Doomsday Movie Review: An English Horror Film

Well, as I have mentioned on my other hub, "Dark Secrets", I am not much into English films. This one was OK, and so I gave it 3 stars. Among the cast are Rhona Mitra, Bob Hoskins, Adrian Lester, and Alexander Siddig-all of which I have never heard of. The movie begins in Glasgow, April 3rd, 2008. An epidemic called the "Reaper Virus" which was developed from a single micro organism, infects nearly the entire population.

There are mass evacuations of those not infected, but those who were infected, were left to die. They were sealed in by huge walls. The idea was to allow the victims to die within the quarantined area, however, many survived. These people, thinking that everyone on the other side of the world was dead, began to go crazy-looting, rape, murder, and due to the shortage of food, begin to eat dogs, rats, and of course, other humans.

The movie jumps to the year 2035-the present. At the beginning of the movie, during the evacuations, a mother begs and pleads for soldier to take her daughter. A brave soldier offers his place so that the young child may go. She was infected with the disease, but it only effected her eye. Once we are brought to the present (2035), we see her all grown up (and quite beautiful I might add). She is a soldier (named Sinclair) and her new "eye" is actually a camera. It is a little cheesy when she take out her eye and can control it with a hand-held device and uses it for reconnaissance purposes.

She and a team of soldiers are sent into England after a second outbreak occurs-inside the quarantined zone-to see if everyone is dead, or if there is a cure. As I mentioned before, there is still a vast amount of people living in the area and the second half of the movie reminds me of an older movie: "Mad Max".

There's a lot of action at this point and some soldiers are killed and others captured. One is even burnt alive, then eaten by the people watching his execution. There were scenes that reminded me of ancient times of the Romans when they all gathered to watch people die unspeakable deaths. Now I don't condone their behavior, but it results from the government lying, treatment, and abandonment.

Sinclair is caught but escapes and rallies the remaining soldiers from her team, and gets away. They are in pursuit of a Doctor Kane, who was supposed to find a cure. Finally, the movie switches again and you would swear that you were in Old Tymes in "Camelot" during the "Canterbury Tales" era. Men on horses wearing suits of armor...Anyway, they find out that Dr. Kane is living well in a secluded castle where he tells them that there is no cure; it was all a lie.

To quote the doctor; "We have prevailed here, not because of science, but by 'Natural Selection'-survival of the fittest." (Darwin, anybody?) A long (really) story short, the prime minister becomes infected and later commits suicide. This movie was a true English Epic. I doubt that I will watch it again!