Finally watched Diary

[deadpunk]

...and I was seriously let down. That didn't even feel like a Romero film. I didn't care for the narration at all. It gave the film more of a staged feel than the premise already did. In fact, I found her endless prattling to be a huge distraction. The characters were weak and cliche, not to mention poorly acted. The plot was...   The deaf amish guy was way too much. Throwing dynamite while writing on his Ray Charles blackboard?!? Then taking himself out with the sycthe and successfully spearing the zombie behind him? *cough*lame*cough* And why was the rich kid still in his mummy costume? I mean, I got why, it just departed from the realism GAR usually brings us. There wasn't a change of clothes in that entire mansion? Not to sold on the ease with which they were able to travel around the countryside, either. You start clobbering zombies at high speed with your RV and you're going to do a lot more than bust a fuel line. And only one traffic accident obstructed them the whole way? This one made Land seem like a gem.

[sandrock74]

The deaf amish guy was way too much. Throwing dynamite while writing on his Ray Charles blackboard?!? Then taking himself out with the sycthe and successfully spearing the zombie behind him? *cough*lame*cough* And why was the rich kid still in his mummy costume? I mean, I got why, it just departed from the realism GAR usually brings us. There wasn't a change of clothes in that entire mansion? Not to sold on the ease with which they were able to travel around the countryside, either. You start clobbering zombies at high speed with your RV and you're going to do a lot more than bust a fuel line. And only one traffic accident obstructed them the whole way? This one made Land seem like a gem. To quote Samuel Jackson, "Please allow me to retort." (I've just always wanted to say that ) I thought the deaf amish dude was awesome! I mean, what other movie has a sycthe wielding, dynamite tossing, chalkboard writing amish dude? I just liked him because of his complete strangeness. I'd sit down with him and share a coke I agree that the rich mummy kid not changing was indeed lame. Maybe his not changing was supposed to be a visual clue to the viewers that he was in shock and not thinking right...things weren't right with him. On ER, Dr. Carter would have a beard whenever things weren't right with him. It was our visual clue. Or maybe I am just looking too into it. I didn't think much of there fairly easy trip thru most of the film until I saw people on here bitching about it. I just figured that they said they were sticking to the backroads, so why would they encounter more than they did? Especially in the outset of things? The backroads should have been open and easily accessable! The freeways would have been congested with cars full of paniced people. The empty hospital was odd thou. There should have been more zombies, or things running fairly normal I think. Not simply deserted. That made no real sense to me. I dunno, I enjoy all the films. I like some more than others, but I don't have this hate that some have of the newer films. I mean, at the end of the day, they are just movies afterall. If GAR makes them, I will watch them and have fun.

[MoonSylver]

I'll agree w/ Sandrock, though the movie is flawed compared to the older ones, I still just enjoyed it for what it is, warts & all.

[JDFP]

This one made Land seem like a gem. Agreed, to each their own, for me personally I still say that "Diary", with all its flaws, is a great film compared to the major letdown of "Land". "Diary" was a major improvement in my book compared to "Land", if still a very flawed film. Of course none of them will ever compare to the masterpieces of the trilogy, and on that one I don't think anyone will disagree. j.p.

[AcesandEights]

I agree completely, Deadpunk. Diary was cack.

[bassman]

....Diary? Is that the one with Bud the vegetarian zombie?

[deadpunk]

To quote Samuel Jackson, "Please allow me to retort." (I've just always wanted to say that ) I didn't think much of there fairly easy trip thru most of the film until I saw people on here bitching about it. I just figured that they said they were sticking to the backroads, so why would they encounter more than they did? Especially in the outset of things? The backroads should have been open and easily accessable! The freeways would have been congested with cars full of paniced people. Equate that with going Christmas shopping at Wal-mart in the middle of the night. Sounds like a sound theory, bound to be less people... Except, when a theory is that good, everyone is bound to have the same idea. I'm going to wait a few days and give Diary a rewatch, but I doubt that (like Land) this one will eventually grow on me. It just lacked all the things that seem to keep GAR films above other zombie films. This was like watching someone's first amatuer attempt at entering the genre, not a fifth installment by the guy that is held as the master.

[Skippy911sc]

I will state what I have said many times before... This looked amateurish! GAR is a man with many years under his belt and should know better. Then again look at the star wars prequels? I think this is a trend in movies overall. The directors seem to be getting worse with age rather than better. Except Scorsese!

