28 Days Later (2002)

 

Genre: Sci-Fi/ Horror

Time: 2 hours

Director: Danny Boyle

Quick Summary: Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary

As someone who personally isn't a fan of Zombie films, I was delighted with this

I say, zombie, this really isn't a zombie film. It's something else entirely. Instead of focusing on gore and blood and action, it shows you the emptiness of a world like this. How selfish and entitled people can be for just helping you out. Honestly, I really liked that instead of an action-packed opening, we get a deserted London and a lone guy wandering the streets. It's such a heavy atmosphere that is so hard to get right and this nailed it straight on the head. This stands high and clearly superior in an era filled to the brink of zombie films that are all fundamentally the same. 

Even though I wouldn't call this scary, it did have its especially gorey moments as the infected throw up jetstreams of blood over people, which was more gross to watch than anything. The jumpscare of a naked Cillian Murphy was pretty shocking as well.

I did find this slow a lot of the time, especially as we were getting to the last part of the story. I understand these were to build tension and help us connect more, but this was slow with the infected running around anyway. By the end I was waiting for this to finally wrap up, even though I was interested in what was going on, this really dragged itself out in the middle and felt longer than it was. 

The acting goes from brilliant to say, not so brilliant. Cillian Murphy was obviously the standout, and this being his first big film, it's safe to say he was great from the beginning. I have no complaints about him, even with the awful dialogue he was given he worked brilliantly with it. The others, well. I'm not too fond of them, especially the young daughter who honestly made me want to blow my brains out with how dull and uninterested in her own lines she sounded. Though, the absolute madman, Christopher Eccleston saved the later quarter as a super intimating army guy, flesh-hungry in a different way. (*wink)

For all the praise I have for this, it is dated in a lot of ways. The limited budget is painfully obvious at times, looking at you car driving by windmills scene, and the script could be better. There are so many plot holes and things that don't match up too, like the infection can spread through blood and slavia, but in various fights, blood obviously gets on some of the cast. Though nothing happens. I am so glad they steered immediately away from the cliche of someone trying to hide a bite. 

Again I want to highlight this isn't quite a Zombie film. It's a bit more than that. It talks about social collapse, community, survival, and how violence can actually destroy us. Even for those who are like me and dislike zombie-like films, I do recommend this one. It's worth it, even with its flaws, as it has tons of charm and the wonderful quirks of a low-budget horror film.

7/10

"You'd never think it... needing rain so badly. Not in fucking England!"