You have to be logged in to comment! If you don't have an account register now for free! Your account allows you to post comments and reviews, upload videos and images, access or our forums, write personal blogs, and maintain your profile.
The vision alone, this man is a genuis... How anyone doesn't like this movie is beyond me... This is one of the most realistic movie ever done. I'm a huge fan of Romero, how he continues to evolve and create new outlooks... I love this movie and definitely recommend it to everyone if has everything...
amish farms, hospitals, dorms, zombie invasions, princess dress..
mocumentary?
intresting take on the whole chop cop zombie scene.
the scenes in the house freaked me!
I heard a lot of negative reports for this film but I was very suprised at how good it actually is.
A massive improvement from the mediocre Land Of The Dead. George has done a great job with the handheld camera technique, unlike other movies that use it, he at least keeps the cameras still so we can see what the hell is going on. Another plus is having a cast full of unknowns who I think did a pretty decent job. This film has a low budget grittiness to it that was sorely missing from Land and it all adds to the creepy doomsday feeling of the film. It's clear George works better when not involved with a huge studio but the social commentary is also again on full display and very relevant for this media obsessed, youtube blogging age. This entry seems a lot quieter in regards to the zombie action but still delivers on the blood and gore shots, which there are plenty. Overall a big return to form from the master of the Undead. Hopefully George will now keep making his movies independantly as they seem to come out all the more better for it.
Not my favorite George A. Romero zombie film, but it really was still good. I liked the idea of it and made the movie a lot better of a point of view then the Blair Witch Project..most definitely!
george had something different going for this one. i didnt hate it, but its taken awhile to sink in. its average, though im not sure how to explain it. i would recommend it for any zombie or romero fan.
Diary of the Dead has Romero written all over it. As well it should, seeing as how he directed it. This is definitely a step up from "Land". It has better acting, very very creepy atmosphere, the effects are top notch and the budget relatively small compared to his previous effort. The only problem that I had with this film is, being a so called "prequel" its hard to swallow seeing as how night was made back in the late 60's and Dawn early 70's. Seeing as how this is supposed to take place the evening of Night of the Living dead it confuses the audience due to the very noticeable and very different time frames each film was made. Aside from that, this film is great. and definitely a return to form. Bravo.
yeah i really dont get why people hate on this movie so much. i thought this was great. IMO this might be the best zombie flick ive seen since Dawn of the Dead in '04
I'm a fan of the Romero zombie flicks, yet still didn't expect this one to be very good. Luckily I was wrong. It ain't the best zombie movie ever made, but its surprisingly solid and entertaining.
Kinda funny that the only "found footage/mockumentary movies" I've really liked involve zombies. Guess zombies just work better for this kind of thing than witches or giant monsters.
I must admit I'm not much a zombie movie fan. But it wasn't all that bad, it was definetly slow going and you kept wondering when something was going to happen, but over all it was one of the better zombie movies I actually sat down to watch.
I went in with extremely low expectations given the mixed reviews, but walked away pleasantly surprised. I thought it was much, much better than Land and maybe even a bit better than Day (I know, I know, that's sacrilege to some but even though I really like Day it falls a little short for me personally). Yes, the commentary on the media and overload of information in today's age, as well as general desensitation via technology, is in your face at times, but it's still a relevant issue. Many (not all) of the voice overs were insightful and well written in my opinion. On a few occasions it seemed a little too overt (especially at the end), but I still liked the fact he stayed focused on the theme throughout instead of giving it cursory treatment. I also thought the movie was well paced, seemed more urgent and gritty like his earlier movies and since I'm a sucker for both road movies and docu- (mocku-) mentaries I really liked how the storyline was structured and how it was filmed and edited. The movie had enough zombie action to suit me personally, but I believe some viewers may be expecting more in the way of gore and action and be disappointed by that. The most common complaint I've read is that the acting is "terrible" but I personally didn't have a problem at all with the cast. I thought most were decent enough.
YOU GUYS WHO GIVE THIS MOVIE A BAD RATING ARE CRAZY.. you guys are expecting way too much.. George Romero did not make this movie with the intention of out-doing his last 4 dead films... it was a little side project he felt like doing.. He had a really bad experience working with universal studios making Land of the Dead.. which by the way was a great zombie movie.. anyways, he went back to independent film making and decided to do something different and change up his usual style.. I think its good work for a movie that was filmed in only 23 days... Great Kills.. with a pretty good story.. and (YES) I know the biggest knock on this film was the acting.. I know the acting came off a little bit chessy but i think that is what made the film work in a strange way.. The actors in the movie are portraying amateur college film directors/actors,.. soooo they arent suppose to be good actors to begin with.. and now to top that off, they are put in a fucked up situation where all hell is breaking loose and real scary events are happening around them, but they still have a camera stuffed in their faces , so now they are forced to Act but at the same time theyre not.. they are kind of caught in the middle... ((think about it)) In real life when a camera is watching you , you seem to act a little bit different and not so natural or realistic... or atleast thats how i feel.. so maybe these amateur kids were "trying to Act but at the same time not" with their cameras rolling in front of them during the situation that they're in... ((I think its brilliant))... soo that is the mental approach i take when im watching this film.. the acting isnt great but i deal with it ... I think for a movie made in only 23 days with a small budget is pretty well crafted.. most shitty B-rated movies and some A-rated big budget movies are far worse then this film.. there are plenty of real fuckin shitty zombie movies out there... and this is not one of them... so take it easy guys.. Its better to have a Romero zombie movie then none at all... -(((George Romero)))- you are the master of zombie films.. bring it on , and keep up the good work.. I cant wait for Island of the dead!! The only thing i wish for is for Romero to continue where he left off with Land of the Dead.. Im dying to see where he takes the rest of his story and how the world will end up... George aint getting any younger and I dont want him dying and becoming a zombie himself before he gets a chance to finish off his Amazing Dead Series!!! If anyone wants to respond to my comment , please feel free...
