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Diary of the Dead
Directed by George A Romero Starring Joshua Close, Michelle Morgan, Scott Wentworth, Megan Park.
Much has been written about the man and how he invented the zombie genre as we know it today, so I will forego the customary catch up. What I will say is that the previous entry, Land of the Dead, is an underrated movie and not nearly as bad as some reviewers made out. I liked the atmosphere and most of the characters. Who cares that Dennis Hopper was acting by numbers? The movie was worth it for John Leguizamo and Robert Joy's performances. Although I would have watched the proposed sequel, I think it was a better move for Romero to go on to something lower budgeted and something that he had more control over. George A Romero cited Skipp and Spector's anthology "Book of the Dead" as an influence on "rebooting" the franchise he invented; that there are many ways that you can tell the tale of the dead returning and how ordinary people deal with this. The difference between this and Romero's previous work is the way in which he mirrors the current trend of "blogging". I felt after watching Diary that a better title might have been "Blog of the Dead" because of the approach to the story. There are many references to the use of the internet and how everyday people can feed into the news reporting process. At age 68 Romero proves that he is just as current as he was back when he made Night of the Living Dead. A group of film students are working on a cheapo Mummy movie when news of a living dead outbreak is broadcast on their radio. Despite protestations from his cast and crew about the accuracy of the reports, the director of the movie, Jason, decides to ditch the Mummy idea and record the events as they happen to him and the people around him. The interesting looking Michelle Morgan, whom I recognised from an episode of Stargate Atlantis, narrates the footage that has been cobbled together after the initial events have occured. We follow their journey and the effect that it has on them up until the inevitable events of the movie's finale. Those afraid of dizzying camerawork similar to Blair Witch and Cloverfield can be reassured that the camerawork does not go crazy. There's no motion sickness here. The footage is made up of camerawork from two of the characters cameras and the occasional CCTV footage. Some of the CCTV footage is used to great effect in the mansion at the end, and looks like a nod to the Resident Evil games to which Romero was attached to the first movie at some stage. I found the effects by Greg Nicotero more satisfying than those in the higher budgeted Land of the Dead. In LOTD I found some of the make-up to appear a little plastic like, especially on the Big Daddy character. In Diary, the effects are more authentic looking, even during a couple of the more outlandish gags (a nod to Shaun of the Dead perhaps?). The effects work is more in keeping with the quality of the Masters of Horror TV series which is superb. Like his previous works, Romero peppers Diary with satire and social comment. Some of it appears forced, like the initial news report (not helped by some hammy acting from the female newscaster). Other times it's spot on with it's comment on the net and the availability of different styles of communication and news reporting. In our world of news channels seemingly happy to get viewers to record footage of dangerous situations, it's not unbelievable to see Jason linger on the zombie feeding process. The idea of what it means to look at life through the lens is also dealt with during this film and elevates it above the normal low budget zombie film in a way only Romero seems to do and care about.
The characters are fairly ordinary in this movie and I have faith that they were intended to be this way. They mirror the countless opinions seen on countless websites. Instead of giving an opinion on something and asking the reader to go along with it, sites include chat boxes and reply boxes to allow readers to give a viewpoint however ill informed or minor. This sort of thinking is mulled over in Diary, along with the sanitisation of news reports by our major news channels. I found the narration distracting and often acted as exposition I don't feel we need. But this is a minor issue. I alluded earlier in this article that the finale is predictable. I have to say that it is, but in a good way. Romero fans, like myself, expect the outcome I feel that it delivers. I am a big fan of Romero's but could not help but compare Diary of the Dead to a Spanish film called [REC]. Admittedly, they are two very different movies. However, they both feature hand held camera work, are faux documentaries and are about the dead returning to life. Because I had already seen [REC], I so wanted Diary to be as tense and scary. Unfortunately, I didn't find Diary to be that. I've a feeling that I will enjoy Diary more on second viewing. As for a potential sequel, I'm not sure it warrants one. But I'd rather see a sequel to this than see "Diamond Dead" made, which I don't like the sound of. So, this should appeal to zombie movie fans who want a bit of a cerebral story than just a straightforward gut muncher. It may have cross appeal to those on the fence who feel that this type of horror may not be for them. I recommend it, as it's 95 minutes of above average horror. 7/10 (Review by Wayfarer)
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