28 Days Later

Year: 2002

Genre: Horror

Director: Danny Boyle

Screenwriter: Alex Garland

Starring: Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris

One reason it fits the genre: 28 Days Later definitely fits into the horror genre because it is about zombies and is therefore terrifying. The movie opens with Jim (Cillian Murphy) waking up in a hospital. He wanders out into the streets of London to find the city completely deserted. But he quickly finds out that he is not alone and most of the population has been infected with a "rage" epidemic, basically turning them into zombies. The director, Danny Boyle, combines suspense and surprise as well as some pretty gory scenes which all add up to a pretty good horror film.

One reason it doesn't fit the genre: Although it is a horror film, 28 Days Later also has many sub-genres, including romance, drama, and even comedy. What makes this movie so good is that each scene is not shot-after-shot of senseless gore and surprise but Boyle actually takes the time to introduce the characters and make the audience care about what happens to them. The characters are all also realistic and therefore relatable to the audience, instead of the usual unhumanly flawless teens who stumble around in their underwear before ultimately getting killed off.

Questions: 1) How does this movie differ from most zombie movies? How is it similar? 2) Do you think the more genres a movie fits into the better the movie becomes?