rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 2007
Directed by George A. Romero; produced by Sam Englebardt, Peter Grunwald, Ara Katz, Art Spigel; written by George A. Romero
Starring Joshua Close, Scott Wentworth, Michelle Morgan, Joe Dinicol, Shawn Roberts, Amy Lalonde, Philip Riccio
'Diary of the Dead' suffers from the fact it uses a gimmick recently seen in 'Cloverfield' (and before that 'The Blair Witch Project'); action seen through "home video" footage, filmed by one of the participants in the story. There is one difference though, since 'Diary of the Dead' is edited footage, with voice over and everything, while those other two films simply showed "found," and therefore uncut, footage.
This difference turns out to be pretty important for George A. Romero's newest installment in his zombie series, since most events are easier to follow and it cuts out most of the parts where nothing really happens. Up to a point the experiment therefore works as something we have not really seen before. The typical story with the dead coming back to life is seen from a different point of view, and it's a good reason to experience it once again.
Still, 'Diary of the Dead' plays more like a conventional film than 'Cloverfield' and the real intensity never surfaces. It's hardly scary and I have seen a better handling of objects, people or zombies suddenly entering the screen. One might expect it would have a bigger impact since we are watching a first person experience. As in other of Romero's films, he is not just making a film, he is giving a social commentary as well. Here this gets the upper hand.
The person with the camera needs to film simply everything, and since his girlfriend has edited the video, we are not surprised when he wants the camera to keep rolling after he has been attacked himself. Romero's message is obvious; interesting, but unfortunately seen many times before. It's the fate of 'Diary of the Dead', which exists out of many ideas that have been tried before. We are left with an experiment, entertaining but ultimately failed.