Shawn's Diary of the Dead Review

2008 Movie #42 - Diary of the Dead

I was actually pretty disappointed when it was announced that this movie would only be released in a very limited number of theatres. I was interested in seeing it and was actually close to watching it during my New York trip just because I didn't think I would have the chance otherwise. Thankfully this movie has become...readily available...so I was able to view. It's probably for the best I didn't waste my precious New York time watching it, but it's still a good movie.

Well let me clarify that more. If this was a zombie movie made by just some random people you had never heard of, then it would be borderline great. However knowing that it was George A Romero who wrote and directed it sours things a little because you know the man is capable of better. His Dead movies are classics in the zombie genre (a genre that I must say I am a pretty large fan of) and I was expecting the same from this one. Instead we get a much better than average zombie movie, but one that falls short of his past movies.

Those who know the movie know that it's filmed in Blair Witch style...which from now on I'm going to refer to as Cloverfield style because fuck Blair Witch. It feels a little gimmicky in the beginning but actually starts to work in the movie's favor as it continues. One thing I liked is that the camera doesn't flail around wildly like it's prone to do in the above mentioned movie. The shots are steady and the camera work is well done. As with Cloverfield it's a bit of a stretch that these characters would still be filming after the constant slew of shit they had been through, but otherwise we wouldn't even have a movie so whatever works. Plus who knows, maybe we would keep filming in that situation, we don't really have a real life situation to go by. I myself would be too busy crying in the corner to film anything, I know that.

The acting is frankly quite bad for the most part. It doesn't ruin the movie too much but it does sometimes remind you that yes, this is a movie. Granted I doubt people would start to believe they're actually watching footage of a real zombie outbreak, but it's nice to really escape into that movie world and the bad acting prevents that from happening often. The characters are, as expected, completely one note and disposable. Thankfully, the zombie movie genre is one of the few types of movies that can get away with that and still be alright.

Of course one of the most important aspects of any zombie movie is the gore level and in this area, Diary of the Dead definitely delivers (alliteration for the win!). Zombies are dispatched in many gruesome ways and the special effects are pretty damn good as well. There's also a really cool shot involving a swimming pool that was a highlight of the movie.

In the grand scale of George A Romero zombie movies, this one is sadly closer to the bottom of the pile. However that still makes it a shitload better than 90% of other zombie movies, and also better than at least 70% of horror movies in general. It will be tricky to see this one in theatres but it's worth a look on DVD.

***/5