Many pictures claimed to be the best British horror film since Hellraiser but 28 Days Later is the real deal, and just like Clive Barkers film its a landmark picture that ushered in a new era of horror. Taking its inspiration from George Romeros zombie films (though without a single walking cadaver in sight), the film offers one of the most uncomfortable (and uncomfortably believable) accounts of social collapse ever seen in a British film. Working from a script by Alex Garland (Ex Machina), director Danny Boyle remains true to the spirit of Romeros films while eschewing their humour and pseudo-scientific explanations. The result impressed Stephen King so much that he bought out a showing of the picture in New York City. The film achieves its extraordinary effects by dropping many of the traditional motifs associated with zombie films in favour of playing on the more modern fear of disease. The movie will remain the ultimate apocalyptic vision for some time until our fears change, anyway.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
