SHORT REVIEW: Diary of the Dead

George A. Romero's
Diary of the Dead

Rated R

Running time: 1 hr 35 mins

Cast:

Michelle Morgan
Joshua Close

Shawn Roberts

Amy Ciupak Lalonde
Scott Wentworth

Critical consensus:

*** out of *****

Matt's Take:

Has Not Viewed

Mikey @ The Movies Official Rating:

**1/2 out of *****

The premise:

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

MY REVIEW

Honestly, how much can possibly be done with the Zombie storyline? You have to admit, it is getting a tad tiresome. All these movies feature the same thing: a group of people are on the run from thousands of zombies with no hope for survival. We usually never know why these zombies are zombies; sometimes we are given a vague explanation. This movie is no exception, except it has one tiny difference that seperates it from the rest: it's all done on hand held camera.

The shaky, hand held camera filmaking technique has now been done enough, that it no longer has any originality. We saw it first in Blair Witch Project and now as recently as this year in Cloverfield. It's different and original for a zombie movie however, just not anything special. It does add some grittiness and some realism to the film I will have to admit. The zombie effects are done rather well, thanks due in part to George A. Romero's expertise in this film genre.

The zombie genre is Romero's baby, he knows what he's doing. Which is another reason why this movie is better than most. Romero is responsible for the original Zombie film, Night of the Living Dead and also films like the original Dawn of the Dead. Usually his movies are more than just about zombies, there are always some form of satire mocking our way of life or politics. I get the message in this film: we are obsessed with technology and we love violence. The two sometimes go hand in hand. That may not be the actual message Romero was trying to deliver, but that's what I felt from the movie. His direction doesn't really falter here, he knows just how to make an effective, scary zombie film.

The performances are what killed me here. I know you are not supposed to expect fantastic performances in a film like this, but my goodness. Mainly it was two actors: Michelle Morgan and Scott Wentworth. They are both so overly dramatic it kills me! You really have to see it to understand what I mean, but they both are so over the top it's ridiculous. Everyone else is pretty standard and expendable.

Diary of the Dead is only a decent zombie movie in my eyes. I'm not a huge fan of the genre so don't take my full word for it, this is just my opinion on a type of film I've grown tired of.

CURRENT MIKEY @ THE MOVIES AWARD NOMINATIONS:

• None

To view this film's theatrical trailer, click this link: Diary of the Dead

*This is the 80th new film I've seen and reviewed this year.

*This film is now on DVD.