28 Days Later (2002)Director: Danny Boyle
Writer: Alex Garland
Genre: Horror, Zombies
Rating: 5
Inspiration: September Zombies Week
(Aug 29 to Sep 6, 2009)
- check out today's goodies
Description from imdb:
A powerful virus escapes from a British research facility. Transmitted in a drop of blood and devastating within seconds, the virus locks those infected into a permanent state of murderous rage. Within 28 days the country is overwhelmed and a handful of survivors begin their attempts to salvage a future, little realising that the deadly virus is not the only thing that threatens them.
Tagline: His fear began when he woke up alone. His terror began when he realised he wasn't.
Serious quote:
Major Henry West: This is what I've seen in the four weeks since infection. People killing people. Which is much what I saw in the four weeks before infection, and the four weeks before that, and before that, and as far back as I care to remember. People killing people. Which to my mind, puts us in a state of normality right now.
Trivia:
-- The symbol used for this film is the international symbol for blood-borne biohazard.
-- The primary idea behind Rage was that every generation gets the zombies it deserves, and Alex Garland and Danny Boyle felt that the notion of the living dead wanting to eat peoples' brains was outdated. One of the original impetuses behind zombie movies was a fear of nuclear power and the possible ramifications it might have on humanity. As such, Garland and Boyle looked at what this generation is afraid of, and concluded that one of the biggest fears in modern society is a fear of diseases, a fear of a viral apocalypse, such as Ebola or Marburg. Indeed, Garland and Boyle were specifically inspired by such incidents as the recent anthrax and bioterrorism scares in London as well as the recent spread of mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth disease in the UK. As such, they decided to base their zombies on this fear of viruses.
-- Another aspect of rendering the zombie movie more contemporary was the idea that the virus didn't necessarily affect people physically (it doesn't kill them as in traditional zombie movies), but psychologically. Both Alex Garland and Danny Boyle felt that the idea that the virus renders people zombie-like due to uncontrollable rage was a good metaphor for the contemporary phenomenon of social rage (such as road rage, air rage, hospital rage etc). They liked the idea that the virus simply amplifies something already in each and every man and woman, rather than turning them into something entirely Other, as is the traditional route in zombie movies.
-- Athletes were cast as the Infected because of how important physicality is to them. Danny Boyle felt that generally, athletes can do things other people can't, and he thought this would be interesting when translated into the movements of the Infected.
Zombie speed: scary fast
Zombification: infection of virus via blood
Zombie mode: feral with red eyes and uncontrollable rage
My thoughts:
In-a-word: rage
Super fast and Super angry zombies = Super scary movie
I liked the take of zombies in this film. Although the focus was on the survivors of a zombocalyptic world, I was fascinated with the zombification creation in this film. The "infected" did not rise from the dead. They zombified "live" prospects by blood.
Survival issues are dealt with in this film along with more than just the basics of food, water and shelter. Like, what happens when one woman and one girl are stuck in a house full of men in a zombocalyptic world? The situation can be scary as hell whether or not zombies invade - makes for good drama.
Ewww moment: the infected spewing blood
Extra tidbit:
28 Days Later comic seriesExcerpt from lehighvalleylive.com:
It's a sequel to the first film and is also a sort of a prequel to "28 Weeks Later" as it fills in the gap between the two films.
The comic book, by writer Michael Alan Nelson with art by Declan Shalvey, follows Selena, a survivor from the first film, as she leads a team of reporters back into the quarantine zone.
