28 Days Later(2002)

 


This a good film directed by Danny Boyle who directed Trainspotting and The Beach. It was eagerly awaited before it's release as it is a zombie/horror movie but it is set in England. There is also a sequel, 28 Weeks Later, which I will review in a future post.












The movie begins with British animal rights activists breaking into a lab where chimpanzees are being used for medical research. There is a scientist there who warns them that the chimps are infected with something that causes rage. They don't take any heed and one is freed, infecting the activists and the scientist. 28 days later, a man called Jim(Cillian Murphy) awakes from a coma,naked, in the hospital. There is nobody else around and he wonders what has happened to everyone.He goes outside and is chased by the infected people until he is rescued by two survivors, Selena(Naomi Harris) and Mark(Noah Huntley). They tell him about the virus and that people began killing while he was in a coma and that now there are people running around looking for blood.

He goes to his parents house to find that they committed suicide. That night, they are attacked and Mark is infected. Selena kills him as he will turn into a zombie. They roam the streets hoping to find other survivors. They find a man called Frank(Brendan Gleeson) and his daughter Hannah(Megan Burns). They are living in a deserted block of flats. They don't know if they should stay with the new survivors or move on. Frank tells them that their supplies are very low and that there is a message on the radio from soldiers in Manchester who have a cure. They decide to travel together and go to Manchester for safety. As they near the place, Frank is infected and he is shot by the soldiers. The soldiers are not what they seem.They meet Major West(Christopher Eccleston) who is crazy.The plan is to wait for the infected to starve to death and to use females as sexual slaves so that the population will replenish itself. Jim, Hannah and Selena try and escape, but they are caught by Sergeant Farrell(Stuart McQuarrie) and others who do not like the thought of West's plan. They are imprisoned again and the next morning, Jim escapes over a wall . He sees the smoke from a jet and he realises that there must still be people living and functioning. He diverts the soldiers attention and he unleashes one of the infected on the remaining soldiers. He grabs Selena and Hannah and they get into a car when Jim is shot by Major West.

They find a hospital and Selena saves his life. 28 days later, he awakes again, but this time he is in a cottage.He gets up and finds Selena and Hannah making a banner. They bring it outside and lay it in the field where they have spelled out HELLO in the grass. They see a military jet approaching and as it passes them, they wonder if they have been seen this time. This movie is all action and great horror. I will give this one a 7/10.