The Cover |
A vérité experiment
in horror 28 Days Later takes the classic zombie movie
and redoes it as a morality tale of human nature and genetic manipulation.
Sometime in the near future, a group of monkeys has been infected with a
genetically manipulated virus. When they are broken out of their cages,
the virus unleashes its horror upon Britain. 28 days later, there's no one
around and that's when Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes up out of his coma as
the result of an accident. But Jim isn't alone in the world. Those who remain
are either infected with the rage virus (working its horror within twenty
seconds, turning the victim into a blood hungry human monster) or just fighting
to stay alive from hour to hour.
The wonderful thing about 28 Days Later is the filmmakers'
relentless detachment from the characters. Garland and Boyle are quite
willing to kill off very likable characters at the drop of a hat, and
more importantly, put the task of killing them in the hands of the people
that love them the most. And Jim meets up with some rather likable folks,
including a father and his daughter and a tough chick who's good at surviving
the monstrous hordes.
28 Days Later was shot on video, giving you creepy images
of horror. It wouldn't be a far stretch to imagine this was actually a
documentary. Perhaps it's the reason it's so much more successful on the
small screen as opposed to the big one. The DV gives you unmatched intimacy
with every nuance of the characters' lives and emotions. That's not to
say that the whole thing is comprised of close-ups - 28 Days Later
also features some haunting images of an unoccupied London, the
streets quiet and nary an unnatural sound to be heard. Director Danny
Boyle has given up the bag of tricks he used on Trainspotting,
but manages to maintain the in-your-face feel.
Besides the DV format, 28 Days' best element is intense
editing - the movie manages to assault you at every turn. As for the cast,
they're mostly unknown here in the states and on one level, that helps
the film. We're never watching Tom Cruise get attacked by a "rage"
infected monster. These people could be us. As I suspected, the ending
of the film was a toss up - and luckily the re-release of the movie included
a much darker and interesting wrap-up. Given this new insight into the
film and the intimate nature of DV on DVD, 28 Days Later
proves to be a deliciously dark and scary path on which to travel.
Movie Grade: A
(What We Said Then: B+)
Video: 4 out of 5
It's DV, so it's naturally a little grainy. Couple that with the PAL format's
softness and you've got an interesting little mix of a film. This appears
to have been taking directly from the digital source, so expect the movie
to look a little different than you remember seeing it in the theater.
Widescreen Anamorphic 1.85:1
Audio: 4 out of 5
A really aggressive, squishy soundtrack. The scenes of isolation sound
quiet, and those of mad horror are coming at you from all sides.
English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround),
Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Soon to be dead |
Extras: 4.5 out of
5
Some very nice stuff. Most notable are the three alternate endings. The
best is the "downer" ending in which bad stuff happens. There's
also another version of the film's original ending. Finally, there's an
excellent "radical" ending that was never shot, but the director
and writer read the parts (complete with a score) as we see the storyboards.
It's easy to see why it didn't make the movie, but it's exciting and heart
wrenching nonetheless. Next up are a goodly amount of deleted scenes all
with commentary. Again, all good stuff, most of it just cut for time.
The commentary track with Garland and Boyle is great - the two are friends
and can speak quite intelligently about the work they created - their
motivations and issues while shooting the film. There's some photo galleries,
but this time with commentary. Boyle talks about the stills, about having
a photographer on set, and tells some stories about the experience. Next
is the Polaroid gallery, also with commentary, which discusses continuity
and make-up pics. The last big thing is a 20 minute making of. Nicely
put together the featurette focuses perhaps a little too much on the scientific
side and not enough on the production but it lacks the "film clip"
syndrome that plague so many featurettes these days. Wrap it all up with
some trailers, a music video and some more storyboards and you've got
one hell of a package. Great stuff.
Overall: 5 out of 5
28 Days Later is a great horror film. Period. It has
a wickedly interesting heart and is shot on the cheap, in a stylistic
way. Highly recommended.
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