Boring. From get go the movie was pretty slow paced, and I kept looking at the time thinknig "When Will It End?:. It had some decent deaths but the movie itself is a dissapointment. I'm really sick of the "Cloverfield" type films that just make the film seem less cool. The plot had a giant hole which was never mended and the acting was terrible equaling a crap movie.
The plot was unoriginal, and didn't do anything for me, and without any zombies actually hurting you, when you die you become one, how does that work?. That was a giant plot hole that was not worth sitting through for an hour and a half.
The acting was terrible, and that four week shooting time wasn't well planned. With some upcoming stars, the film could be more than just a bornig piece of zombie brains.
Overall "Diary Of The Dead" is the worst in the franchise, and is a huge dissapointment. My rating is 1.5/5.
Posted By: Dr.Hyde_666 at 8:11pm, February 19, 2009
Doesn't get the credit it deserves...not as good as the classics Night, Dawn, and Day, but better than Land of the Dead. Looking forward the the new ...Of the Dead film.
Posted By: nitewise84 at 3:39pm, February 14, 2009
This was really bad...never thought it'd be a torture waiting for a movie to end.I'm not a big zombie film fan for starters but I had high hopes for this one since it's a flick by George Romero.But seriously, the characters are extremely unrealistic, the acting was just hedious.The only good thing about this movie was the amish guy.[REC] eats the brains outta this one, no sweat!
Posted By: GRUDGE4life at 4:10pm, January 26, 2009
this movie was amazing... Romero knows exactly what he is doing when it comes to him and his zombies!!! this movie was visionary and the acting was good in its own rights...
Posted By: Slaser Maniac at 3:11am, January 25, 2009
One of Georges best Zombie films. If you've seen Quarantine and compared it to this movie. It'll make Quarrantine look like a piece of sh?t. the movie dosen't have alot of gore like intestines getting ripped out of stomachs and heads getting blown off. This movie is good with a few jumpy scenes.
I guess a lot of films now are using that kind of first hand experience camera technique like Cloverfield, Quarantine, and Behind the Mask. Other than Behind the Mask, the film that really sticks out in that group has to be Diary of the Dead. This movie was intense and very intriguing. And the gore was awesomely done. The action was also well done. But one thing that was lacking from that action was the suspense. For some reason, I just could not feel enough of suspense in that action. But this movie deserves to be one the best zombie movies I have seen. If you love George A. Romero or just a good zombie film, then watch this one.
Posted By: bigmo_402 at 12:04pm, December 10, 2008
I love zombie films but this didn't do it for me. Way too much talking and not enough kills. There were some good ones but not enough to save this movie. Worth watching once.
I am a huge Romero fan, but there was nothing I could find likeable about this. Horrendous acting, godawful dialogue, annoying 2 dimensional characters that I wanted to kill off myself and the worst sin of all, absolute boredom. 15 minutes into it I was ready to pack it in. An hour later, I was still amazed at how disinterested I was. I was so excited about this film and came away not only disappointed, but disgusted at just how awful it was. Romero I love ya, but it's just not right that a remake of one of your films (DAWN OF THE DEAD) blew away both of your most recent endeavors. Here's to hoping his next film brings him back to his glory.
Posted By: Guitarded at 12:18pm, November 18, 2008
Very intriguing installment to the Dead series. Well played out and fairly believable.
Posted By: gorehound62 at 4:10pm, November 14, 2008
some people just dont know when its time to throw in the towel. i have the utmost respect for romero, but he hasent made a good film in about 20 years. the blair witch project has sparked a newfound interest in the "quesy cam" style of filming. yeah, it gave a good realness to that film, but these new ones such as cloverfield and diary, just dont have the same effect. as said before, i have a great respect for romero, and what he has done for the horror community, but i could have made this movie with my buds and my sony camcorder. the one true upside in this film is the very breif cameo by bill hinzman, the original night of the living dead zombie, towards the middle of th film.
