28 Days Later Reviews

"28 Days Later" was a game-changer when it came out. It almost single-handedly ripped the horror genre from the sludge the 90's had dragged it into with its gritty urban realism and its haunting imagery. Over a decade later, in a world full of inventive, serious horror (and riddled with genre zombie media) that it opened the floodgates to, i revisited it and found that it had lost none of its potency.

No good deed goes unpunished in this fictional world, as activists unwittingly unleash an infection that wipes out the bulk of the United Kingdom leaving death and the ravenous infected in its wake...and those that would dare survive. The premise is one frequented by many an apocalyptic film but 28 Days Later's delivery method is what truly makes it stand out.

Hauntingly atmospheric is the best way to describe the lonesome urban landscape that protagonist Jim (an excellent Cillian Murphy) wakes up to, all the moreso in a post-9/11 world then and, years later, in a charged atmosphere where the origins of the movie's plague are more common than ever. So much imagery evokes emotions in the viewers that we link to modern day chaos and catastrophe that all that is presented feels disturbingly plausible. The film's visual palette screams out like a harbinger of inevitability, with its uncompromisingly lo-fi appearance and washed out, bleak tones. It's a somber and depressing affair, made all the more disheartening with a simple but ambitiously soul-crushing score.

Any astute cinephile will note that the film bears undeniable resemblance to the narrative of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead, to the point that you might call it an abbreviated version of the core events in those two films. Unlike Romero's classics though, "Days" doesn't seek to say much about society's ills. Instead it highlights something we most often forget in the fray of our lives. Its ultimate purpose is to espouse the power of hope in the face of utter adversity. Here is the lifeblood of the story and what keeps you trudging through madness alongside its protagonists. Here also is what makes it stand above the pack.

Appropriately enough the film is primarily shot in frenetic style on grainy digital cameras but that eventually gives way to the more refined beauty of of 35mm film stock as the film's culminating moments come into play. The allusion does not go unnoticed and it almost comes as a relief in kind with that felt by the protagonists.

"28 Days Later" is harrowing, unsettling, kinetically paced at times and nighmarishly languid at others, it feels dirty, it feels hopeless....then it makes you care, it makes you hope, it makes you yearn. In short, it is an experience.  9/10

Scary film! One of a kind reinvention of a zombie movie from the same director that brought us Slumdog Millionaire.

Danny Boyle seems a great director, and although such disparate films do each other as Trainspotting and The Beach, I like his style when filming: imaginative and dynamic. 28 days is directed with skill and expertise, and the use of digital cameras added to an air documentary film quite sinister. Boyle has been able to reinvent this survival horror subgenre so crushed: and not zombies but infected rabid leaden movements do not hesitate to score a spring to smash heads. These features have been added to later films like the remake of Dawn of the Dead and the recent Spanish REC Jaume Balagueró. Furthermore the origin of evil is in a viral infection, so that the starting point 28 days is more or less likely. It has a great soundtrack and I think is underappreciated.

These days finding a job that involves terror and situations that lead to reflection is quite difficult. Usually we find stories illogical or insane where paranormal beings killed five to seven young interlopers with more reasons known to the viewer to be in the wrong time and place, useless argument despite its variants and worn. This leads to apathy and predictability of scripts that flood the cinemas.

The box office success of "28 Days Extermination" I think that is due to a commendable justification, as to the existence of zombies in England. People spread by contact with infectious fluids integrity (quite original), in which the sense of survival is latent and everything important for the development of peoples (the material) is insufficient. The virus as an antagonist is not the only to evade, also unconscious, recklessness and ideas premature retrograde and conservation of the species by some characters.

With rooms full of desolation, stars sad, apathetic and little hope, formidably music adapted, dynamic scenes, a fascinating climax players a way to a remarkable career, we have an approaching reality.

Dany Boyle omitted the formula, with a smaller budget and achievement obtained was defined as success and credibility as a director, becoming distant from his debut (Trainspotting) and its failure to Holliwood (The beach).

A terrible virus that causes people to lose themselves in an uncontrollable rage—released unknowingly by do-gooders—runs rampant in London. The few survivors left cling to the hope of a cure and that the remnants of the military can bring them safety. So with nothing to lose, they make their way to the encampment. So much more than a “zombie” movie, this is a gritty tale about the survival of humanity on the brink of oblivion—both humanity as a species and humanity as in human decency. The final act, following one of my personal favorite scenes ever (post-Frank), shows the traits of humans when their laws and luxuries are ripped away. They tear at each other, their morals slowly decaying with their dwindling food supply. Standing next to the rage-infected hordes—I see no difference. Gritty, bloody, touching—all filmed digitally by Boyle which gives it a home-movie-like vibe. It seems more frenetic. Close. Real. A modern masterpiece of horror.

spot on zombie film forgot the GR slow moving vacant zombies these boys and girls are full of rage. Moody and action pack - job lot!

With endless love, we left you sleeping. Now we're sleeping with you. Don't wake up.

