Wow. This movie was crappy.

[Mikey]

I'm George's biggest fan. I fawned of Land of the Dead basically because it had Romero's name in the title. Land had it's detractions (like still using currency), but it fit in with the series. I finally got to purchase the Diary DVD and I can honestly say, and I might catch hell for this, but Resident Evil was a better zombie flick. My friend said George should retire after he saw Diary in the theater. I agree. This is the WORST screenplay he's done in a long time.

[darth los]

I'm George's biggest fan. I fawned of Land of the Dead basically because it had Romero's name in the title. Land had it's detractions (like still using currency), but it fit in with the series. I finally got to purchase the Diary DVD and I can honestly say, and I might catch hell for this, but Resident Evil was a better zombie flick. My friend said George should retire after he saw Diary in the theater. I agree. This is the WORST screenplay he's done in a long time. I don't see why you would catch hell for saying that RE is a better film than diary because it is. Just because Gar's name is stamped on it doesn't make it exempt from being what it is. People who would defend something simply out of loyalty and not on the merits lose their credibility. I've said before that land is the type of film that one could easily mistake for a sci-fi channel original movie. It has that feel to it, imo. So if that's the case i don't even know what to call diary. It's time to face it guys. The crown jewel of his film making career was 30 years ago when he made dawn. It was like a perfect storm. Dawn,night and day are classics, but maybe he captured lightning in a bottle. Perhaps the reason that 90% (and that's a conservative estimate) of zombie flicks suck balls is that the genre lends itself to crappy movies. Maybe The oiginal trilogy is the exception and not the rule. Whatever the reason it's become apparent that GAR, the godfather of the genre, is no longer exempt from adding to the poblem. That being said I went into it knowing that it was low budget and didn't set the bar at the original trilogy when judging how good it was. It again was of sci-fi channel quality. However, since the master made it i feel compelled to own it. IT'S GOT A HOLD ON ME !!

[SRP76]

The original three were all low-budget, too. "Low budget" does not mean "is allowed to suck". It's no excuse. A good story overcomes all lack of budget. But a sh*tty story, like we get in Diary, will suck no matter how much money is pumped into it. The whole movie was about pretty much nothing: they start off "trying to get home (and the movie lacks any of the things that go along with "journey" movies, so it doesn't matter)", but abort that after reaching just the first house, and wind up at their boy's place, where they refused to go at the very beginning. Pointless.

[Redman6565]

The original three were all low-budget, too. "Low budget" does not mean "is allowed to suck". It's no excuse. A good story overcomes all lack of budget. But a sh*tty story, like we get in Diary, will suck no matter how much money is pumped into it. The whole movie was about pretty much nothing: they start off "trying to get home (and the movie lacks any of the things that go along with "journey" movies, so it doesn't matter)", but abort that after reaching just the first house, and wind up at their boy's place, where they refused to go at the very beginning. Pointless. You are right concerning 'low budget'. My problem is that nothing in this movie felt right. From bad acting to the POV style. Also, why is it no one seems bothered when they get back to the kids house he's still in his mummy suit and he becomes a zombie and the kid gets to film him chase the same girl at the start of the movie. The kid filming is right next to the mummy/zombie kid yet he keeps chasing the girl who's way up ahead of them. Very stupid.

[darth los]

To clafify my point, you guys are definitely right about low budget. The first three films were indeed financialy challenged but they certainly didn't feel that way. I'd even argue that's part of what made night so good was that gritty film quality. It felt sorta like a documentary at times. I'd wager that if diary had multi million dollar budget it still would have blown. i.e.: land.

[AnxietyDilemma]

People who would defend something simply out of loyalty and not on the merits lose their credibility. I'm sensing quite the opposite actually. It seems like people are regarding what is a decent movie at worst as garbage simply because George Romero's name is attached and because it falls short of his older works.

[Dead Hoosier]

Darth: I agree 100% that GAR peaked when he made Dawn. Nothing that he has done since has even come close. I've made this comparrison before, but it's just like George Lucas with Empire...and he didn't direct that either. You'd like to think that someone like GAR -- and/or Lucas -- would season favorably with age, but they haven't. Just like we all wanted the Star Wars prequels to be more than what they were -- a Sith was just OK -- Land of the Dead was a miserable, misguided, brain-dead film. While I like Diary, it too suffers from dialogue that should've never made the final cut and situations that were questionable. When you make films with the sheer power and life-influence like Dawn -- or Empire -- I guess there's nowhere to go but down. The problem is that most of us were kids when we saw those films, and we've become more critical and enlightened in the ensuing three decades. When GAR passes, so will my caring about anything in the horror genre. I'd like to see one more masterpiece for us to remember him by...but the odds of that happening are long.

