

The scene were rats run from the infected is an effective scene which mirrors years past events of the black death and the plague, the idea that filthy rats are so above themselves running away from infected disease ridden nutters just seems as if that would actually happen in real life.

The ending wasn't too bleak either, as what happens with most apocalyptic films, this film ends on a hopeful note however, until 28 weeks later that is.

The overall feel of the film is good for a british made film and the gory bits are what makes the film more stand out, with some shocking bits of squirting blood and virus ridden death and destruction.