I'm a big fan of Mr. Romero and zombie films in general. I consider Night, Dawn, and Day to be horror cinema classics. I wish I could say that I enjoyed this film... I can't. Bad acting, uninteresting characters, lazy (unnecessary) and badly done CGI, and a so-so story (and I'm talking about genre standards here...not Academy Award ones.). Skip it!
Terrible, cheesy, terrible, cheesy, poorly acted, stupid, stupid, stupid, unbelievably stupid and unrealistic characters... Please don't, Please don't I wish I hadn't don't support shit from a mastermind, Romero needs to take a little reflection time. Pleeaesssse
Posted By: PromNight2008 at 7:09pm, October 30, 2008
I really enjoyed 'Dawn', 'Day', and of course 'Night', but this was a chore to sit through. Bad acting, and I personally found it to be incredibly dull...
I thought it was a good movie enjoyed it alot and scared the hell out of my wife.
Posted By: WinterRaven at 5:51pm, October 13, 2008
I really liked this movie. I like the fresh take on doing a Zombie movie this way and I just found it very entertaining. It made me think that if this happened to me would I be able to look away or would I keep the camera rolling too?
Only one thing can be said about this movie - either you like it or you don't like it.
I have to admit that I was having double thoughts about seeing this movie ever since I heard that it was going to be made in Blair witch style. After watching it I was extremely happy at one point - It didn't have motion sickness.
Coming to movie itself, I found it very nicely made and very unique though over the top gore effects were missing.
Still the movie in itself was extremely entertaining and worth taking a look. (Definately among top 10)
Posted By: Protecious at 12:32pm, September 30, 2008
The only real problem with this film is the music score was completely unecessary and cloverfield and rec should have been proof of that.
and the reasoning behind the score, as explained int he beginning by one of the main characters is to add dramatic effect, in all seriousness if i had the "footage" they did and it showed what it showed, a score would be completely unecessary and the film itself is terrifying itself.
i felt it was a fun interesting movie, with only the music score being a flaw to me, overall it was a great cam movie, and long live George A. Romero, who made a better zombie movie this time around than the Land one, i think it's his best film since Day of the dead (1985)!
Posted By: TheRise24 at 1:46am, September 30, 2008
George A. Romero Most Notable For His Dead Series, Has Created Some Memorable Horror Films,And Some Not So Memorable.His Latest Zombie Epic Diary of The Dead Unfortunately Falls Under The Not So Memorable Category.Romero's Films Usually Contain Some Political Satire,But It Feels Completely Absent In This Film.The Other Factor That Affected The Movie Was The Horrible Acting.The Final Factor Was The Characters,They Are So Flat,They Just Dont Seem Like Real People.In Closing I Would Like To Say That Romero Has Lost His Touch.
Posted By: RedSabbath at 11:13am, September 20, 2008
When it comes to the genre/films of Zombies and the Undead, especially the works of it's biggest creator George A. Romero, I am one of it's biggest fans. It takes alot for me to dislike the barrage of films we've received since it's official conception over 40 years ago with Night Of The Living Dead. But after four films by Romero himself, one being the somewhat disappointing & commercial Land Of The Dead, does a now 66 year old George still have what it takes to scare us with these creatures? With his latest chapter Diary Of The Dead, he still proves he can be relevant while bringing us some old time scares at the same time.
Diary basically is a reboot of his franchise bringing it back to the first outbreak of the dead rising from their graves. But this time their coming back in the digital age, where now any Joe Schmo could video record the events and post them on a variety of websites for the whole world to see rather than just the local news. The film concentrates on a group of Pittsburgh film students shooting a Mummy monster movie when the initial outbreak begins, and in their Winnebago they try to travel back to their homes and safety. All along the way, they turn their movie into a documentary trying to capture, obsessively mind you, the events of Horror and Death they encounter every time, using the logic of "If the camera doesn't see it, it really didn't happen".
Unlike other films in Romero's Dead library, this one is in an "edited after the fact" documentary style, but unlike last year's Cloverfield, instead of a small handheld camera bought at any electronic store, the main camera used is the type you'd notice carried by your local news team, so the picture it produces wouldn't be as shaky and uncontrolled. And much like The Blair Witch Project, what you see has already been edited, so it's more like a movie made from raw footage instead of just plopping in the original tape in a player and pressing play. For the film it works quite well, but unfortunately it leaves open other problems of logic along the way.
On the negative side, the unknown actors used here act about as stiff as the Zombies they're recording. Even though this is supposed to be really happening, at times they just don't seem believable in their emotions & reactions. Another is the fact that at times the girlfriend of the group narrates the documentary but mostly comes across like she's the little sister of Sarah Connor, flat and unaffected. Also, if a Zombie was coming after you I personally would be too afraid to just keep rolling and hope someone else comes to save me instead of putting the damn thing down and running like Hell. But again, these kids are from the "You Tube" generation, where hobby becomes life itself, and that should be taken into consideration when watching this film.
