Diary of the Dead reviews - Post them here!

[kidgloves]

No summary from me neither just my opinion. I caught the 7.40 screening with about 20 other people. The crowd seemed to be a mixture of horror fans and couples and everyone was respectful of each other. No-one talked. Everybody turned their phones off. Very refreshing to see. 10 mins in I'm a little bit uncomfortable with what I'm seeing on the screen. I still don't know why because I love POV movies. They scare the crap outta me. I think my indifference is probably down to the way the film looks. Its hard to describe because you forget that one of the characters is filming what's going on and it just looks like bad camera work. 20 mins in, I'm hooked. I think there is an adjustment period with this and some people just cannot go with it. Hence the bad reviews. While I mention the reviews, I cannot believe some of the critisims directed at this. The acting is perfectly fine and in some cases very good. I can tell you, I HATED Jason by the end which is obviously the intention. He's such a self centred prick, I wanted to punch his lights out. This movie is intelligent, scary, funny and thought provoking. There are some strange decisions made by the characters but nothing out of the ordinary unless you spend your life second guessing and analysing everything. I'm shocked and pleasantly suprised that a 68 year old guy can still be so in touch with what's going on today. The security camera sequence at the end in the mansion was pure brilliance. I think a lot of people have also forgetten you are watching a documentary put together after the events. Not found footage. The death of death. DJ mentioned in his review that the fiction writers are going to have a great time after they see the ending and he's spot on. I'm still thinking about what will happen to the survivors as I write this. Tons of material for the imagination. I'm struggling to write this review without giving spoilers and I can't be arsed to learn how to cover them up at this time of night. Yojimbo posted quite an angry thread in the main Diary forum and after finally seeing the movie I know exactly what he's getting at. This is a very good movie and the hate thrown at it elsewhere is completely unjustified. 7 3/4 out of 10 (just to be different)

[Mike70]

ok i'll be relatively brief since there are already a bunch of reviews up here and i will probably repeat half the things already said anyway. for starters i thought this was a solid movie all around. i like the way it was paced for one. it didn't have those gigantic lulls in it like land did. the action was spread out over the film nicely and it seemed that something relatively interesting happened in nearly every scene. i really liked the humor that was thrown in - the comments about the burned up cop, the zombie doctor and nurse and especially the amish dude. that guy was a frakking scream. every zombie movie from now on needs a dynamite throwing, sycle wielding amish fellow. my favorite character was easily the professor. he handled that bow in ways that robin hood would've been envious of. he kept his head throughout no matter what chaos was going down. the downsides - easily the voice overs. i am not a big fan of voice overs at all and the psuedo-philosophical interludes were a detraction from the film as a whole. the character of jason was also someone i would either shoot or punch in the nose if i was stuck in a similar situation with a person like him. i think that what romero is trying to say with diary is that there is a quantum state to media. that by merely observing, recording, packaging an event for public consumption changes that event. what we see (what you see that is i don't watch any sort of televised news) on tv as the news isn't what really happened at all. it is a 30sec to 1 min clip culled from god knows how much footage, that has been edited for time and mass consumption, with a cute little voice over added to explain what you are seeing. all filtered through the journalists, editors, and network bigwigs who decide what and how news is presented. jason in the movie is guilty of this quantum media change in the extreme. he claims to be trying to record the "truth" and let people know what is really happening. yet, when he uploads his video to myspace, he first edits it for maximum impact - including editing out entire sections of video and presenting other sections in a "sexed" up fashion. he also, during the live recording process, stops people from doing things, entering rooms, etc. so he can get the best shot. what he is presenting is not what has actually happened, it is merely his filtered version of the events. ok i've rambled on enough.

[AJ]

I just got home from seeing "Diary of the Dead"..... I've seen every Romero Dead movie in the theater except for the original NOLD because I was only 1 year old then. Dawn of the Dead is my favorite movie by anyone of all time, I think I have every version availible on DVD and VHS and have seen it well over 100 times. I loved all the movies - I've even watched Land 30 or 40 times on DVD even though it was my least favorite. I don't know how many times I went to the theater to see Day. So, I'm a HUGE fan of the dead. "Diary of the Dead" was a big letdown. George could do what he wanted to with no hassles from "the man" and came up with that? I didn't hate it, but my son and I both left the theater kinda embarresed for George. I will see it again because I have to. I can't believe that was it. I recommend seeing it because of what it is but that is the only reason. If it isn't showing in your area don't panic and instead wait for the DVD. - AJ

[supertzar]

