Diary of the Dead (2007)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

George A. Romero

Writer (WGA):

George A. Romero (written by)

Release Date:

7 March 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Shoot the dead.

Plot:

A group of young film students run into real-life zombies while filming a horror movie of their own.

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Film Student | Car Accident | Suicide | Pistol

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Michelle Morgan	...	Debra Moynihan
Joshua Close	...	Jason Creed (as Josh Close)
Shawn Roberts	...	Tony Ravello
Amy Ciupak Lalonde	...	Tracy Thurman (as Amy Lalonde)
Joe Dinicol	...	Eliot Stone
Scott Wentworth	...	Andrew Maxwell
Philip Riccio	...	Ridley Wilmott
Chris Violette	...	Gordo Thorsen
Tatiana Maslany	...	Mary Dexter
Todd Schroeder	...	Brody (as Todd William Schroeder)
Daniel Kash	...	Police Officer
Laura DeCarteret	...	Bree
Martin Roach	...	Stranger
Megan Park	...	Francine Shane
George Buza	...	Tattooed Biker

Also Known As:

George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead (USA) (complete title)
Land of the Dead 2 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong horror violence and gore, and pervasive language.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A | USA:R | UK:18 | Ireland:16 | Argentina:16 | Portugal:M/18 | Australia:MA | Taiwan:R-18 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:R21 (cut) | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | France:-12 | Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Artfire Films

Trivia:

Cameo: [Guillermo del Toro]Director of films such as Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004), and El laberinto del fauno (2006) (a.k.a. "Pan's Labyrinth") cameos in a voiceover role as a newsreader.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At approximately 17:30 into the movie, an oncoming car beeps and passes by the van where everyone is introducing themselves. As we look at the passing car, its headlights reveal outside that the trees aren't moving and the van we're in is actually stationary.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Police Officer: 628 Tremont. 6-2-8. Three dead. No, just the usual. Fuck. Usual. It's no big deal these days, right?

Movie Connections:

References Dead End (1985)

Soundtrack:

Prelude in D Flat Major

Lights, camera and . . . . . . can we have some action?

George A. Romero, king of the zombie movie, returns with a new . . . . . zombie movie. Well "if it ain't broke" and all that. The plot concerns a group of students who are making a horror movie one moment, supervised by a heavy-drinking professor, and then finding themselves trying to survive the next as everyone realises that, yep, those pesky corpses are getting up for a wander once again. The twist this time around is that Romero has decided to join the current crop of filmmakers who have gone down the DV, hand-held, cinema verite path but how does his outing compare to theirs? Pretty unfavourably, I'm sad to say. Sharing one of the major negative points that turned me off Cloverfield (the making you want to shout "just stop filming and help save your own damn ass" sensation) and none of the positives from, for example, {Rec} or Noroi or even The Blair Witch Project means that it makes for a difficult movie to like, although I suspect it will end up becoming just as divisive as all of those.

Unfortunately, there's also a problem with the intelligent, thought-provoking side of things. Romero's zombie movies have always contained some underlying social commentary but here it actually gets in the way of the more entertaining moments and proves to be too much of a distraction thanks to the unusual heavy-handedness from Romero and too much repetition.

The points made ARE interesting (about media by the masses for the masses, how images can be edited to show the version of events that you prefer, etc) but they simply do not gel in the zombie uprising storyline.

Luckily, the effects on display are handled much better and, although not all of them are 100% on target, most of them are well-realised and seamlessly done so that they never remind you that you are watching fake "real" footage.

The acting is okay, the shuffling zombies are up to standard and there are definitely moments here that will please fans (not least the comments on horror movies in general and a reminder of why zombies don't run) but I must say, at great risk of personal insult and/or injury, that on a basic entertainment level I even preferred the much-maligned Day Of The Dead remake to this movie for it's zombie carnage and fun.

Having said that, I did love every zombie moment featured in "Diary", it's just a shame that they weren't framed by a much better movie.

See this if you like: Land Of The Dead, The Last Broadcast, George A. Romero.