28 Days Later (Widescreen Edition)

Rating:
Summary: I didn't know there would be zombies!
Review: I heard that this was a apocalyptic global pandemic movie, maybe something like The Stand. Raised on the Cold War, I have a thing for The End of the World as We Know It. (Y2K was such a letdown!) I was also pretty excited that "28 Days Later" was shot on miniDV, and started watching the movie with gusto. Those shots of empty London...stunning! And pretty amazing footage coming from a lowly Canon XL-1! I've never been a big zombie movie fan, they've always just seemed dumb. But lo and behold, there were zombies! And I liked them! My 40th is coming up, so maybe the Living Dead are starting to seem a little closer to me, but after 28 Days Later, I find I've been seeking out zombie movies. And try Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead" graphic novels. yay!

Rating:
Summary: Best Post Apocalyptic Film to Date.
Review: Wow, here's something new: 28 Days Later is a zombie film that pits dying plague victims against one group of people who in turn are against another group of people. This UK film is really magnificent. It fly's in the face of the normal Sci-Fi horror film that Hollywood has released to us lately. With release of films like "The Grudge" "Cursed" and "The Ring Two" horror film makers have been insulting audiences with typical plots cheap scares and formulaic characters. Not so here! 28 Days Later is feels fresh throughout with new ideas and moves between genres from sci-fi to post apocalyptic film to action to art film seamlessly. This is a must see for all fans of horror and sci-fi but a film that appeals to a much wider audience through its excellent cinematography, characterization and writing.

The film is based on a premise (albeit a rather thin one but suspension of belief is easy) that the world had been struck by a plague that kills quickly but deranges its victims causing them to become violent. The city becomes something of an "Omega Man-esque" metroscape where everything is available for the taking but lurking in the darkness wait the afflicted ready to attack. After 28 days there are a few survivors who upon finding each other must survive and seek safety. They hear a radio broadcast that gives them hope that others have survived and safety is available. Here the plot really thickens... I wont give away anymore of the plot.

The movie has a good soundtrack and uses pumping metal for many of the action scenes. The action is intense but unlike "The Matrix" it is actually believable. Shot beautifully using wide angles to show the desperation and bleakness of the situation, the film uses a lot of contrasts and making it visually stunning. Though the script is bereft of any truly great dialogue, the characters are believable. All in all the film has an artful, yet creepy feeling that keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat.

The real clincher here is the DVD versions copious extras. Including several alternate endings all of which are good and two different commentaries. This movie is fantastic in its freshness. While it came to America with little acclaim and fanfare this is a movie that all horror and sci-fi fans will enjoy. Lacking many of the clichés and stupid scenes that ruin most horror movies 28 Days is certainly among the best. I truly enjoyed the film.

-- Ted Murena

Rating:
Summary: THE Best Horror Film of the New Millenium!!!
Review: When I heard about this movie, over a year before this movie received it's huge American theatrical run, and before it debuted in England, an English friend of mine gave me a link to the online trailer. I watched it and thought it looked pretty good. Back then, 2001, I was actually still pretty open-minded about mainstream horror. But things have gone to hell in a handbasket since. Then in early 2003, this film was all the rage in the horror world. A lot had changed in those near 2 entire years. Mainly because Frailty, Battle Royale, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, Sla$hers, Signs, Cabin Fever, and news of a remake of Dawn of the Dead had collectively ruined the genre for this decade. So to say the least I wasn't crazy about seeing this movie.

That is, until my best friend in the whole world recommended it to me. And she has impeccable taste, usually (she liked TITANIC, and what a piece of garbage that was!!!). I still resisted, but I figured all those mainstream critics just couldn't be wrong. Leonard Maltin gave it 3 stars, after crapping on May and Donnie Darko, which have been this genre's only saving graces (he didn't review Ginger Snaps, unfortunately) for the decade. I hated the trailer for the movie, mainly depicting the end of the world from a disease. If I wanted to watch that kind of movie, I own Outbreak.

So the beginning of 28 Days Later is like that. But only for 1 minute. Some reviewers have commented that this is a ripoff. And it sort of is. But everything in the world of horror this decade has been a ripoff of something. What makes this movie so outstanding is the fact that it presents these elements and plotlines that we recognize from other movies in a new and fresh way. This movie offers characters that we weren't able to get so deep into in other movies that came before. And the whole style of the film is based on, forgive me for not being very knowledged about technology, it's being shot on DV- digital video. So it doesn't actually look like any other 'zombie' movie.

This isn't really a zombie movie at all though. Because the "zombies" in this movie can actually die. The zombies in films such as George A. Romero's "Living Dead" trilogy, the Return of the Living Dead pics, and countless others, don't die- they can't die. They just suffer eternal pain unless they can eat human flesh or brains. The plot of this film concerns the spreading of a disease that changes the whole structure of the human body. In a way this doesn't make sense, because that means they have to kill a human to survive.

But in the end, it doesn't matter that this movie doesn't make sense. What makes it so fresh is that it's practically void of the annoying one-liners, it's fast-paced yet still breathes room for style, has both low-and-high key terror scenes. And best of all, one viewer might watch this expecting to see a glimpse of female nudity... Not in this film. I think the director understands, as any intelligent individual does, that female nude scenes are PLAYED OUT and we don't need them. So what he does is substitute the routine, for excellent extended nude shots of the main character Jim's penis (as he slowly gets up out of bed) and buttocks (as he showers). Talk about refreshing!

And you have got to love that upbeat ending. For a second, I felt like I was watching The Next Karate Kid... This is not your routine "zombie" horror film. And there are several other reasons that this is such a good horror film. But I don't think there is room enough to mention them all. So I'll just mention one little bit that didn't work so well. The part when Jim is forced to confess that he killed a "zombie" boy. Because it barely impacts the character and nothing more is said or seen of it.

So last question might be - if these aren't zombies, what are they? This film seems to follow right in the footsteps of the Italian horror film Demons. I'm libel to say, whatever those were- these are as well.

Rating:
Summary: A Zombie Movie? Yeah, But It's Not About The Zombies.
Review: There was about a ten or fifteen year gap before this movie for the longing of a decent zombie movie. Sure, there were many, but they weren't good. They were trying desperatly, but were too common, and people had begun to lose interest in zombies.
But then here comes 28 Days Later. In my opnion, not only is it one of the best zombie movies of all time, but actully one of the most beautifully filmed movies of all time. The camera angles are ingedous, the script plently solid, the sense of style thick and gripping, and it feautured music driven scenes that were just fun to watch and sometimes even felt like art.
Of course the movie isnt as innocent as I make it sound-- the depth of the movie will sometimes be questionable when mixed with the scenes feauturing blood and gore and heavy metal music.
Still, with it's heartfelt characters, interesting plot twists, and surprising depth, you cant help but love 28 Days Later. A zombie movie? Yeah, but it's not about the zombies. It's about people.