28 DAYS LATER

RATING 3.5

(Director: Danny Boyle, R, 108 min)

Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes up from a coma 28 days after suffering a bike injury only to find that the whole world (or at least England) has changed. He leaves the empty hospital and goes outside to find an empty London - except that it's not completely empty. There are people lurking about, only they're no longer normal folks - a psychological virus has swept through the country, it only takes one drop of blood to infect and 20 seconds later a person is transformed into a zombie-vampire-thing in a constant state of rage and an all-consuming hunger to feed, to kill.

Jim teams up with a small group of survivors who've managed to stay alive this past month by their wits and lots of firepower: Selena (Naomie Harris), Mark (Noah Huntley), and a father and daughter, Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and Hannah (Megan Burns). They hear about a sanctuary set up by a group of soldiers led by Major West (Christopher Eccleston). Frank and Hannah are determined to go, even if it means risking death, so the whole group sets out with newfound hope, but they have no idea if this sanctuary is a place of peace or a deathtrap.

28 Days Later is not your typical scary movie - why? Besides the fact that this is actually good, it has more of a story than just a bunch of horny teenagers waiting their turn to die or seemingly immortal serial killers hacking their way through sequel after sequel. They actually take time to develop characters, build realistic relationships, and create serious dramatic tension aside from the obvious danger. Several characters have transformations - for example, Selena goes from thinking it's enough just to survive to being a compassionate person who seeks love and friendship; Jim starts out dazed and confused and virtually helpless and becomes a man willing to fight to defend his new "family". If it wasn't for the death and destruction, you might even mistake the acting for something out of an "art-house" piece (okay, that's probably not going to happen).

You don't spend the entire movie battling zombie creatures - which is a wise choice (too much of a good thing can be "overkill" and they'd lose some of their fright factor). You still see them often enough to know that they lurk around every corner and you never know when one is going to reach out and… yes, there are moments that make you jump and get your pulse racing a bit. There are also some pretty gory bits because once the "infected ones" find fresh meat it's hard to convince them it's not suppertime.

The silent, deserted locations set the tone of the movie right away - it's very eerie to see the empty streets of London and the endless stretches of highway. It makes for a huge contrast when the survivors encounter wild packs of people.

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Movie Chick Cherryl:
"It's edgy, entertaining, and has people you like struggling to build a new existence - not things you normally find in a horror flick. Oh yeah, it's scary, too - 3.5"

Movie Chick Leigh Ann:
"Blimey - a scary movie with a smart script! 3.5"