On the plus side however, there are deaths here that I can assure you that you haven't seen before, the acting does get better (or you just get used to it), the overall vibe of the film takes on a '85 Day Of The Dead-like quality, and unlike Land Of The Dead never seems too commercialized or sterile. I'm giving this movie a low 8.0, and that's in part to the disc's great extras including commentary, behind-the-scenes, and some great home movies shot by fans for some contest ran before the movie premiered. I would say if you own at least four Zombie movies in your collection, Diary should be in there as well. It is a very good representative of the Digital Age & Social Commentary we now live in and how today's youth would handle it. It's not a Romero Masterpiece like others have claimed, but after four films George could have done alot worse.
(RedSabbath Rating:8.0/10)
Posted By: DiegOmen16 at 12:28pm, September 6, 2008
I dont know what to say because i am not a big fan of Romero cause i really dont like zombie movies that much and yes the movie wasnt scary at all, there were fake scares, bad CGI and the characters were fuckin annoying specially that worthless pice of shit of Jason the filmaker i mean he cares more about his godamn movie than his friends and his life please! but on the good side the acting was very good there was actually at least a scary scene and its fun to watch with some friends a night or something so i say ait worths a rent.
Loved it don't normally watch the hand held effect movies as most are lame and boring but loved it, this and REC are best hand held effect i've seen looking forward to 2nd
I thought I was going to hate this movie, but I loved it. I'm not usually a fan of the Blair Witch, Cloverfield kind of camera action, but it made the movie so much better. It was just as a zombie movie should be.
this movie sucked. it had some good political satire but that's it. this movie really didn't feel like i was suppossed to be there and how come nothing happened off screen. the zombies only attacked on screen. this movie just felt like every other zombie movie.
Posted By: acidgoatwhore at 12:11pm, August 14, 2008
I feel like this is the best movie George A. Romero has done in a really long time. I love the originality of turning it into more of a documentary Zombie flick. I don't think this can contend with such classicks as Day of the Dead or Dawn of the Dead but it does hold it's own with the zombie flicks of today.
while this flic is no DOTD or LOTD, and damn sure no DOTD04 (the absolute BEST zombie movie EVER and if ya don't agree U can (__X__) right now) it is much better than most of the crap spewing forth here lately. yeah, its CGI, how the hell else are U gonna show a head melt from acid. DUH
I thought this movie was rather good. I mean in a way Jason reminded me of myself. He was in the same field as I was film/video production. But I felt like I could relate to him. But other than that, the storyline was rather good.
I just don't see why so many people hated this movie. I admit Romero's previous titles were better than this. But its not awful as people really say it is.
"For those not familiar, the Dead [franchise] went like this: 1- Night of the Living Dead: the dead return to life and terrorize the panicked individuals who have taken refuge in a rural home. 2- Dawn of the Dead: Romero's BEST [arguably], for those who don't know it; when society finds itself unable to contain the dead's movements, a small group hole up in a mall and find a small utopia in the commercial appeal after society's downfall. 3- Day of the Dead: Government, mostly at the prodding of the military forces, take refuge on Islands off the coast of the US, trying to find either an answer to take back the world (the military approach), or to live with the 'dead' (the scientific approach). 4- Land of the Dead: Society breaks down into colonies controlled by those who have the wealth and power to command military like forces and both the dead and the poor are subjected to abuse in these colonial like establishments.
As you can see, there was a progress to Romero's films- political commentary definitely was loaded in the films. For some reason however, Romero decided to make this film, which in a nut shell, is about a group of students who, while making a cheesy monster movie, find themselves in the middle of chaos and decide to document it. A la "The Blair Witch Project" (which is far superior!) and "Cloverfield."
One by one, most of the students are dispatched as they make their way across Pennsylvania in search of their families- though if you sit through the first five minutes of the film, the narrative tells you: a) the film is already over; and b) an effort to edit it in order to emphasize its fear factor has been made to 'wake you up.' The latter part is rather peculiar given that the film maker goes as far as to watch his friends being attacked by the dead, without helping them, in order to capture exactly what happened.
Does that seem parasitic? What is perhaps even more sickening is that the 'film maker' seems more concerned with 'hits' his video gets online than the well being of his friends, or that after he falls victim to an attacker, he's essentially regarded as a noble hero by one of the survivors.
I really didn't like this film, although it was clear that the crowds at the theater did enjoy some of the originality of the gore (in one scene, one of the dead is shocked with an EMP machine in a hospital, causing their eyes to explode, but not killing them). My advice: if you are tired of seeing shills that try to find the same pulse that the Blair Witch Project successfully exploited, or if you want to retain an idea that Romero's dead trilogy stands as a firm example of positive movie making, avoid this dud!" --andell (andell1@juno.com), imdb.com
Oh have the mighty have fallen!!
