ok, Jim, I've got some bad news.

28 DAYS LATER:  A very, very interesting take on the zombie-apocalypse scenario.  There are actually not that many zombies here - and they're not the "living dead", either, they're "infected" with a virus called Rage, and they don't want to eat people as much as they want to kill them or spread the virus, and once you kill them, they stay dead - there's more emptiness.  As Selena says, they will never read a book that hasn't already been written, they will never see a movie that hasn't already been shot.  Their families are dead, and if they're lucky, they died peacefully and not as a mutated Infected, shot in the head like a dog.  Shot entirely on digital video, the movie is full of shadows, muted colors, and is not crisp but is "ultra-real". 

While this is usually referred to as a zombie movie, I find that it's more of a post-apocalypse movie.  More important than the zombies and the gore and violence (which is not in excess here), are the reactions of the survivors in evacuated and decimated Britain, quarantined by the rest of the world.  There is no paranormality here either - Rage is a lab-created disease produced by exposing lab monkeys to endless videos of violence captured on the news, and it is set free when well-meaning animal activists decide to free one of the monkeys, which immediately attacks them.  Which means, in effect, we create our own doom, and the real difference between the Infected and a furious non-Infected (like Jim) is some hold on what we call "humanity" - a sense of humor, a sense of restraint, the ability to love, the ability to do anything that is not for your own gain but someone else's, motor skills, recognition, memory.  While language is, to some extent, also a facet of humanity, a little Infected boy that attacks Jim says, "I hate you."  I wasn't sure if I heard it when I watched it, but it's confirmed by IMDb.  Which is to say, this disease is basically rage and hatred without anything else. 

Equally or maybe more alarming than the Infected themselves are the reactions of the survivors.  Jim is compassionate, reluctant to kill or leave anyone behind.  Selena believes survival is "as good as it gets".  Frank and Hannah always try to make believe that it's not really that bad (probably because Hannah's a child) and they live for each other, having a dynamic very similar to the Man and the Boy in Cormac McCarthy's The Road (interestingly, they have parallel fates as well).  The soldiers are a strange mix of excited to be in a warzone where they get to exercise their shooting and bashing skills and experience dangerous adrenaline highs, and depressed because "there is no future".  Despite issuing a broadcast all over England inviting survivors to come to Manchester, they only protect those who can serve a purpose to them - the men they find are executed, and the women are kept to breed the next generation.  Selena bashes in her teammate when he becomes Infected without hesitation, while Jim ends up killing two soldiers - one who tried to kill him, and one who tried to rape Selena - in cold blood.  Interestingly, Jim also sets the soldiers' "pet" Infected loose, allowing him to wreak havoc on the base and spread the disease further.  And by that time, I have to admit, I was rooting for the Infected Mailer over the soldiers. 

Basically, there's not that much difference between the Infected and the non-Infected.  The enemy is us.  As U2 says, "and you become a monster so the monster will not break you." - Highly Recommended (but I was waffling between this and Recommended).

 

( REPENT/THE END IS/EXTREMELY/FUCKING/NIGH )

pumpkins scream in the dead of night!

WHAT'S YOUR HORROR MOVIE PERSONALITY?  Because I've seen too many, I'm trying to write a spooky story, and I like making quizzes. 

1.  First off, imagine yourself in a horror movie...
a.  Wait, let me practice screaming.
b.  Wait, let me get my ammunition.
c.  Wait, let me get a scientist.
d.  Wait, let me check my mail.
e.  Wait, let me move into my new house.
f.  Wait, let me put on my crucifix.

2.  Say there is no "Horror" section.  Where would you want this movie of yours to be placed?
a.  Thriller.
b.  Action.
c.  Science fiction.
d.  Foreign.
e.  Drama.
f.  Employee picks. 

3.  What are your friends like?
a.  Pricks and hos.
b.  Well, they don't slow me down, at least.
c.  Smart, yet curiously attractive.
d.  Outgoing, perky, and overly curious.
e.  Normal, good people.
f.  They know a lot of obscure shit.

