For 40 years now, George A. Romero has been treating the cinematic world to his various takes on what would happen if suddenly the dead decided they weren’t quite as dead as we may have imagined. His latest installation, the rather tepidly received Diary of the Dead is no different, though he does employ a new (to Romero, at least) method of delivery. Instead of a typical presentation, Romero has decided to go with a more Cloverfield meets student film vibe, as the entire film plays out through the lens of various handheld cameras, cell phones, and security cameras. While this idea is relatively innovative to the Romero world, it’s nothing new and Romero’s actors are painfully lacking in the realism department.
Diary of the Dead centers around a group of University of Pittsburgh film students who have their cameras rolling when the news first breaks that the dead are rising, and decide to leave them going to document the events. Aside from a wickedly clever jab at newer super-charged zombie films (28 Days Later and whatnot) in which a student working on a mummy film tells his actor to slow down because “You’re a corpse, for Chrissake! If you try to run that fast, your ankles are gonna snap off!”, there’s not much bite to Romero’s latest social commentary. Focussing on one character’s desire to film everything that happens, the commentary on our tech-happy society grows stale almost immediately as we listen to his girlfriend repeatedly whine about him hiding behind the camera.
“If it didn’t happen on the camera then it didn’t happen?!” she keeps imploring him, all while pouting at the camera and grousing to their friends. At some point it feels like either we need her to just get over it, or we need more original dialogue to approach the topic. As it stands, her complaints feel forced and repetitive. But that’s a common thread that runs through most of the script. The dialogue is iffy, especially considering that what we’re watching is supposed to be “reality” rather than simply a film. In this respect, Diary of the Dead misses the mark completely. Whereas other films following the same premise could at least casually be mistaken for a self-made film, the poor acting, high quality film, and well-done score, make this one of the most over-produced home videos ever created.
But the zombies and the gore still work. In fact, it’s the makeup and the stumbling zombies that make the movie somewhat enjoyable. The decaying flesh and groping hands of a zombie have never looked as realistic as they do under the less-than-perfect lens of a student’s camera. Diary of the Dead is the student horror film that every student wishes they could make, and really, any student could… if they had a few million dollars in their budget for makeup and special effects. Aside from these goodies, there’s not much separating Diary of the Dead from the low budget gorefests that have become the staple of Dimension Extreme. But when a film has Romero’s name headlining it, you expect a little more.
Zach’s Rating: C-
Perfect For: Undying (or undead) fans of Romero
Stay Away if: You’d rather support a student film made by an actual student
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1 user commented in " DVD Review: George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackMy problems with this review: For one, the acting was fine. Anyone expecting some show-boating performance by a Deniro wannabe should just go watch one of the many terrible performances Deniro has done in many of the terrible films he’s been in the last 2+ decades. I mention this because he gets a pass just because he gave a few good performances in a few films in the 70’s. Had he been in this film, the reviewer would have given a glowing review. Need I remind people that none of Romero’s films have ever been blockbusters at the box-office, but instead gain a sustained cult following? One of his reasons for making this film was to establish a copyright that was profitable to him and his associates. He got screwed out of almost all profits on NOTLD, and he’s had problems on most of the other films he’s done as well when it came to budget restrictions, studio interferences, and such.
Consider this: ‘Day of the Dead’ was panned when it was released. Long time fans hated it. Now, a good portion of his fanbase, and Romero himself, consider it to be the best of his ‘Dead’ films. I certainly do. It’s concise, ir provides the social commentary with finesse, the gore with gusto, and it has a climactic ending that isn’t as nihilistic as his other films. ‘Land of the Dead’ suffered the same criticisms that this reviewer gives ‘Diary’, and I find them almost wholly unfounded.
I would suggest that the social commentary was layed on a little thick, and that more should have been done to focus on character and plot development. Having said that, most of the characters do fair well, the plot comes full circle in a reasonable way, the ending, while returning to the nihilism of his past films, does end succinctly.
The actors in ‘Diary’ are more believable than the performances to be found in ‘Dawn of the Dead’, which I and others consider a classic, time-enduring film by Romero. Gaylen Ross, while not terrible, added little to ‘Dawn’. If there’s anything lacking, it’s a more cohesive narrative for the actors to chew on. However, I think that has more to do with the director’s desire to give the film a documentary feel.
I don’t know how I would compare this to ‘Land’, which I thought was great, but I don’t think this deserves the low-rating the review gave it. I would’ve given it a ‘B’, where ‘Day’ would’ve been an ‘a+’, ‘Dawn’ an ‘A’, ‘Night’ an ‘A’, and ‘Land’ an ‘A-’, maybe a ‘B+’.
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