Hi, this is my first post and review. I have followed this thread and the others closely and wanted to contribute. I have seen Diary twice in the theater. I was instantly drawn into its reality. The atmosphere of building despair and hopelessness is fantastic. I felt that the premise and the execution were expertly handled in that classic "Romero" way. The acting and writing was at least and good as if not better than most Romero films. What is different about this movie is the way Romero has kept his skills as a director/editor alive. This movie is very different from Land or any of his previous Dead films. The way he plays with the cameras and edits in bits of this and that as it intertwines with the story and premise is masterful. It is a kind of art-house zombie film. You wonder who the film is aimed at. Standard horror/sci-fi film goers might not understand its visual impact and will art-house people be seen at a zombie film? My only problem with this film is the hand-held camera work makes me a bit nauseous. Still, I went twice. For me, I may be able to handle that better on a TV screen. I want to watch Diary many, many more times.

[axlish]

6 out of 10, good not great. I had some issues with the lead actress but otherwise, a pretty fun ride once everything gets going. I am pretty sure I like it better than Land, but I need to watch it again and let it marinate.

[jscott]

I gave it a 2, based on the unappealing, flat charecters. Maybe I'll warm up to it later, but for now, there's nothing to really see here. Gottgen's post nailed a lot of my thoughts on Diary, and who do I have to blow to get some zombie swarming scenes? This lone zombie hiding here or there sucks, I want legions of the undead on the prowl, biting the walls to get their prey. But nooooo, I get a bunch of college nerds playing movie maker. The nods to Grandpa George were smile inducing, but that, and Samuel, can't save this entire yawn fest.

[dmbfanintn]

Sup guys, long time no type! Well I have had the opportunity to see diary twice now and really let it digest. We went back last Friday to the Belcourt theatre in Nashville and saw it on its opening night (opening night at that theatre) and I have to admit, I was probably a little to "altered" whe we went in to see it. The Belcourt is an arthouse type theatre, old style (or just not update since the 70's) theatre, they serve beer, they have midnight "non-shushed" showings of cult films (Shaun of the Dead last weekend) and we were prepared for a rowdy time. Well, as i said, I was a little to altered going in, and shouldnt have had that dark guinness on the way in. About 20 - 25 minutes, the movie literally started making me nauseaus. I had to get up and go outside for a few minute til it passed. Well obviously that didnt make ofr a pleasurable theatre expereince. It was only showing for one week,s O i knew I had to get back up there by Thursday (day before yestrerday) so I called in sick to work and headed up for the matinee to catch it again. WOW...thats all I can say. Absolutely incredible that this man, at 68 years old, still have his thumb firmly pressed on the pulse of society. I loved Diary on second viewing. Of course as many have said, I dont want to spoil it but yeah, creed was asshle by the end and as has been pointed out, he wasnt shoing the truth, he was showing a dressed up version with alternate angles and retakes and such. I loved the security camera stuff in the mansion at the end, and I especially loved what Jason Creed said right at the end and how the other two characters reacted to what he said. They both did exactly what he told them to. Loved that it was open ended and we could possible see another in the hands of the g/f. Definitely getting this one on dvd, it has moved in third best deadflick from GAR for me.

[bd2999]

I liked it quite alot. I did not think it was as good as Night or Dawn, but at least as good as Day and probably better than Land, but I had no problem with Land. The acting was pretty good, I really did not find them to be that bad and were fairly believable overall, the zombies look good, the story was good. The commentary thing is made to be big, but it is done in an interesting way, that is that its the film makers in the films message that they are trying to drive home more than anything and so documentary folk always do that with their message, so I think that was well worked into the whole thing. The news feeds and stuff were cool, but I could always go for more. My possible only problems with the film were that the hospital was pretty much empty. I mean its easy enough to explain, the zombies in there for the most part wondered off and the people high tailed it out of there. I guess it just depends on how long it had been going on. During the first day of it all I would imagine hospitals being a war zone of sorts with people coming in and dieing. Also the fact that everyplace seemed abandoned. I agree that would be the case, but just so fast and they saw so few other people. Minor complaints though, and they really did not hurt the story at all. That and at the end I found it to be an interesting caveot that they made this documentary, but its ironic to think that there will be no one left or no internet left for people to use it.

