#456: 28 Days Later (2002)

Director: Danny Boyle

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson & Megan Burns

Jim wakes up in a London hospital after a crash, and finds that nobody is attending him. In fact, nobody is in the building, or on the streets. He walks through Central London to find that the city had been evacuated. He soon finds out why: an infectious disease has spread, rendering its victims into a zombie-like state. Jim is saved from his first attack by Mark and Selena, who inform him that it's been 28 days since the disease began to spread, and they don't know of any other uninfected people besides themselves.

My synopsis doesn't really do it justice, because I can't give away the climax of the film. It takes a very different twist from most zombie films, turning man against man. It was certainly a creative and interesting move in the script, and I'd recommend it to any zombie fans out there.

However, I'm not one. I was never a fan of horror movies, really, so I'm a bit biased. The acting just never seems that good in horror flicks, and usually the only reactions I elicit from them are:

1) Boredom

2) Laughter

3) Queasiness (not a good thing, IMO)

This movie didn't give me any of those reactions. I didn't really react at all, actually, besides a hint of respect for the film because of the aforementioned twist.

Eh. One thumb up just because I know that people who like these movies are sure to like this one.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• For the scenes in London, poilce would close the roads at 4am and filming would begin immediately. It would last for one hour, and at that time the police would reopen the roads. As well as having to deal with traffic, the producers also had to ask clubbers to find alternative routes home. In terms of the traffic, the producers correctly predicted that asking drivers to either wait for up to an hour or find another way might cause some considerable consternation. As such, they employed several extremely attractive young women (one of whom was Danny Boyle's daughter) to make the necessary requests. This plan had the desired results, as the drivers responded quite amicably to the young girls.
• The tower block where Hannah and her father lived was condemned and has now been demolished.
• Horror novelist Stephen King bought out an entire showing of the film in New York City.
• The crew filed all of the necessary papers to destroy the petrol station in Canary Wharf, but the police were unintentionally not notified. When the explosives were detonated, police responded as if a petrol station had really exploded and sent fire brigades (although there was already one present). Danny Boyle finally resolved the matter after several hours.
• The angelic song that plays in the background, particularly during the car trip, is called "In Paradisum" by Gabriel Fauré.
• The scene where Jim and Selena celebrate with Frank and Hannah was shot on September 11. Danny Boyle has said it felt extremely strange to be shooting a celebratory scene on that particular day.