I once respected George Romero above all others in the horror genre but after this satire of artistic crap I'm left feeling dirty and used by a washed up old man! George Romero was ONCE the best thing in the horror world but when you write / direct garbage like this your up there with CHARLES BAND and the rest of them over at FULL MOON ENTERTAINMENT!! Diary was a slow boring movie about guess what ZOMBIES!!! Unlike Dawn or Day it lacked the depth to be watchable! His over use of subliminal BUSH bashing was obvious unlike the original dead films where the politics didn't over shadow the rest of the movie. Diary was filled with anti Iraq war messages and constantly pushed this anti voyuerisim to the audence while making us watch a film about voyurisim?? Make up your mind Romero. The politics belong on the news not in zombie movies. And the lead actress telling the story was unlikeable and card-board well everyone in the film was unlikeable. The acting was soo bad it hurt to watch, the script was battered and week and as for directing??? It looked like a cheep film school project NOT like a true Romero film. The movie looked rushed and quickly put together, leaving plot hole big enough to drive a bus through. The camra work was well BAD, and I know it's suposed to look like that cause it's another CLOVERFEILD or BLAIR WITCH but I don't care it was a bad movie and Romero should be held acountable for making this pice of celuloid garbage. And the ending????????? WTF??? No seriously WTF??? It made no sense the only thing I liked about the ending of this Dead film was that it ment it was OVER!! Maybe it's just old age finally kicking in but I give DIARY OF THE DEAD 1 Zombie Holocoast out of 10 Zombie Holocoasts!!!
I really liked this movie. I think it was a lot better than Land. I think it really fit in with the current generation. A new twist on the Dead movies. I think it was wonderful and can't wait for the sequel.
I honestly don't know why it got so many bad reviews from supposed zombie movie fans. Oh well to each their own!8)
the harsh reality of it all is that if you like this movie...you don't know anything about zombies movies. I don't care who directed it.
I waited months for this to come out and within the first 20 minutes I was ready to walk out. Of course I stayed so I was able to legitimately bash this piece of shit movie. The CGI was awful and unwanted, the underlining message of the media was weak, the characters were annoying, and it seemed as if the characters ran into the Lancaster PA chapter of the Black Panthers(what the fuck?).
There was extremely poor humor that was ridiculous (i.e. the mummy zombie and the deaf amish dude...c'mon really?) and just a complete sense of disregard to the other classics.
Romero is a fallen icon and this crap fest is the nail in the coffin.
George A Romero's career
R.I.P.
He hasn't made a decent film in many years and probably won't ever make one again.
On the plus side: gore effects, several interesting zombie scenarios.
Minuses: Weak script, shallow characters, slow-moving, just not believable.
Overall: As a longtime fan of the zombie genre, and of George Romero, I am sorry to say that this movie was disappointing- we expect better from Mr. Romero.
So, I really dig the original three movies, but Land I didn't think was that good, so I was pretty excited when read a early positive review of this.
Imagine my surprise then, when the movie turned out to suck.
The acting is horrible. The characters are cliche. The narration is both cliche and pretentious. The dialogue is, at times, all of the above. Hell, one of the major points of human vs human conflict happens when the film students run into a group of wannabe black panthers.
It wants to be an examination of how the media controls what we know or how we view things, and that's all well and good, but the media presented in the film doesn't warrant the characters criticism of it. There are all these news clips of zombies ruining society and then the characters yell about how mis-representational the media is. I guess we're just supposed to take their word for it, cause it looked to me (based on the "news" clips) like the friggen world was ending. It's an interesting idea, but the movie makes no real attempt to tackle it. All this makes the message that it tries to clumsily pound into the audience that much more frustrating.
The entire movie had me wondering how he (or anyone else) could have thought that this was good.
I honestly cannot see how this movie could get more than an average rating at best. The CGI effects were shitty, the acting was shitty, the ending was especially shitty and I also enjoyed how all forms of communication went down world wide... except the internet. I mean seriously, the zombie apocalypse is upon us and people are more worried about BLOGGING? Actually, that's not so far fetched these days... which makes me hate the idea even more. Independent or not, I don't think any part of this movie should be forgiven for being an indie film. Romero has decades of experience and it's just inexcusable how truly crappy it is. Just an all around bad, bad movie.
This movie was much better than I thought it would be. Once again, Romero has hit his mark with infusing satire into his zombie films. I was expecting a bad movie being that it went direct to video (I think, did it get a theatre release?) but this was the opposite. The story line was good, and I appreciate the main characters journey. Her evolution was good, and Romero shot the film very well. It made you feel for her - hard to find now-a-days. The effects were cheesy at times, but hey...it's a gory horror movie...We've all come to expect it. Overall, definitely worth renting...
This one was dreadful and clearly is a sign that Romero has lost any talent he once had. It's like it was written by a film school reject who had never seen a zombie movie. Not scary, just painful and pointless to watch. Stuntgirlstef summed it up really well.