For the first few scenes of the film, I knew this film was going to be part of my favorite zombie films. I loved the way it didn't meet other zombie film storylines; the origins of the virus was different, and even the look and feel of the zombies were different as well. They reminded me a LOT of Left 4 Dead zombies - they weren't shuffling or slow, they could definitely rush at you and bite a chunk of your flesh if you didn't blast their brains to pieces. Plus the film's atmosphere... you could definitely feel the terror of being one of the few survivors in a world plagued with endless scores of undead.
The film begins when a group of animal cruelty activists break into a top secret facility with the aim of freeing monkeys which they believe have been abused for the sake of research. Before they can do so, a scientist catches them and frantically warns them not to free the monkeys, since these have been injected with a virus which borders on extreme Rage and can be passed on through a bite, saliva, or any form of physical contact which involves wounds. The activists ignore the warnings of the scientist and release one monkey, which immediately jumps on a female activist and mauls her neck. Within seconds, she has turned into the first Infected, and the film cuts to Jim (Murphy), who awakes in a hospital 28 days after the incident. He goes out of the hospital and searches London for any signs of life. All he sees are rubbish and abandoned vehicles. At some point, he picks up wads of cash, but naturally, he does not know that he won't be needing it anymore. While exploring a church, he stumbles upon a group of Infected, who promptly chase him. A few seconds away from certain death, he is rescued by Selena (Harris) and Mark (Huntley). They take him to their hideout and explain what happened. Jim makes up his mind to see his parents, ignoring Selena and Mark's warnings that they may be dead by now. When they reach Jim's house, they find his parents dead in bed from an overdose of sleeping pills. During the night they are attacked by two of Jim's Infected neighbors, and Mark is wounded. In a flash, Selena hacks Mark to death, explaining to Jim that it takes 10-20 seconds to kill a person who has been wounded by an Infected before they transform. They continue on their way, and in the process, they meet Frank (Gleeson) and Hannah (Burns), a father-daughter team who say that there is a military outpost where they can find a cure for the infection. The four decide to travel together, but once they reach the camp, they learn that the so-called cure is to impregnate all human women in order to repopulate the Earth.
A definite original, although I did have an issue with the scene where Frank shows Jim the rooftop of the building where he and his daughter were living in. Sure, it had a lot of plastic containers in order to catch rainwater, but I spotted 3 laundry baskets. With holes. How in Zeus' lightning bolt are they going to catch water with THAT? That aside, this film is definitely one everyone should see. ;)

28 Days Later is one of the rare horror films that are absolute masterpieces that are really clever and really well filmed. 28 Days Later is a film that left me freaked out but blown away by it at the same time which is something Saw did as well. 28 Days Later was a very tense post-apocalyptic film of the future in the science fiction world that almost went beyond amazing. It is a very silly story but it is a story that is so gripping and exciting that makes it so good and a great success. This film probably introduced films like Shaun Of The Dead and especially I Am Legend. They both seemed like spoofs to 28 Days Later even though Shaun Of The Dead is a spoof anyway. It is a very gory film but it isn't the most gory film that I've ever watched. I personally believe that 28 Days Later, Shaun Of The Dead and Saw are the only brilliant and smart horror films. The gore involved looked animated at the beginning which what I thought was a bit daft. It was such clever filmmaking from such an absolutely fantastic director with a taste at creating brilliant films in all genres. Danny Boyle's work in 28 Days Later probably became an inspiration to Edgar Wright for Shaun Of The Dead. 28 Days Later is a very dark story obviously but is beautifully filmed because it was all so realistic even though we all know it isn't. This is one of the most films along with the first Saw that is probably loved by all horror fans.


Cillian Murphy is starting to make a good collaboration with Danny Boyle. His collaboration with him in 28 Days Later is better than in Sunshine even though that is still a brilliant film as well. Murphy is starting to look good in science fiction films which includes Batman Begins and cameo appearance in The Dark Knight as well as 28 Days Later and Sunshine. It makes him a brilliant choice for the science fiction genre. Naomie Harris was good as Selena as well. I didn't realise that she was in this film especially after portraying Tia Dalma in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and At World's End. It is a very tense thrill ride that you need to be in the mood to watch. It is probably a Saturday evening sort of film. I don't think it's a film that can give you nightmares but I think it will freak people out and blow people away at the same time. 28 Days Later has pretty much everything a horror film must have to succeed. It is a masterpiece of its genre and I am glad to say that. Every second of this film was very enjoyable even though there were some silent moments in the film where nobody could speak or where you couldn't hear a sound. I loved this film from start to finish! It is a very hard-hitting, scary, tense and with action-packed violence within which is something that I love in a lot of films.


28 Days Later is another great work from Danny Boyle but 28 Days Later doesn't beat Trainspotting. 28 Days Later is without a doubt one of my favourite horror films. The Shining, Saw and 28 Days Later are my ultimate horror films even though horror is my least favourite genre.

I am a fan of gore and zombies, hence my username here in listal. And this, by far, is one of the best zombie flicks I have ever seen. Of course, if Danny Boyle directed it, I would definitely love it. Cillian Murphy is super different from his performance in Breakfast on Pluto - I almost didn't recognize him. And yes, going back to zombies and gore, 28 Days Later is not just about eating flesh and masticating brains. This film has what most zombie films have been missing: a great storyline. And with this criterion, 28 Days Later is truly the shit! :)