Sonic Death Monkey - 28 Days Later Review

September, 2003

"The soundtrack of 28 Days Later opens just as frantically as the film. There's lots samples cut and pasted from seemingly a thousand sources as you struggle to find your bearings on the album just as the film's lead character has to do in the film. The opening music and most of the score is from John Murphy. Most of the soundtrack comes from him with a few ring-ins. One of those ring-ins is Perri Alleyne. His performance of Abide With Me is simply beautiful. Just the young Alleyne's voice belts out the hymn, which is wisely given no accompaniment at all. We can then focus on the stark beauty of the song and the voice singing it. Similarly the performances of Ave Maria and In Paradisium (by the Choir of Trinity College from Cambridge University) are just beautiful. Indeed it's funny to see how these pieces of music somehow find their way into such a stark and intense film.

Murphy's Requiem reflects the humanity that is part of the story. The deaths are tragic and Murphy's music for these moments is powerful. There are tracks though that do reflect the more frenzied moments of the film. Tower Block is a perfect example of one of the more frantic tracks. You get nervous just listening to the thing. Not dissimilar to the mood set in the Run Lola Run soundtrack, the track gives a wonderful sense of energy, excitement and the utmost urgency. If you are in a hurry listen to this track. This one will compel you to get a move on. The Tunnel track has a similar effect. Listening to this makes you think that someone's stalking and you must run home now and hide under the bed. It's brilliant work by Murphy to so effectively evoke these emotions in the listener.

Other tracks are quite tranquil and ambient. This is quite a contrast to the frantic nature of the film. Tracks such as I Promised Them Women and The Search for Jim have those ambient touches, yet also are a little less melodic like the work of X Files composer, Mark Snow, which increases the tension and gives a sense of a dark foreboding this way comes. Not unlike one of those mid 70s era Pink Floyd tracks, In The House, slowly and darkly builds momentum until it builds up to themes previously heard from the soundtrack. It's like it's telling you, oh no here we go again.

Brian Eno contributes to the soundtrack. He has long been an expert on atmospherics. He's the perfect man to have to provide music for the moody desolate and frantic film that is 28 Days Later. Lightening up things a little is Grandaddy's AM180. It's a pure indie loser-core sound and works in the same was as The Pixies worked at the end of Fight Club.

A notable omission from the album is a song that is heard in the opening of the film. It's by the band, Godspeed, You Black Emperor (surely one of the silliest and melodramatic band names there ever was) and the song is called East Hastings. You'll need to dig up there debut release F#A#(infinity.) Yes, that's what it gets called - I don't know - can't these guys lighten up? Perhaps the lack of desire to lighten up enhances this band's moodiness, as East Hastings is a top track and it's a shame that it's missing from the soundtrack. Due to the various endings in the film that have been made, there are also various choices of music that could go with them. The soundtrack includes the optimistic and hopeful version of The End. It helps you recover from the emotional wringer that so heavily features on this soundtrack.

Since the film is such an emotional roller coaster, the soundtrack is as well. So this makes it difficult to listen to unless you plan to relive the emotional highs and lows of the film. If that is not your intention you will find yourself skipping tracks to match the mood that you are wanting to set at the time of listening."

- Michael Collins