Just finished watching this a little while ago and I thought it was amazing! Before posting this, I went through and read every other of the user reviews and am intrigued as to why this movie is so polarizing. Seems as if it was a love it or hate it type of thing, no one really in the middle. The message was great, the zombie deaths were great as well...pretty hard to have a melting head from acid without CGI, so get over it for those that didn't appreciate it. I'm looking forward to George continuing this story however he goes about it...but please stick to the low budget indie way, Land of the Dead was utter garbage, especially compared to this newest outing! Kudos Mr. Romero...oh and if anyone else even tried to do this, it would have failed miserably, only George could have done such a fantastic job with it, and he did so quite well!!!
Loved it! Nice to see someone still doing the zombie thing decently.
My only complaint with Romero is he tends to beat his message (what ever social issue or slant he's placing in the film) a bit too much for me. I get it. We all get it. Maybe back in the day, folks missed the message due to the shock of this new type of horror film. Hell, people freaked when the Frankenstein monster tossed the girl in to the lake. In todays world, that wouldn't even rate a ripple. I think the horror viewers now a day watch closer and listen more to the story line. We see pass the gore (of course stopping to admire it...lol)and want something, for a lack of a better word, more.
I still wish to this day that George would write one movie tying ALL of his zombie movies together. I don't know what you could do that with the first three (although the folks who flew to that island in "Day" have me thinking a few ideas...)because of the time issues and age of the actors in them but, Land and this one, you could. Figure out some way they hook up and continue the story from there. Obviously, from the way Land and Diary ended, the story isn't finished. Give us a zombie movie that takes this thing to an whole new level of story telling.With as bad as things are getting in the real world, the audience is there.
In the end, was glad to see this and add it to my collection. Worth the rental at least.
i just rented and watched it today it was a really entertaining movie i was very suprised i thought it wanst going to be as good as the others it turned out to be a good movie from my favorite director it did have some flaws one i felt was that the movie in the very beginning moved way to fast and it didnt have the same atmosphere his other movies had other than that it was pertty good
Didn't have the same autmosphere as the other dead movies. Also, too many computer generated gore scenes. I hate CGI shit. Thought Romero was better than that.
I wouldn't call this a masterpiece, but it's halfway decent. I was letdown by the lack of zombie action and the main character is an incredible bitch who I would have dropped off on the side of the highway, but otherwise it's a kinda cool film.
Romero is desperatley trying to recapture the spark and allure to his efforts sophomoric such as Dawn or Day, but falls flat on his face. Why? well rather than scribe the myriad of reasons why this movie is garbage and why the romero sycophants should remove their thinking structures from thier anal orafice's I will just say that he has lost it, and since there isnt a major production company involed he only has himself to blame
Romero does it again!! Diary of the Dead is a horror masterpiece. If you’re a fan of zombie movies you’re in for a real treat…. Who knows you may have a new favourite. At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to get into it because of the way they shot the film but I absolutely loved it.
George A. Romero is truly the master of the dead. diary of the dead is a masterpiece that should not be by-passed. its cloverfield with zombies!! this movie is full of random scares and even humor.
the only problem i had with diary of the dead is that the acting was cheezy in certain parts and some scenes can drag on for alittle too long. other that pick this one up as soon as possible!!
I just watched Diary of the Dead and I'm completely disappointed.
It was basically a snooze fest.
Instead of writing a huge paragraph about all the many faults I'll just use point form.
-not scary whatsoever
-bad acting
-very obvious cgi
-zero character development
-boring characters
-very robotic (it didn't seem real at all)
-predictable
-pretentious narrations
-no tension or build up (I never once felt nervous, it was like watching a movie on valium, no care at all)
I felt like this movie was trying way too hard to be intelligent and meaningful and I'm a little insulted. It's definitely time for Romero to hang it up. I don't understand how he can dish out this garbage and make people believe it's actually good. I watched intently with an open mind and tried really hard to enjoy it, but I refuse to like something just because it has Romero's name on it. This movie sucks.
Fantastic movie. I may go as far to say that it could be Romero's best. As an film student and documentary aficionado the message behind this film struck me deep. I highly recommend this movie to anybody documentary makers or zombie fans in general.
I felt real insulted by ths film, all i kept doing was shouting at the characters reactions. George must understand that as fans watch this, they know a thing or two about evading zombies and survival. Like the part where they go into the mansion, WHY DIDN'T THEY SHUT THE GATE OR DOOR? and why the hell did the camera man not help that women when she was being attacked. And why didn't they stay with those looters...you know those black guys with the big guns. The directing was weak, I didn't feel suspense or tension. Dawn of the dead is my all time favorite movie, because it explores how an average person would survive in a zombie epidemic situation, like day of the dead and night of the living dead.
But this movie was boring, i found it empty, the plot was simple and the dialog was dry and im sick of him explaining how the living are the monsters and not the dead. This is where it doesn't get scary for me, he doesn't make the zombies scary enough. He didn't explore the epidemic enough, like in Dawn, you can really see the scale of the epidemic.There was great potential to use the camera as a real scary device, like making it intimate and claustrophobic, using it in the dark etc etc. That's the problem these days, people arne't scared of the dark.