4.  Quick association: WATER.
a.  Swimming.
b.  Drinking.
c.  Nature.
d.  Drowning.
e.  Reflection.
f.  Cleansing.

5.  What's the most dangerous place to hide in your house?
a.  The closets.
b.  Near doors or windows.
c.  The garage, or the backyard.
d.  The bedroom or the bathroom.
e.  The living room or the kitchen.
f.  The basement or the attic.

6.  How do you like to spend most of your time?
a.  On vacation.  Yahoo!
b.  Playing video games at home in my shitty apartment.  Alone.
c.  Investigating strange phenomena and digging up dirt in my town.
d.  Oh, you know, doing normal happy things.
e.  Trying to get over my traumatic past, going to counseling.
f.  Not stepping on cracks in the sidewalk.

7.  Do you believe in the paranormal?
a.  No, but I do believe in machetes.
b.  I don't really care either way.
c.  There's always a perfectly reasonable scientific explanation.
d.  Do curses count?
e.  I believe in the power of the soul.  So, yes.
f.  I believe in God.  And the Devil.

8.  Ever think you're crazy?
a.  No, I'm popular and normal.
b.  No, the news tells me I'm not alone.
c.  Sometimes, I tend to see things moving in my backyard.
d.  No, too many of my friends have disappeared for me to be crazy.
e.  All the time...
f.  Only when I doubt myself.

9.  What do you think is your best asset?
a.  I'm a virgin.
b.  I want to live.
c.  I'm smart, if I may say so myself.
d.  I play it safe.
e.  I take advice.
f.  I want to believe.

10.  If your friend turned evil, what would you do?
a.  Leave them behind in the hopes they'll get killed first.
b.  Shoot them in the face.
c.  Yell at them until they realize they were wrong.
d.  My friends would never turn evil!  Okay, so they're acting a little strange nowadays...
e.  Wait a moment, they'll snap out of it.
f.  Spray them with holy water.

11.  If your friend was brutally killed before your eyes, what would you do?
a.  Run like mad the other way.
b.  Attack whatever or whoever did it like you have no fear.
c.  Stand there screaming until you yourself died.
d.  Cry.
e.  Call somebody.
f.  Grimly say, "so it goes" and keep fighting.

12.  What would you do to protect yourself?
a.  Sledge hammer.  Right through the neck.  Oh yeah.
b.  Call in the military.  What, I can't defeat it by myself!
c.  Go up somewhere and hide.  High. 
d.  Anything I could think of, including whatever it wants.
e.  Not a whole lot.  I would tell my friends, I guess, but I don't want them to think I'm crazy.
f.  Carry a Bible around.  Cross myself ninety times a day.  Avoid black cats.  And crows...

13.  You finally ended its reign of terror. 
a.  Ding dong, the witch is dead! 
b.  Ding dong, the witches are dead!
c.  Now I just hope it didn't get a chance to reproduce.
d.  Yeah right.  It can't be killed. 
e.  I'll always remember it fondly.  Sort of.
f.  Oh, it'll be back, wherever man is weak.

Wow, having thirteen questions was purely by coincidence!

A.  THE SLASHER.  Annoying people gruesomely murdered by psychopath.  Examples: I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Hills Have Eyes.
B.  THE ZOMBIE MOVIE.  Ordinary people disgustingly eaten by zombies.  Examples: Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead.
C.  THE MONSTER MOVIE.  Stupid people hilariously consumed by monsters.  Examples: Godzilla, War of the Worlds, The Host, The Mothman Prophecies, everything on the sci-fi channel.
D.  THE J-HORROR.   Naive people horrifically tortured by crawling ghosts.  Examples: The Ring, The Grudge, The Eye, Tomei, Kairo.
E.  THE CLASSIC SPOOK.  Unstable people endlessly haunted by ghosts with debts to collect.  Examples: The Others, The Sixth Sense, The Blairwitch Project, Th13een Ghosts, White Noise, The Shining. 
F.  THE DEMON.  Innocent people evilly possessed by demons.  Examples: The Exorcist, Poltergeist, Constantine, The Amityville Horror, every vampire movie ever.