p e n g u i n d e v i l

Right when it first came out stateside, I went and saw 28 Days Later. It’s a good date movie (I saw two movies that same day and, if I may say so, Capturing the Friedman’s is not a good date movie). I am one of those sad folks who admits that it is one of my favorite zombie movies, even though it isn’t a zombie movie. But for the genre, it ranks right behind the wonderful Shaun of the Dead (out here the following year). In fact, seeing those in back to back years and then taking in Land of the Dead the next year, really served to point out the superiority of European films. I don’t know what it is that makes American major studios think that they can take a crappy script, too many overdone and underthought special effects and a bunch of bad acting by dull, buff younguns and actually think that they can come out with a good film. Yes, sure, as readers may remember from the Let’s pretend that we’re nice now post, I did enjoy Land of the Dead, but more as one of those “it’s entertaining fluff” movies, rather then a “this is a really good film” kind of enjoyment. But it seems that on the other side of the Atlantic, they can do everything better, and smarter, for much less money. But I digress. This is the story of a man who wakes up in a hospital bed in an abandoned London and his adventures that follow as he learns what happened and what to do next (the answer to that is: Run).

28 Days Later starts off with a great sequence of a small group of animal rights activists breaking into a lab and starting to free some caged monkeys, though they receive a very strong opposition to the idea being voiced by a scientist that they find there… We then move ahead (28 days) to a young fellow who wakes up one day in a hospital bed and finds himself to be all alone in London. As he walks around looking for people, it becomes apparent that something terrible has happened. Hundreds of missing people notices, papers saying that the UK is being evacuated, and no one around at all. Ending up in a church whose floor is filled with bodies, he calls out to see if anyone is around. Well, it turns out that London is not completely vacant! Some of those bodies are still living, are very mad and can run quite well, thank you. Getting out of there in a hurry he is saved by a couple of other folks and the story of what happened becomes clear.

He and his new pals wander London, trying to stay away from the grumpy many who for the majority of England’s population. It’s just a great film. The scenes of empty London are well-done, the story is fun and the movie is pretty non-stop with baddies everywhere, good (and plentiful) gore scenes, tons of action, great tension and a frenetic pace and grainy quality that give it a great cinéma vérité quality (I still find the tunnel scene unsettling). Around this hectic environment, normal people are very few and far between, and if you find what may seem to be a safe haven, may end up being nothing of the sort.

In desperate times like this, each group is out for their own good, and while the regular survivors may not be as mad as most, they prove that they can certainly be just as dangerous. At about the 1 hour and 44 minute mark, the screen goes black and it’s a great ending for the film. Which, sadly, isn’t the ending. You get the sudden sense that you have started watching a completely different movie, and it is a bit of a let down after the brutal grimness that you had been witnessing.

Regardless, Danny Boyle (of the also terrific Trainspotting) has delivered a top-notch horror film here. One with lots of re-watching potential. Which is good, as they have made a totally unneeded (I imagine, though I haven’t seen it) sequel with the unfortunate name of 28 Weeks Later… And sadly it seems that there may be a 28 Months Later on the way…