If it's one thing I can't stand, it's the Hollywood hype machine. Bits and pieces of prerelease reviews are reconfigured to make a Frankensteinian monster of good press, often making a film to be the best thing since fake ID's in college bars. Case in point, the hype over 28 Days Later. Alleging to offer us Danny Boyle's "reinvention" of the zombie horror genre, it doesn't live up to these lofty promises that the press has thrown out, but instead gives us an incredibly solid genre effort that is required viewing for not just horror nuts, but film buffs in general.

The movie opens with a militant PETA-style operation to liberate chimpanzees from a research laboratory. However, the irony is soon visited upon the "freedom fighters," for the monkeys are infected with Rage, a super-virus that puts the carrier in a constant state of uninhibited anger and violence. Not heeding the warnings of an understandably frightened scientist, one member of the group is bitten by a chimp and contracts the virus, beginning an epidemic that decimates England. 28 days later, a bike courier named Jim awakens from a coma into the almost post-apocalyptic London with absolutely no idea as to what has happened. He begins to explore his surroundings (in a sequence that positively reeks of The Omega Man) when he is attacked by a group of the Infected. The Infected aren't your traditional zombies: they're still very much alive, dangerously fast, and extremely vicious. Jim is saved by a pair of uninfected people, who firebomb the Infected into oblivion and scuttle Jim back to their convenience store base. The trio is shaved down to a duo when Jim tries to find his parents (who killed themselves rather than be murdered by the zombie horde) and the group is attacked by the Infected, forcing the tough-as-nails Selena to murder the other male in the group, lest he be turned. Jim and Selena find another pair of survivors, and the four make a trip to the north of Manchester (which is shown aflame in a starkly beautiful shot) and a military outpost which allegedly holds the cure to the infection.

While the critics may be responsible for the hype and not Danny Boyle, 28 Days Later doesn't quite live up to the "groundbreaking" tag that has been attached to it. Not that it isn't an excellent genre film, because it delivers plenty of intense moments, and Danny Boyle's direction is a joy to behold. He keeps his machine-gun cutting style from Trainspotting and uses it to great effect here, keeping tensions running high for the entire film. Like the Infected in the movie, the pacing is breakneck at times, with rapidly changing angles that keep the viewer on the edge of their seat...not an easy feat for this seasoned zombie fan. Characters are well written and well acted, and the more emotional dialogue exchanges can be very touching. However, the movie is rife with genre cliches. Entire scenes seemed pulled directly from other movies, mostly Romero's influential Dead trilogy. From the lighthearted shopping spree (in a grocery store instead of a mall) to the disturbing discovery of an infected child in a gas station, to one of the zombies tied up by the military for study. If the screenwriter was intending for this to be a "tribute" film, which seem to be all the rage these days, he succeeded admirably.

Picture quality is great, with some grain and very little print damage evident. Of special interest is that the movie was shot on digital video, then transferred to film, which had an interesting effect on the quality of motion during certain scenes. Fluids like blood and rain took on an almost zero gravity look, broken up into round globs instead of the usual cinematic spurt or drizzle. The digital format also allowed for amazing color enhancement, for stunning reds in the eyes of the Infected, and rich greens in the English countryside. Audio was crisp and bright, with perfect balancing and effective use of the surround channels. Dialogue was tough to figure out at times, but that was more the result of thick British accents than poor recording. The soundtrack is top-notch often shirking traditional orchestral arrangements for instrumental Brit-pop-rock numbers that give the film extra flair. Extras include two alternate endings (one from the second theatrical run, the other a throwaway that's virtually identical to the original ending), an eye-rollingly paranoid documentary, commentary, trailers, storyboards, still galleries, and other sundry bits and pieces. It would have been nice to have the ability to tack the alternate ending on, or reincorporate deleted scenes, but it's not a big deal. All in all, a great presentation.

Despite its extreme familiarity, 28 Days Later is a spicy bowl of zombie chili that comes highly recommended. Horror kids will be pleased by its relentless tension and (hopefully intentional) Romero references. Even you artsy folk will stick around for its great camerawork and well-developed characters. It's a guilty pleasure that has definite crossover appeal.