28 DAYS LATERComplications Ensue
Complications Ensue:
The Crafty Screenwriting, TV and Game Writing Blog




Archives

April 2004

May 2004

June 2004

July 2004

August 2004

September 2004

October 2004

November 2004

December 2004

January 2005

February 2005

March 2005

April 2005

May 2005

June 2005

July 2005

August 2005

September 2005

October 2005

November 2005

December 2005

January 2006

February 2006

March 2006

April 2006

May 2006

June 2006

July 2006

August 2006

September 2006

October 2006

November 2006

December 2006

January 2007

February 2007

March 2007

April 2007

May 2007

June 2007

July 2007

August 2007

September 2007

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

January 2008

February 2008

March 2008

April 2008

May 2008

June 2008

July 2008

August 2008

September 2008

October 2008

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009

February 2009

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

April 2010

May 2010

June 2010

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

December 2011

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

April 2012

May 2012

June 2012

July 2012

August 2012

September 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

January 2013

February 2013

March 2013

April 2013

May 2013

June 2013

July 2013

August 2013

September 2013

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

January 2014

February 2014

March 2014

April 2014

May 2014

June 2014

July 2014

August 2014

September 2014

October 2014

November 2014

December 2014

January 2015

February 2015

March 2015

April 2015

May 2015

June 2015

August 2015

September 2015

October 2015

November 2015

December 2015

January 2016

February 2016

March 2016

April 2016

May 2016

June 2016

July 2016

August 2016

September 2016

October 2016

November 2016

December 2016

January 2017

February 2017

March 2017

May 2017

June 2017

July 2017

August 2017

September 2017

October 2017

November 2017

December 2017

January 2018

March 2018

April 2018

June 2018

July 2018

October 2018

November 2018

December 2018

January 2019

February 2019

November 2019

February 2020

March 2020

April 2020

May 2020

August 2020

September 2020

October 2020

December 2020

January 2021

February 2021

March 2021

May 2021

June 2021

November 2021

December 2021

January 2022

February 2022

August 2022

September 2022

November 2022

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

July 2023

September 2023

November 2023

January 2024

February 2024

 

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

I watched about half an hour of 28 DAYS LATER, which was all I can take. Ironically, I had to stop watching because it is so effective a movie. Most horror movies are barely tongue in cheek. You're not really supposed to be horrified. Just have your scary bone tickled.

28 DAYS LATER is horrifying. Scary as all get out. And it's the quiet moments, where the dread sinks in, that are the worst. You start getting to like people, while knowing that probably one of them, at most, will make it to the end of the movie.

If you like horror, this one is just as good or even more powerful than DESCENT.

But I'm not going to watch any more of it, because I don't have to.

Labels:

13 Comments:

I don't usually like horror movies, but I thought 28 Days Later was fantastic. I saw a little of the sequel, which looked far better than most sequels with different directors usually do. I will probably end up seeing the whole thing at some point.

One thing that made the original so good is that it's really a character study set inside a horror movie. You care about the characters and feel for them, so when something happens to them, the stakes are a lot higher for the audience.

By Blogger Unknown, at 1:46 PM  

I happen to love horror movies. I thought 28 Days Later was decent but also a disappointment from what I was hoping for, based on all the buildup. I didn't really like the way it was filmed, and I thought the script lost touch with reality in the second act, once the soldiers came into play.

I saw 28 Weeks Later at the theater and actually liked it more than the original. Again, I didn't really like the look of the action scenes, and thought that the storyline was a little ridiculous.

Both films have several intense and scary scenes for sure, but neither left me with the feeling that I had just seen a great movie.

Both are quality ventures though, and are much better than most horror films.

By Blogger Unknown, at 3:27 PM  

I'd say at this point, 28 Days Later is my favorite of the zombie films. Even better than the original Dawn of the Dead, which I really love.

By Blogger Kody Chamberlain, at 4:35 PM  

fraidy cat...

By Blogger wcdixon, at 7:20 PM  

wouldn't call it a horror flick.

By Blogger Allen, at 2:47 AM  

... and you didn't even get to the third act, which is when things get really horrible.

By Blogger Oli, at 3:57 AM  

i agree with tim.w - the characters in 28 Days Later are so much better fleshed out than a typical ten-little-indians horror that each death was awful to watch. i was exhausted by the end. (and glad that Boyle and Garland went with a fractionally more upbeat ending than they'd originally intended.)

what i really - enjoy's not the right word - appreciate about 28 Days Later is how the horror, from a national level right down to each character's personal level, is brought about by simple human need. depressing, yes, but more compelling and disturbing for it.

i read the script for 28 Weeks Later and it looks to be as horrifying as the first. i'll uh, i'll see it when i'm ready.

By Blogger d f mamea, at 4:38 AM  

28 Days Later -- loved it.
28 Weeks Later -- hated it.

The sequel just turned rather ridiculous about half an hour into the movie.

Sunshine (by the same guy) had a similar problem. First 2/3 of the movie -- Oscar material. Last 1/3 -- bad C-movie horror.

By Blogger Elver, at 7:40 AM  

Funnily enough, we just had a similar conversation thread over at my blog re: 28 Days Later vs. 28 Weeks Later and the very similar (yet very different) Resident Evil. Some of the comments were surprising I thought, esp. over the prologue at the beginning of 28DL.

By Blogger Lucy V, at 8:26 AM  

Wow, finally. I've been walking around for months telling people how terrifying this movie is. So many people didn't get into it. I know this is a writer's blog, and I know the script doesn't make sense at times, but give credit to the director, who staged some the most horrific scenes ever put to film.

And for those who didn't like it, you at least have to give the opening sequence credit. When Robert Carlyle left his wife behind, man WOW what an opener.

By Blogger TREV, at 7:56 PM  

I loved that in 28 DAYS LATER, things went from bad to worse not because the characters acted like idiots, but because they acted like selfless, decent human beings. Every time they tried to make things better, they just made them worse. THAT is the way to make a horror movie!

By Blogger Andy Diggle, at 10:58 AM  

I think you hit the nail on the head re: "Tickling your scary bone."

And, in a probably-less-intentional way, tim w. (#1) illustrates that problem with modern horror/perceptions as well: "One thing that made the original so good is that it's really a character study set inside a horror movie." Why would those categories be separate?

The franchise machinery of the 80's left horror absolutely crippled as a genre, to the point where good horror films are - at best - described as "not really horror" or "psychological thriller"; and at the least they are good "for a horror film."

It's a real shame that such an incredibly flavorful genre is probably the genre taken least seriously in virtually all circles, on all levels.

28 Days Later was a fresh departure from that. It was intended to borrow very heavily from Romero's original Dead trilogy - and it shows.

For the record, I thought Weeks was a perfectly good movie in its own right - though it should be said that it's an entirely different kind of story than Days. Despite their shadowy ubiquity, the Infected are all but non-present in the moodily post-apocalyptic Days.

Weeks serves as a thematic prequel: rather than giving us the intensity of the outbreak by showing us the scars it's left on the characters in Days, it just shows us the scars being made.

At the very least, I am incredibly happy that Weeks never once stopped for Hollywood mercy: every time when a character would be spared for the sake of plot or pity in a more mainstream movie, they are simply (and brutally) chewed up, or left behind, or worse - just like all the extras.

Nice.

By Blogger Unknown, at 3:18 PM  

Yes... strangely the most effective horror films offer both character complexity and a sense of realism.

By Blogger Sean Hood, at 11:51 AM  

Post a Comment

Back to Complications Ensue main blog page.



This page is powered by Blogger.