[jsz0]

Finally got around to sorting out my thoughts on Diary Of the Dead. This was a tough one for me to approach. For perspective my ranking going into the film: Night Day Dawn Land (light spoilers ahead) I want to start with the positives because overall I think it's a good, smart, horror film and a worthy addition to Romero's filmography. It has all the classic elements you expect from his films. In an era of really stupid zombie films it's always a pleasure to see Romero elevate the genre to something more than an empty "eat em up" movie. I have a ton of respect for GAR. I admire him very much for being a career maverick in an industry that tempts so many other mavericks to sell out. The whole concept of a "smart horror film" is a niche market. The typical movie goer interested in a horror film just wants some cheap thrills and violence to gawk over. Romero is willing to indulge us on that but he doesn't compromise on making a movie with a bigger message. That all being said I do think Diary of the Dead suffers greatly from poor acting and rather awkward and unbelievable situations. Early in the film we are told by one of the characters that the student film won't be scary unless it's believable. I think therein lies DODs major weakness. The acting is amateurish and shakes my ability to take the characters seriously. There is virtually no character development throughout the entire film. The mantra of our lead character about "filming it so the truth is known" doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Presumably the zombie outbreak is worldwide (at least US+Japan) Someone could look out their window and discover the truth. Documenting it for the future is a novel idea but I never believed it was nearly as important as our characters thought it was. It is certainly not so important as to put aside your own survival which our characters do consistently throughout the film. They pay no attention to securing their own safety or taking any caution to avoid zombies. In this way DOD feels a bit like a 80's slasher film where the characters are completely oblivious to the danger they are in and merely serve as a pawn for the next zombie attack to occur. I don't want to get bogged down in too many details -- everyone with an interest in Romero or zombie films should judge for themselves. There are a couple elements I REALLY liked: (heavier spoilers ahead) *There is a palpable sense of fear at several points in the movie where I felt uneasy and edgy. This was something LOTD was missing for me. It never felt scary. There's a couple classic Romero sequences in there. *I was really interested in the warehouse guys. They seemed to be taking a practical approach to the outbreak unlike our main characters. I wish we could have seen more of them. (incidentally they were the most believable & enjoyable characters in the entire movie) *The makeup and zombies were very good considering how limited of a budget GAR had to work with. *I enjoyed the sequences of media footage. I'm always very intrigued by the "fake news" stuff Romero has done in his films. *Really liked Samuel. I wish he would have stuck around longer.

[Mutineer]

I finally saw this I really enjoyed it. Not epic, but truly a lot of fun and worth my time. One of the best zombie films I have seen (since Shaun ?). I was really impressed that GAR did not resort to Blair Witch / Cloverfield spaz cam and just let the camera document the story. Truly a good film and full of competent performances, substantial gore and spooky sequences. This film exceeded my expectations. Fun, spooky and taken much more seriously than I would have thought. My TOP 10 Zombie films as of tonight ? The Return of the Living Dead Day of the Dead Dawn of the Dead 2004 Shaun of the Dead 28 Days Later Dawn of the Dead Night of the Living Dead Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) Dead Alive Diary of the Dead - Diary places. Great job from Romero. He took a tired concept (BLAIR) and just went less is more on the camera and it worked.

[Redman6565]

I have to say that 'Diary' was a really big let down for me. I know it all boils down to personal taste but come on, this one's bad. I love the Romero zombies flicks but this one just didn't hit home at all. From the bad acting to the whole POV thing (which to me is starting to come across like the over used 3D junk from the 1950's). Why George decided to go this route is beyond me. He should know better than to jump on a hot trend. 'NotD' was a great movie that got the ball rolling, why go back there? There are two types of zombies. You have the Romero slow creepy type and the fast rabid dog scare the heck out of you type. I think the slow Romero type are better when you have large numbers and going back to the start as he did with 'Diary' didn't feel scary at all to me. While watching 'Diary' I found I didn't care one bit about any of the characters. From the kid filming everything to their drunk 'Rambo' professor. Not one character stood out in this movie like characters from past movies. This was the greatest problem with 'Diary'. Here is something that I find funny that everyone has left out and how that is is beyond me. This is a spoiler so read on at your own risk. At the start of the movie you see the kids shooting their movie. You have the kid dressed up as the mummy going after the girl and the kid shooting it is complaining about how the scene is coming across badly. Well jump forward to the kid still in the mummy suit at his home, the same gal he was chasing and the same kid shooting. The kid in the mummy suit has been turned and is right next to the kid with the camera but keeps on chasing the girl who much farther away. When I watched this I almost turned it off and set it in the DVD stand next that wonderful movie (I'm kidding) "Zombi 3'. Come on folks, why didn't he turn on the guy with the camera and try to eat him? This was stupid. Also, am I the only one who thinks some of the POV stuff felt like the first 'House of the Dead' movie? Sort of like what they call a 'rail shooter' in video games. I am a huge Romero fan and always will be. I hope the next film is better. I liked some of the underlying social stuff in 'Diary' but nothing in this film really came together. Even the humor, while funny, felt out of place. I would like to see Tom Savini work with George on the next project. I'd also like to see Zack Snyder take another shot at his style zombie movie. His remake was fantastic.

[Human Rain]

My belated review. Thoughts?