In his original trilogy, the zombies are real monsters. The budget was low so he had to really work on the films, nowadays it seems like he's making a quick buck.
And i cared about the characters in the originals, as all they wanted to do was survive and they worked with each other...naturally you'll get some who spoil it, the ones in this film just wanted to be miserable spoilt teenagers. I think Romero should look at something else to do as films like [REC] have torn a new arsehole for zombie films.
It's great to see old georgie boy going back to basics in this his 5th movie in the genre. I loved it, Not sure that there's much of a future for the "hand held cam" perspective in movies though, but, keep e'm comming George. :)
I am waiting for this on DVD because no theatre within 100 miles that had Diary Of The Dead. I was crushed, I got over it though. Hopefully it was as good as his originals(not the sh** remakes).
www.myspace.com/excarnate - MyOwnAutopsy
Among "Diary's" messages is the one, just because you have film footage of something does that make it valuable (e.g. YouTube's billions of videos)? And is something only worth something because it is captured on film? Does that, in itself, make it "real"?
I think the premise of the movie addresses a related issue, that of user reviews on sites like amazon.com and even here on BD. The question I hear being asked is, just because you write something online does it matter? Does it make it real?
I see the majority of blogs, user opinions and such fall in the same arena for criticism. Just because you said something, does it matter? Are you better for saying it? Are you more "democratized" or "real" for being able to say it in this medium?
My point is, who the fuck cares what the general "YOU" thinks. 98% of "YOU" are meaningless...but the promise of the Internet age is that "YOU" matter because now "YOUR" words can get spread globally from your plastic covered coach. Wow, now "YOU" can spend 60 seconds jamming your fat fingers into a keyboard, farting out words like an expiring, bloated body.
So, I say, nice job, George! You continue to bring a fresh message to each of your movies...but in the end I am "YOU" and "I" suck...so what the fuck are "YOU ALL" doing reading this!? Fuck you...
What can be said about Diary of the Dead that hasn’t already been said about Afghanistan?
Zombies haven’t been this uninteresting since Zombie Planet.
I can’t believe Romero would even put his name on this piece of shit, let alone let people watch it. Sure, the man is no stranger to shitty cinema, but if there is one thing the man knows how to do, it’s make a zombie movie. Obviously he’s proven that a few times. I don’t know if he’s just too senile to tell the difference anymore or what. I can’t give him too hard a time, he’s like 90, but whoever his caretakers are shouldn’t be taking him out of his nursing home room and exploiting his name like this. It’s just unethical.
If you’ve heard anything about the premise, you probably thought to yourself, "Gee, that sounds pretty stupid". You would be 100% correct. There are no redeeming qualtities to this movie that I can think of.
I haven’t wanted to walk out on a movie this bad since Boogieman, not to mention 28 Days Later 2: Electric Bugaloo. Yes, I was the idiot that went to Boogieman. Sam Raimi’s laughing all the way to the bank.
And it seems that I was also the idiot that went to see Diary of the Dead. Eager to give an old man a chance after a proven track record despite how lame it sounded. I need to work on trusting my instincts.
Now as any Romero fan knows, his "Dead" movies are usually supposed to parallel society in the period that each film comes out. In this one, he cleverly (and by clever I mean not clever at all) incorporates text messaging, MySpace, YouTube, blogs, and what have you. Wow, he hit the nail on the head this time! Pure genius!
If his goal was to reflect the lameness of the reality television generation, mission accomplished. This turd was lame as fuck.
The acting...shit. The direction...subpar at best. Scariness/atmostphere....shit. The writing...hmmm. Chok full of "clever" nods to Romero’s loathing for the Dawn of the Dead remake and its respective running zombies, yet he didn’t seem to mind lifting other ideas from it like some crane shots of cars colliding, and even one of the actors from it.
Seriously, this is like no other Romero zombie film. This is like a Dimension Extreme title at best. If you’ve never seen a Dimension Extreme movie, don’t. That includes Diary of the Dead. I’ll be shocked if the Day of the Dead remake starring Nick Cannon isn’t better (which is getting ready to come to dvd). I wish I didn’t really believe that. I’ve got that one on my Netflix list. I really need to reexamine my instincts.
This movie was amazing. It could easily be because I kept reading about how absolutely terrible the acting and dialog was so I was going in with a fairly low expectations as I didn't want to be disappointed. But the acting surprised me. Sure, the acting wasn't anything great, and there were plenty of cheesy lines and acting but overall it wasn't unbearable. It was about the acting I was expecting from a Romero film. He's never really had the greatest actors. And he's always had the occasional cheesy one-liners (although I will admit that this one had more than most of his movies). I also kept reading about people's problems with how blatantly obvious the social commentary was. Yeah, sure, it was obvious, especially in comparison to his other films, but that was pretty much the entire point of the film. I can understand some horror fans who just wanted a gory zombie flick being disappointed but I found the commentary to be pretty interesting and well put in. I was also expecting the narration to be ridiculously constant and annoying but I didn't think it was. It was put in at key moments in the film that I think added to what it was. True, it could have done without it and gotten the same point across, but I didn't think it hurt anything to have it there. Oh, and the ending was incredible. It couldn't have ended any better way.