[sandrock74]

Equate that with going Christmas shopping at Wal-mart in the middle of the night. Sounds like a sound theory, bound to be less people... Except, when a theory is that good, everyone is bound to have the same idea. I'm going to wait a few days and give Diary a rewatch, but I doubt that (like Land) this one will eventually grow on me. It just lacked all the things that seem to keep GAR films above other zombie films. This was like watching someone's first amatuer attempt at entering the genre, not a fifth installment by the guy that is held as the master. You have good logic here under normal circumstances. But, like it was said in Men In Black (and I am parapfrasing here), a person is smart but people are scared and illogical. I firmly believe this is true. I don't think many people would take "the backroads" at the outset...maybe they would be too afraid of being away from other people, who knows? Conversely, the major freeways would be jam packed with people trying to "flee the zombies", even if they don't know exactly where they are fleeing to. Too many people don't even know where "backroads" are, how to get to them, or where they lead to. They will stick with what they know, then risk traveling into the unknown...hence, the jammed up freeways. I did think it was rather dumb that there were so many zombies around the amish guys place. I would tend to think that that would be one of the final areas to be overrun by zombies, not the first! I've been to amish areas before, and trust me, they are fairly remote. Hell, when you really think about it, since the amish don't use phones, televisions or computers, would they even know of what's going on until later? That part of the film was flawed, no question. Still, I liked the deaf amish guy!

[darth los]

I did think it was rather dumb that there were so many zombies around the amish guys place. I would tend to think that that would be one of the final areas to be overrun by zombies Is it any dumber than the farmhouse area in NOTLD being absolutely infested with ghouls as well? I always thought that to be a little off myself. And you could argue that it's just the local population, as sparse as it may be. But you would have to believe that everyone of them met their demise in the past 2-3 days. Plus, there wasn't another house in sight for that matter! That doesn't make any sense to me yet we swollow it hook, line and sinker.

[Trin]

I agree with Deadpunk in everything said.   The Amish guy was the dumbest thing I've seen in any Dead movie. Not only was it physically unrealistic to believe anyone COULD scythe themselves and the zombie behind them. It's crazed to think anyone WOULD. I hate hearing how it was some "great zombie kill". You know what was a great zombie kill? Peter and Roger in the basement of the apartments slowly and methodically putting rounds into the heads of the corpses held there. That scene brought the horror of the situation to the viewer. Not some gimmicky attempt at being clever. I'm one of those who says that Land has risen as far as it will. That is, no amount of time or repeated viewings is gonna make me love it any more than I loved it within the first year or so of its release. But in one way that's not true. Diary sucked so bad I actually ended up liking Land more as a result. I have to wonder if Survival is gonna worsen the situation. It may make me like Land more too... and maybe like Diary more. Wouldn't that be a twist.

[bassman]

The Amish guy was the dumbest thing I've seen in any Dead movie. Not only was it physically unrealistic to believe anyone COULD scythe themselves and the zombie behind them. It's crazed to think anyone WOULD. I hate hearing how it was some "great zombie kill". You know what was a great zombie kill? Peter and Roger in the basement of the apartments slowly and methodically putting rounds into the heads of the corpses held there. That scene brought the horror of the situation to the viewer. Not some gimmicky attempt at being clever. It's not really fair to comare the two though, is it? One was made for horror while the other was made for comedy. Now whether or not the horror or comedy work is a matter of opinion....but comparing the two is like apples and oranges...

[Trin]

It's not really fair to comare the two though, is it? One was made for horror while the other was made for comedy. Now whether or not the horror or comedy work is a matter of opinion....but comparing the two is like apples and oranges... Made for comedy? We're talking about the amish self-lobotomy zombie kill right? What leads you to believe it was intended to be comedy? I didn't get that sense from the movie itself. Was that in comentary? If it was intended to be comedic, then sure, apples -> oranges. But that would raise a bigger concern, which is why GAR is killing off characters in tandem with zombie kills and shooting for comedy. Samuel was a pretty cool character otherwise.

[sandrock74]

Is it any dumber than the farmhouse area in NOTLD being absolutely infested with ghouls as well? I always thought that to be a little off myself. And you could argue that it's just the local population, as sparse as it may be. But you would have to believe that everyone of them met their demise in the past 2-3 days. Plus, there wasn't another house in sight for that matter! That doesn't make any sense to me yet we swollow it hook, line and sinker. You know, I may be totally crazy here, but I had always assumed the zombies were from the diner Ben had come from. Was that mentioned somewhere in one of the NOTLD films or something? Or did I arrive at this assumption in my own strange mind?

[bassman]

Made for comedy? We're talking about the amish self-lobotomy zombie kill right? What leads you to believe it was intended to be comedy? I didn't get that sense from the movie itself. Was that in comentary? If it was intended to be comedic, then sure, apples -> oranges. But that would raise a bigger concern, which is why GAR is killing off characters in tandem with zombie kills and shooting for comedy. Samuel was a pretty cool character otherwise. The entire Amish character scene was written for comedy, imo. It's like the pie fight in Dawn. A bit of fun thrown in the middle. And the blade to the face is too extreme, but would the zombies ripping people apart by hand in Dawn and Day be believable?