I watched this supposedly in HD recently after not seeing it for over a decade. My memories of it were immensely positive, I remember being gripped, engaged and happily going along with whatever the narrative offered.

My most recent viewing however was not so straightforward. Being British I am acutely aware of the tropes of UK produced cinema and those cliches don't engage me now, or more to the point I am perhaps more aware of them. 28 Days Later seems prosaic and fettered by these production values and that spoiled my watching experience. On the positive side, there are still iconic moments, an amazing soundtrack and frenetic scenes to be enjoyed.

While this film didn't exactly reinvent the zombie horror genre, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland nonetheless still manage to bring a feeling of jarring intimacy and immediacy to the standard premise by wisely focusing on a small handful of survivors who try to stay alive and retain residual traces of their humanity in an extremely dire and desperate situation. Indeed, Boyle and Garland handle the premise with admirable take-no-prisoners grim seriousness by showing in stark and chilling terms how easily people can degenerate into a horrible barbaric state in the wake of civilization collapsing. In an inspired cynical touch, a group of soldiers turn out to be anything but heroic and helpful as they prove to be more concerned with their own self-preservation over helping others out.

Cillian Murphy makes for an engaging average guy protagonist as the fundamentally decent Jim, Noamie Harris provides plenty of spark as the sassy and ruthlessly determined Selena, Brandon Gleeson does typically fine work as affable cab driver Frank, and Christopher Eccleston likewise excels as the steely Major Henry West. A tense sequence in a tunnel rates as a definite harrowing highlight while the shots of a dead quiet and empty London are quite eerie and striking. Anthony Dod Mantle's rough digital cinematography gives this picture a gritty sense of documentary-style realism. But it's the way this film manages to keep things on a basic human level which in turn makes the horror presented herein so potent and unsettling.

28 Days Later (2002) This is an outbreak film that portrays the breakdown of society following the accidental release of a highly contagious virus and focuses upon the struggle of four survivors to cope with the destruction of the life they once experienced. This is a British film with a relatively unknown cast for those of us stateside. I'm fond of two of the actors, Cillian Murphy, and Brendan Gleeson. Murphy is the lead in Peaky Blinders on Netflix and Gleeson is the lead on the more recent Stephen King adaptation, Mr. Mercedes, on the Audience Network. This was well received by critics and audiences. It's a decent attempt to merge the fear of a horror movie and the drama of a thriller. Its style clearly influenced later projects of the genre.