28 Days Later... (2002)

28 DAYS LATER (2003) 3 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns and Brendan Gleeson. Director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle DFF. Edited by Chris Gill. Music by John Murphy. Written by Alex Garland. Directed by Danny Boyle. Rated R. Running time: 108 minutes.

For one of the most frightening movie experiences of the year, you can't do better than 28 Days Later, an apocalyptic British import that will have you jumping in your seat for most of its 108-minute running time.

Part Night of the Living Dead and part Omega Man, 28 Days Later follows the cataclysmic events when a powerful virus called Rage is accidentally unleashed on the British population.

The virus is transmitted through blood and takes effect almost immediately. It locks the infected person in a permanent state of murderous frenzy.

Within 28 days, the country is devastated. A handful of survivors are left to cope and try to rebuild civilization.

Among those unaffected is Jim, a bicycle messenger who was injured in a car accident and awakes from a coma in a deserted hospital.

Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Shallow Grave), working from an original screenplay by Alex Garland (The Beach), creates an eerie atmosphere of isolation, fear and paranoia as a frightened and confused Jim roams around a ghostly London, continuing calling, "Hello, hello."

28 Days Later's intensity builds on Jim's desperation as he meets a couple of other survivors, including Selena, a no-nonsense young woman who unflinchingly kills those infected in order to stay alive.

Hearing about a safe enclave Jim and Selena hook up with cabbie Frank and his teen-age daughter, Hannah, and escape London only to find more dangers and disappointments as they attempt to survive and begin new lives.

Ironically, while 28 Days Later's violence is disturbing, it is not very explicit, which is one of the movie's major plusses.

Boyle, working with editor Chris Gill, stages the attacks in quick bursts featuring rapid camera movements and quick cuts so the audience only gets glimpses of the mayhem. This technique helps heighten the sense of horror.

Boyle continually builds suspense. Through cutting he creates an atmosphere of expectancy in which you anticipate an attack by a horde of infected crazies at any moment. Yet the rampages are spaced far enough apart that when they come, they create a jolt.

The cast of mostly unfamiliar faces works extremely hard and well. Cillan Murphy as Jim brings the right amount of paranoia and grit to his role, while Naomie Harris as Selena is imbued with looks, brain and ferocity.

Brendan Gleeson, familiar to most U.S. audiences for his roles in The Gangs of New York and The General, is tough and level-headed as the fatherly Frank, who joins forces with Jim and Selena.

28 Days Later is one of those textbook movies proving you can shock and scare an audience without resorting to lopping off heads or limbs, and that the camera can be as lethal a weapon as any automatic firearm, sword or machete.

Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bbloom@journalandcourier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on movies. Bloom's reviews also appear on the Web at the Rottentomatoes Web site, www.rottentomatoes.com and at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom

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X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/4