[Redman6565]

I find it funny how people attack Land when it comes to the zombies getting smart. If you go back and watch all the Romero movies zombies always were some what smart. In Night they used tools like rocks to smash a car window. Or did everyone forget that scene? I think Land worked because it is what would happen if you think about it. Now this couldn't happen in the Dawn remake or the 28 Days/Weeks movies because the zombies arey to fast. But in Romero's world I can see Land. The worst thing with Diary has to be the acting followed by the story and script. All were very weak at best. With the slow moving zombies I'd like to see a time line that falls between Dawn and Day. My guess Land falls some where around that time line. It would be fun to watch a group of people try to reach a safe point with out the POV concept. I know there are budget problems but Romero did a better movie, Land, with money than he did with little money as with Diary. What gets me is that if Romero wanted a low budget story to shoot around the time of Night why didn't he turn to Avatar comics. They published a 3 issue run that introduced all the main characters in the Night movie. They also did two one shot books one which gave the history of the littlegirl in the basement that stabbed her mother to death (which seems to be scene that is over looked by fans whom hate the smarter zombies in the Land movie). If you can find them check them out they offer up some really good background to all the Night characters. Even the old lady that lived in the farm house is in here. Good stuff.

[UndeadGuyX]

No way is Resident Evil Apocalypse or Extinction better than Diary. The original RE movie possibly, but no way are the absolutely pathetic sequels.

[Redman6565]

Wow, the last RE movie hit me the same way Diary did. Ouch what a bad movie. Now the 28 Days/Weeks movies I have to say are very well done and are as good if not better than the Romero stuff. I would like to see Romero do a movie that falls between Night and Dawn and then one that falls between Dawn and Day. Then follow up Day. I can understand why Land made it into my local theaters and Diary didn't. Romero is better than this.

[jim102016]

I find it funny how people attack Land when it comes to the zombies getting smart. If you go back and watch all the Romero movies zombies always were some what smart. In Night they used tools like rocks to smash a car window. Or did everyone forget that scene? I think Land worked because it is what would happen if you think about it. Now this couldn't happen in the Dawn remake or the 28 Days/Weeks movies because the zombies arey to fast. But in Romero's world I can see Land. The worst thing with Diary has to be the acting followed by the story and script. All were very weak at best. With the slow moving zombies I'd like to see a time line that falls between Dawn and Day. My guess Land falls some where around that time line. It would be fun to watch a group of people try to reach a safe point with out the POV concept. I know there are budget problems but Romero did a better movie, Land, with money than he did with little money as with Diary. What gets me is that if Romero wanted a low budget story to shoot around the time of Night why didn't he turn to Avatar comics. They published a 3 issue run that introduced all the main characters in the Night movie. They also did two one shot books one which gave the history of the littlegirl in the basement that stabbed her mother to death (which seems to be scene that is over looked by fans whom hate the smarter zombies in the Land movie). If you can find them check them out they offer up some really good background to all the Night characters. Even the old lady that lived in the farm house is in here. Good stuff. They were able to run in 28 Days/Weeks because they were still living, breathing humans! The Dawn remake was just a freak. The basement scene in Night' always did stick out.

[DubiousComforts]

No way is Resident Evil Apocalypse or Extinction better than Diary. Ssshhhh, we've got all the DIARY bellyachers confined to one thread. Don't stir the pot by disagreeing with them.

[Mikey]

I I've said before that land is the type of film that one could easily mistake for a sci-fi channel original movie. It has that feel to it, imo. So if that's the case i don't even know what to call diary. Dude, you totally hit the nail on the head. Crappy Sci-Fi original movie is a dead on description. The script was just not good.

[Dillinger]

I agree that Diary sucked balls. I had to drive fifty miles in order to see it, and to put it lightly, the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. But I don't agree that Romero peaked at Dawn. Creepshow and Day were pretty damned good post-Dawn movies. In fact, Day is my favorite zombie movie ever. I was underwhelmed by Land, but Diary was so horrible parts of it made me flinch. I really wanted to like Land and Diary, and I tried. But by God, Diary has no redeemable qualities whatsoever at all.

[Redman6565]

I agree. I thought Day was a very good movie as well. I would have loved to see a movie tie it and Dawn together. I thought Land wasn't bad. It felt like the 'stick it to the man' mentality was a little over done. Maybe that was him, Romero, giving the middle finger to the movie companies. The only thing Diary left me with was, I don't really care about anything I just saw. It's a good thing this wasn't Night or we'd never have gotten Dawn and Day. His career would have ended with Diary. People who defend this movie keep harping on the 'low budget' factor. I don't care what the budget was the actors were WAAAAAAY over paid.