The characters go on a journey where they defeat a number of attacking zombies. Garland quickly gives his survivors a desire line, which is to reach a makeshift military outpost some miles away. From now on, we will see if human behavior is possible or if base animal survival is all we really are.
Staying alive is as good as it gets.” This is not only the key line in this film, it is the key line in any horror film. One of the survivors, Selena, tells Jim, “Plans are pointless. Here, there are two rules: 1, never go anywhere alone and 2, only travel in daylight.
28 DAYS LATER MOVIE TEXT HOW TO
Stating the rules of the world is one of the specialized story beats in horror, not only because it tells the hero how to survive in this unique horror world, but also because it suggests to the audience how humanity will be tested. He’s walking around in a giant ghost town (no extras to run up this budget).Īfter meeting up with a couple of other survivors, Jim learns the rules of this new world. Outside, the streets of London are just as deserted. In the set-up, the hero, Jim, wakes up from a coma to find himself in an empty, trashed hospital. The writer of 28 Days Later understands the crucial requirements of good horror, and he executes them within the parameters of a low budget film. It asks: What is human? And can this human quality be maintained in a world where everyone is desperate and induced to be an animal, ie going beyond even immoral behavior to amoral behavior? In short, good horror creates a recognizable human world where people are morally tested in the extreme. Good horror takes this reduction of characters and makes it positive. So it focuses totally on one emotion, fear.īad horror plays that one note of fear again and again, and the story is nothing more than permissible sadism. Horror puts character under the most extreme pressure of any form. In effect, this genre shows us human devolution. Horror always shows people being reduced, to an animal or a machine, the lowest levels a person can become short of death. So while horror is usually done in the most simplistic way possible – as a killing machine on a rampage – it doesn’t have to be. You may be surprised to learn that it has more specialized story beats than any other form. Mastering the horror genre is more difficult than it appears. Writer Alex Garland succeeds by knowing the form so well he is able to twist some of the key beats to give the traditional zombie story new life. To answer that question I took a look at one of the best horror films of recent years, 28 Days Later.
So the question becomes: How do you write a horror script unique enough to sell that will also set you apart as a talented storyteller?
The problem is that horror is also the lowest form, typically devoid of story. And it is the cheapest type of film to make, so it is the form of choice for indie writers and directors. Horror is consistently the most popular of all genres.
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