Got my copy of Zombie Diaries today.

**DjfunkmasterG** · 21-Sep-2007

About to plop down and watch it right now.

**bassman** · 21-Sep-2007

Dj, you're cool and all.....but what the hell dude?

Why not post AFTER seeing the film and have something more to say?

**DjfunkmasterG** · 22-Sep-2007

Well here it goes. SPOILERS

About 90 minutes ago I started watching TZD and at first I was bummed. On the back of the DVD case it says 16:9 full height Widescreen. On my 50" HDTV it will only play in 4:3 widescreen... meaning I have black bars at the top and bottom of the screen and the sides... so i was bummed to find out is wasn't enhanced for 16:9 TV's as it says on the back of the case... it is a minor squabble but did detract a bit as I am a huge fan of 16:9 enhanced films.

Now the picture for this film looks really good. The color correction and cinematography were very well done for the documentary style they used, and it did help set the tone for a horror film, The Blair Witch style of shooting made me a little seasick at times, but I forgave that after a while.

One thing this film had going for it in the first sequence with the news crew going to the farm, was tension. When they went into the farm house and the power went out the mood turned very creepy, and then investigating the noises coming from upstairs really had me on the edge of my seat for a good time, but the scene played a bit too long and some of it started to wear out, but for the most part it held together nicely. So kudo's to the filmmakers for nailing that spot on.

As the film played out and the crew leaves the home is where the film began to annoy me a tad in that the camera is all over the place as we see some zombies show up... now I understand it is documentary style project so I have to give it some slack, but the amount of panic in the camera mans movement really got me dizzy for a second, but did set the illusion of horror they were looking for... I felt my heart pace rise and fall as the movie progressed through this first story.

The acting was really good, even for a low budget. However these are brits, they invented acting, so it is natural to them to just chew the scenery up in their acting abilities. I can't say there was ever a roll your eyes moment and this helped a lot in the believability of the film.

TZD does have its moments of when it begins to drag, at about the 37:00 mark I was starting to get antsy and even yelled at the screen for the film to get on with it as it had slowed down to a crawl at one point. The pace stayed slow for a good 20 minutes and I almost reached for the remote to start skipping through the film, but I said I can deal with it and also the cinematography really kept my interest.

TZD lacks one other thing... zombies. I mean it has zombies, but never a moment when you felt really compromised by the zombies, except for the moment in the farm house at the beginning. As a low budget filmmaker I assume maybe it was hard to get zombies... I dunno, I know I had my days where getting zombies was a bitch so I felt they had the same problem... can't fault them, but the lack of zombies in some sequences hurt the film quite a bit and took the realistic feel out of it during those moments.

During the scavengers sequence they could have had a shining moment in the film when the group was in town and finally some zombies show up, but the sparse numbers of undead killed the tension for me in this scene and this scene was really impressing me until the zombies showed up. I wish they had 30-40 more I think it would have set a much more horrifying tone.

Technical:

I have already said the picture and cinematography were excellent, truly touch notch work on that scale.

Zombie Make-Up... A+ The zombies look great, scary, gory. You know the money spent here was put to excellent use.

Zombie Gore (Flesh Eating) The one time the cinematographer should have been questioned was during the first feasting scene. His angle was really piss poor and felt out of place and it made the gore come off a little on the hokey side... the rest of the film had some very decent moments and is worthy of a ****ING A you did it quote.

Acting - Their British... enough said

A+

Sound - The sound was really good. I could of sworn I heard a cell phone ringing in one scene after it was established the phones were not working, and I am sitting there going why aren't they answering it... Was it a sound glitch I dunno... Could be my ears... but I thought I did hear one.

Overall... TZD is a zombie film in heart and soul, a very well done documentary style zombie film. Although it has its slow moments there is enough here to keep zed fans poised and interested, and the believability of the zombie scenario portrayed in the film is the best I have seen in low budget affairs. These guys have the film to help bring faith and respect to the low budget zombie film genre so that it will lose its stigma as the genre with the worst amount of low budget productions.

8.5 out of 10 ... Great job fellas.

**ILoVeZoMbiE** · 25-Sep-2007

I'm agree with Dj

i buy the dvd on amazon 2 weeks ago. I've seen it yesterday and... i like it!

very, very nice movie.

**JohnnyTremz** · 26-Sep-2007

I just ordered it from the UK a couple of days ago and it should be arriving anytime now. Spent about 45 bucks on it because I used the rushed shipping, kinda dumb but oh well I'm an impulse buyer. Hope its worth it.

I watched it last night. I was really pissed off when I realized I could not play a UK DVD on my DVD player (brand new one by the way).

So I had to watch it on my computer where it gave me the option to switch my "region", although a warning came up saying I could only make this adjustment a few times before my computer would forever stay like that.

Besides all that.... I thought the movie was real good. Very realistic... I think the ending could have been a bit better. I was a bit confused but maybe someone can help... was that the girl who went missing from the first group of news reporters? Not the blonde that got raped but the brunette?