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George Romero's Diary of the Dead

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The "Dead" Taken Into A Media POV-Style Perspective

Aug 25, 2010

by woopak_the_thrill
posted in Movie Hype

Rating:

Being a George Romero fan, of course I was very excited to see “Diary of the Dead”. I didn’t particularly care for his previous film; “Land of the Dead” (Romero’s big budget outing) but hey, even great directors have their bad moments. With a very small budget, Romero’s latest film seem to have captured the documentary style “gimmick” that have plagued other films. I never really cared for this style, I’ve always thought it was a one-hit wonder with “Blair Witch Project”. Armed with a measly budget, can an acclaimed director pull off the dead end gimmick of a first person view? It almost feels blasphemous to give a critical review to a George Romero film, but some friends like Dave Kaye and M have done it, Jenny, Main Man, M.B Cole and Chris Blackshere are on the middle ground while T-man loved this film. I’ll give it a go. The issues with “Diary…” isn’t all cosmetic, it was discipline.

The film is supposedly a documentary that is shot by a film student named Jason (Joshua Close) and narrated by his girlfriend Debra (Michelle Morgan). The film’s main premise is that while they are in the woods with an alcoholic film professor (Scott Wentworth), the news of the dead coming back to life and feeding on the living breaks out. They pack up, gets in the RV and try to head home. In their journey, they encounter zombies, a militant group, zombies, a deaf amish, zombies, ex-national guardsmen, zombies, meet up with a friend, zombies…sounds repetitive doesn’t it?

Shawn Roberts in George A. Romero's "Diary of the Dead."

Shawn Roberts in George A. Romero's "Diary of the Dead."

As with Romero’s other films, “Diary of the Dead” contains a social commentary. It is quite a powerful message as to what we humans are, and how we are sometimes defined. The commentary is real ambitious and nope, it is not subtle at all. This message seemed to have taken the audience by its neck and kept on shaking until we passed out from boredom. It deals with the fact that because of the internet, more folks from all walks of life are reporting on current news and events, the more videos, the more the truth gets blurry until we don’t know just what the truth is anymore. As usual, Romero uses the ‘undead’ to make such a statement and fans are undoubtedly split on its preachy tone. The drunken film professor never runs out of alcohol and never runs out of insights about the past war and the philosophical aspects of mankind’s inhumane actions seem to be a little out of place when he shoots a zombie with an arrow and feels nothing about it. There are also some attempts at satire with a deaf Amish but it seemed so cheap and incongruous. The SFX sometimes looked realistic, then at times looked very fake. It wasn’t consistent in its delivery of the ‘undead’.

Joshua Close in George A. Romero's "Diary of the Dead."

Joshua Close in George A. Romero's "Diary of the Dead."

Joe Dinicol in George A. Romero's "Diary of the Dead."

Romero also makes a bit of subtle coaching (he is the proclaimed zombie guru) to aspiring filmmakers when the characters discuss the workings of a horror flick; why is it women always loses their shoe, they trip over something, gets their clothes ripped to show a bit of skin? Then as a touch of irony a girl does trip, loses a shoe, gets her outfit ripped to show some breasts when she was being chased by a zombie. Romero also criticizes the more modern zombie flicks when he expresses that the ‘undead’s’ bones and joints are so brittle from decomposition that if they move fast, their ‘undead’ bodies would break apart; therefore “moving slowly” or “shambling” is a necessity for all ‘undead’ stars (imagine that).

The problems with “Diary..” is that suspense is none-existent as the DV camera gimmick kills all attempts at such. The film also suffers quite a bit from the feeling that we’ve all seen it before, and we’ve seen it done better. The film also gets repetitive and their sense of purpose doesn’t really provide any sense of credibility, which is further emphasized that the characters are so wooden and one-dimensional and the acting looks like they’re reading the script out of the cue card. There is also a very annoying scene where Jason just kept on shooting his camera while a colleague was being chased by a zombie that displays his obsession with the documentary itself. This feeling of annoyance gives the character a very unlikable impression, much like the characters in “Cloverfield”. It was quite annoying and nauseating to watch someone be so insensitive and at the same time dull. Perhaps this was an attempt (another commentary) to point out the indifference of everyday folks to the plight of their fellow men; such as Homelessness, poverty, etc. Yes, I get it, but the delivery wasn’t at all aided by the wooden acting.

Scott Wentworth, Joe Dinicol, Amy Lalonde, Joshua Close, Michelle Morgan and Chris Violette in George A. Romero's "Diary of the Dead."

Scott Wentworth, Joe Dinicol, Amy Lalonde, Joshua Close, Michelle Morgan and Chris Violette in George A. Romero's "Diary of the Dead."

A scene from George A. Romero's "Diary of the Dead."

My point to all this is while I agree that nobody mixes in social commentary with zombies as a vehicle better than George Romero; halfway through the film it was just too much and turned out so boring. This is a horror film and if and when I want to watch social preaching, I’ll watch something else. The film is so darned predictable that as I expected, characters will make bad decisions, drive somewhere, they’d encounter zombies, narrowly escape, split into groups, then get trapped somehow and encounter zombies again. While I did expect the film to be full of cliché, I just wished Romero could have given it

more thought in concentrating on giving thrills and chills (or even more gore) to cover it all up than merely stooping to a “commentary“ about current society.

