'Diary of the Dead' will leave you dying for more

 by Zach Richter
 published on Tuesday, February 19, 2008

MCT

A WHOLE ZOMBIE FAMILY: George Romero, who also directed films “Day of the Dead” and “Land of the Dead” (above), has just released his most recent zombie flick, “Diary of the Dead.”

Everyone knows that the best way to kill a zombie is to shoot it in the brain. Luckily, George Romero's new zombie flick "Diary of the Dead" is around to remind any would-be victims that scythes or stray vials of acid will do the trick as well.

Romero is well known among fans of the genre, with titles "Night of the Living Dead" and "Dawn of the Dead" making his name synonymous with flesh-eating, brain-splattering action. While his past films followed one another chronologically with zombies eventually taking over the world in "Day of the Dead," "Diary of the Dead" takes a fresh look at the opening days of the zombie epidemic.

In the movie, film student Jason and his friends are in the woods one evening when the first reports of the epidemic begin to leak out. The film is essentially a documentary of their struggle to survive in a world where all the rules have flown out the window and anyone who dies simply comes back to life as a mindless killing machine.

Much like "Cloverfield," "Diary of the Dead" is shot from a first-person perspective using handheld cameras. Jason is the main cameraman, but two other handheld cameras and security-camera footage pop up occasionally to give audiences a complete picture, all while maintaining the illusion of a first-person account.

To further heighten the realism, all of the film's exposition is handled through newscasts that the cameraman just happens to catch or footage obtained through the likes of MySpace and YouTube. As a whole, the focus remains on the core group of characters, leaving the audience largely in the dark as to the fate of the world at large. One thing is for sure, though: The proverbial shit has hit the proverbial fan.

This is not to imply that the focus is on the characters at the expense of the brain-eaters. Rest assured that the restless dead are in abundance and they've never looked better — or worse, as the case may be. The first-person point of view means an abundance of in-your-face zombie action. Whether it is charred bodies, exploding eyeballs or festering wounds, each and every zombie is grotesquely unique.

Despite the fact that visually, the film never misses a beat, the script itself is not without problems. George Romero is a 68-year-old man, and as such, he has some trouble writing believable dialogue for college-age characters. Thankfully, his mastery of the genre means that this foible is little more than a minor inconvenience.

While the inclusion of all the information gained through sources like MySpace and YouTube certainly helps the film feel current, it is still bound by the genre convictions that Romero helped pioneer 40 years ago. The zombies are slow moving and the death scenes are abundant. With that in mind, moviegoers willing to overlook a few flaws while searching for a ghoulishly gruesome good time will certainly enjoy "Diary of the Dead."