28 Weeks Later

There's nothing quite like a good horror movie to keep you on the edge of a panic attack for the rest of the night. Granted, I am one of those women who finds it necessary to prove her masculinity by doing things like watching scary movies without batting an eye, lifting heavy objects and trying to fix things herself. I'm not sure what that's about, something from my childhood I suppose. No brothers, which actually makes it more intriguing. That's besides the point...

While I may in fact have bigger balls (horrifically speaking) than some men out there and can be totally unaffected by some horror, I do in fact have a reaction to certain films, especially when they're well done. If you're wondering how 28 WEEKS LATER is, let's just say I checked my backseat about 5 times, and half-expected a zombie to rush out at me while walking from the parking lot to my apartment building. It doesn't help that the property has a lot of bushes, it gives the living dead a lot of places to hide. I'll start carrying a machete one of these days.

I did read the reviews, which is part of why I went to see 28 WEEKS LATER on the first night. It was that or SPIDERMAN 3, and from what I've heard so far about it, I'm matineeing Peter Parker's ass.

Whenever I read somewhat unanimous reviews, I try very hard not to let them influence my own opinion of a film. It's impossible to do completely, but I like to think that I can be somewhat objective. Frankly, I really enjoyed 28 WEEKS LATER.

The suspense was fantastic, first of all. There's this very steady tension throughout most of the movie, which is half the battle for horror movies in my opinion. Every time there's some bit of relief, you're thankful for it because you've been on the edge for that long. There were certain things I expected to happen that didn't, and there were things I totally didn't expect that happened. If anything I predicted had actually happened it would have taken the film down a notch in my evaluation, but none of it did.

I won't dare claim it was perfect, I do have a couple of things that I would have liked to see differently. For example, I feel like somehow I didn't get enough of what was going on within the military aside from a few scenes. I guess if this is the sort of story focusing on the lone band of survivors and their personal stories, then there wouldn't be room (or a need) to explore other perspectives. I'm not even positive what I'm looking for, I just know that I felt something wasn't totally explained, or I didn't completely get a sense of what was going on.

Speaking of that, the ending sort of puzzled me. Maybe if I think about it more and watch it again I'll get it. I mean, it screams "Insert next installment" I'm just not totally sure what happened at the very end regardless of what they might address in another sequel.

Some of the camerawork was a little dizzying at times, but overall I saw some really great looking shots. You aren't getting a brightly lit, uber-detailed view of total carnage and gore. These are well thought out, artistic shots... of said carnage and gore. It's a zombie film, right? It doesn't matter how nicely it's done, it sort of depends on the blood and guts.

The important thing is that it made me fear for my blood and guts. You'll be happy to know that I made it to my apartment safely. Good night, and wish me sweet dreams-- I just might need it.