Instead, the film is an overload of annoying scenes and an overkill of the same ole’ stuff to cover up its very hollow execution. Body counts are aplenty but none of them were inventive, making the film very forgettable. It is not subtle at all with its message that in the end it just left a very bitter taste in my mouth. I love social commentary but remember, it should be all about the crisis and a realistic feel, and not a commentary that just beats my head up with it. I really wanted to like this film and maybe one day, it will grow on me.

Die-hard fans will still praise and applaud this film just because it was made by George Romero; isn’t it ironic that this film comments on the truth becoming jumbled when too many eyes are involved? Maybe it was the expectations and the hype that killed the film‘s enjoyment?

RENTAL [2 ½ Out of 5 Stars]

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FM_ALEX August 27, 2010

This one has grown on me and I actually like it, although I can see the point in everything you said. Like I said it grew on me.

woopak_the_thrill August 27, 2010

I really have mixed feelings about this one. I really disliked it the first time I saw it, I saw it again on HBO and I liked it a tad more, but when I saw it again, I dunno, I really couldn't get into it. Ambitious movie, just too bad its execution was lacking.

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Count_Orlok_22 August 25, 2010

Yeah, Romero seems to have done about all he can with his zombies films. I still think he should have stopped after "Day of the Dead".

woopak_the_thrill August 25, 2010

I dunno, I read the series THE WALKING DEAD and that is just full of UNDEAD EPICNESS! I think Romero is either losing his touch, not having a budget (Land of the Dead had a huge budget) or he has gotten lazy by believing his own hype.

Count_Orlok_22 August 25, 2010

I think he just needs to move onto other subjects. I think he's milked zombies for all they're worth.

woopak_the_thrill September 05, 2010

He did Monkey Shines which was alright. Though I didn't like the original THE CRAZIES.

Count_Orlok_22 September 05, 2010

Really? I loved the original "The Crazies". So dark and depressing. Ooooh, it just makes me euphoric thinking about it.

woopak_the_thrill September 06, 2010

Yeah, it was alright, but admittedly I only saw pieces and bits of it. I saw the whole thing in pieces but I never sat down and concentrated on it.

Count_Orlok_22 September 06, 2010

I actually consider it Romero's #3 best film behind "Night of the Living Dead" and "Dawn of the Dead".

woopak_the_thrill September 06, 2010

really? looks like I do need to buy the darn thing and sit down and concentrate on it.

Count_Orlok_22 September 07, 2010

I just think it's a brilliantly subtle and character-driven horror film. They don't make them like that anymore.

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More George Romero's Diary of the D... reviews

Quick Tip by Madpenguin. September 20, 2011

posted in Movie Hype

A Quick Tip by Madpenguin

An awful flick by the godfather of the genre. While his first three films were subtle in its message, this was all in your face. I found it uninteresting as a commentary, lackluster as a horror movie, and completely dreadful as a zombie romp. The very fact you had people defending this movie before they saw it puts whatever credibility it may have garnered under serious questioning.

Comments (6) Compliments (6)

review by A1CJonathanLane. January 31, 2010

Romero's worst effort in his zombie world

Romero has been watching too many zombie movies. Yes, I know, that sounds a little weird, the man who practically invented the zombie movie, and who's masterpiece Night of the Living Dead has served as the inspiration for every undead film since is watching too many zombie films? Nonsense you say, crazy says another, what on earth makes me think that? Just look at the Romero of old, from the days of Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead and you'll notice that he doesn't rely on cheap tricks … more

Comments (1) Compliments (39)

Quick Tip by QUEENBFLIX. August 28, 2010

posted in Movie Hype

A Quick Tip by QUEENBFLIX

While DIARY OF THE DEAD definitely is not cut from the same cloth as Romero's best films it still doesn't deserve the bashing that it has received. It this flick had been made by anyone other than the Zombie King himself then it would have been met with more realistic expectations and audiences would have found that there is much to enjoy here. I found it to be a step above LAND OF THE DEAD, a film I disliked the first 3 times I saw it. Eventually it began to grow on me, but I still prefer … more

Comments (13) Compliments (9)

review by QUEENBFLIX. February 10, 2009

posted in Movie Hype

Everyone claims to have "gotten" the message, but is there more?

So much has been said about DIARY OF THE DEAD already that even attempting to write an in depth review of it at this point would be a waste of my time, and probably yours as well. Thus what you have before you are some rambling comments on the film and at least one of the major complaints I've heard about it. Like everyone else who refers to him or herself as a horror fan, I love Romero's previous work. Although LAND OF THE DEAD is taking its own sweet time to grow on me … more

Comments (11) Compliments (44)

review by Captain_Couth. April 23, 2009

Glad to see George A. Romero making zombie movies again!

Diary of the Dead is a rebooting of the Living Dead series. George A. Romero has decided to reboot the series by updating it for the new generation. The movie follows a group of college kids and their professor as the try to survive the rising zombie menace and document everything they see and put it on the internet and witness the fall of civilization. As in all of Romero's zombie flicks, who or what caused the undead epidemic is never made clear. But I really enjoy the … more

Comments (1) Compliments (3)

see all George Romero's Diary of the D... reviews (6)

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William (woopak_the_thrill)
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