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Sparker		 British Horror Rules! [ July 08, 2004 ]
I have just watched "28 days later" and "Dog soldiers", and I can happily say they are two of the best horror films I have ever seen.  Both films come out of Britain and both have good budgets (but not, thank god, "block-buster" ones), good scripts and good acting.  I found them both excellent on all counts.

I saw "28 days later" and was not sure what to expect.  I had heard that it was anything from "pretty crappy" to "really good" with everything in between.  The directory was Danny Boyle, whose "Trainspotting" I thought was excellent, so I was confident it would be well made.  What I didn't expect was that it would be so good.  It is a horror film, have no doubts about that, but it doesn't have the usual bunch of kids who get picked off one at a time, and it doesn't have the piss poor acting or script we have come to expect from these sort of films.  Some (and the review you can find in the link above) disliked the ending.  On the DVD all three endings are available.  TO be honest, and I know I am a softy, I really liked the ending they went with.

"Dog soldiers" I watched last night.  Everyone told me it was good, and I expected a high caliber horror.  Once again, I was surprised at just how good it was.  The beasts looked great, and the gore was impressive, and appropriate.  Some films go for the "throw blood at people" approach, expecting this to please gore hungry fans.  This one didn't.  It just delivered a constantly nasty, gritty experience. 

So it would appear the British have grabbed horror by the balls and produced some damn good films.  I do hope the trend continues!
Comments

Haven't seen Dog Soldiers, but I loved 28 Days Later. I like the unhappy ending one to be honest, but such is life.

It does remind me a lot of "Day of the triffids" but that might just be me.

Unfortunately, the good wife Droidy is not a fan of horror movies, so I don't generally get to see them as much (and I hate watching movies alone, you have no one to talk about the movie afterwards to).

There are talks of a 28 Days Later sequel.... but I hope not, these things never work out for the best.

Posted by: Decay on July 9, 2004 10:25 AM

I thought the unhappy ending was the most powerful, and impressive. But, I really like to see the good guys win in the end. There is something "fair" about it, that I like to cling to....

Yes, it had a lot of similarities to Day of The triffids. Even down to the final family group and the military.

Dear One is in Queensland visiting her mum, and she has Little Dude and Little Madam with her, so I have two weeks of "lonely, big, quiet house". What better than to fill it with scary horror films..... Hmmm.....

No, a sequel would be dumb. They tied up the loose ends. If they had gone with the dark ending, then they could have picked that up. But, as it is, it could not be much more than a re-run.

Posted by: Sparker on July 9, 2004 01:51 PM

Decay could always go get his horror fix with Guru G, M34tB4LL, and Grumbler (:


I remember seeing... Ok, mostly only hearing, the movie "Identity" with Decay... I didn't have a problem with the concept, just the depiction of the gory bits and the painful looking and sounding-ness of it all. That's more a thriller though, I guess.

Posted by: [0-0] on July 9, 2004 02:44 PM

I had never heard of "Identity"! I went and looked it up on E-Splatter. Sounds like one I need to take a look at. (By the way, Dear One is very anti-horror. Maybe we should go on a partner swapping movie run?!)

Posted by: Sparker on July 9, 2004 03:14 PM

i think i saw identity on the plane home from london last year in august...

Posted by: b on July 10, 2004 03:39 PM

Loved Dog Soldiers and 28 Days Later as well, sequel is suppose to be called 28 months later, hmmm.

British horror may be more gritty and more realistic due to lack of money for flashy effects but I really enjoyed the Dawn of the Dead remake and can't wait for the planned sequel (called Land of the Dead or City of the Dead from memory).

Loved the original zombie Dead trilogy as well, and lets not forget the classics like Evil Dead :)

Theres another british hooror movie called the Bunker that I enjoyed as well, doesn't rate to well on imdb but the storyline appeals to me.

Posted by: trauma on August 24, 2004 10:53 AM

I was right, its going to be called Land of the Dead. http://www.allthingszombie.com/movies/landotd.php

Romero has been given a fairly small budget as well, less then 30 million. I love a good zombie movie.

Posted by: trauma on August 24, 2004 10:59 AM

While I enjoyed the original "Dawn of the dead", I never thought it the classic others seem to. It had great special effects, but the characters were weak and didn't really engage. I found "28 Days Later" to be a much better film.

Posted by: Sparker on August 25, 2004 09:15 AM

You always get people who say Dawn of the Dead is a critism on capitalism blah blah, but I just enjoy it as a solid zombie movie.

Romero started it all with night of the living dead so i've always had a great respect for him. The ending for Night of the Living Dead is great, not expected at all.

Posted by: trauma on August 25, 2004 03:39 PM

Horror movies vs cards. Yeah, I see the connection... NOT!

Posted by: Sparker on August 30, 2005 10:10 AM
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