The movie is different from Romero's other zombie flicks so I can understand some disappointment. But I really enjoyed it because it WAS different. It was a tale of obsession and madness, which I found to be very cool. It also had some new inventive zombie kills we haven't seen before. Maybe if I went in expecting the movie to be as good if not better than one of his original films I would have been disappointed. I dunno. All I know is that I loved what I watched.
What's more is that the movie had some incredibly creepy scenes (notably the scene with the zombies in the pool). It actually had a dark apocalyptic, hopeless feel to it, which Land of the Dead lacked. As different as it was, it really did feel much more like a classic Romero film. It also had some absolutely hilarious moments, all of which were intentional.
A lot of complaints have been about the POV. I thought it worked incredibly well. Sure, there were many moments where you think "that would never happen in real life" but the thing is, is that it's a "realistic" film set in ROMERO'S universe. It has Romero's rules, meaning that the movie can afford to have some ridiculous impossible kills (such as the Amish guy scene with the sickle). But thats just all part of the fun.
In the end, I loved it. Without a doubt one of the best horror movies to come out in a while. I liked it more than Land of the Dead, which I thought was good, but could have been much better. His original trilogy will always be his best work but I believe that Diary is defiantly worthy of being apart of the same family.
Humongous pile of shit. What a monumental letdown. Of course, I wasn't very thrilled by 'Land of the Dead', but this film makes that look like Citizen fucking Kane. George Romero is a dinosaur trying to connect with a generation he can't understand. Yes, we all log on to You-Tube and watch streming internet video daily... but we don't want our zombie movies presented in the same fashion.
<br><br>
This film fails on so many levels. First, handheld storytelling is limp-dick. It barely worked for 'Cloverfield', and coupled with a zombie apocalypse it just feels completely out of place. I can suspend disbelief for most films, especially ones that revolve around zombies, but I couldn't buy for a second the motivations behind some loser wanting to document everything happening around him with his camcorder. Also, when your characters reference "myspace" and "you-tube", not only does it sound too lame for words, but it dates the movie when it could have avoided it.
<br><br>
Second, the cast is offensively bad. I understand casting unknowns, but how about some unknowns with some acting chops? All of the players here are annoying, forgettable characatures of people Romero doesn't know how to write. Some of the things these people say is so fucking fake, your eyes will roll back in your head never to be seen again. I couldn't find one person to latch on to... care about... hope makes it through to the end. I wanted them all dead in the first 10 minutes.
<br><br>
Third, it wasn't scary. I never felt tense about anything going on in this film. Maybe it was the way it was shot (horribly), but I never felt unsafe as a viewer. A LOT of fake scares and CGI blood which never looks effective on the big screen.
<br><br>
I hated this movie. I miss the Romero of old. The 'Night', 'Dawn', 'Day', Creepshow' Romero. I think it's fine if you want to reboot a story you created, but I do mind when you choose to tell it in a gimmicky way. Stop trying to appear "hip" and just make a fucking zombie film.
Ok, Dawn of the Dead (original) is probably my favorite zombie movie of all time. Heck, it is. There I said it. NOTLD was really moody and I totally dug that. Day was nice and Land was alright but wasnt bad.
I dont know what Im reading but we apparently did not see the same movie. This movie was utter crap. Like, if George Romeros name was not on this, you wouldnt give it the time of day. This is utter shit. I wanted to love this but you cant. This film just wont let you. Ugggh... I just cant believe he had to go and make this and it was THIS BAD... im also upset that its getting a sequel... my gooood, uuuuggggh. Dont take my word for it see it and understand my pain.
Posted By: sandroace at 11:44pm, February 20, 2008
Watched this movie over the weekend and I must say it was well worth the price of admission. After being slightly disappointed in his last attempt(Land of the Dead)I was hoping that this film would renew my faith in Romero, and boy did it ever.
I've always been a fan of the "slow walking" zombies that Romero incorporates in his films, now don't get me wrong as I feel that 28 Days(and weeks) Later, as well as the Dawn remake made good use of the fast running zombies, but for me slow adds more suspense and atmosphere to the zombies themselves.
Anyways this movie is full of atmosphere giving you the real sense that these events are really happening. The acting for the most part was very well done and the gore effects(save maybe two)were of top quality. I surely hope this movie does well in the theaters(even though it was released in limited theaters, especially here in Canada)and more so does well in DVD sales, as to encourage a sequel.
Great movie highly recommended to any Zombie fan and highly recommended to all others who want to see a good depiction on todays society and dependency on the internet.
Well done Romero good to see you going back to your roots.
Once again FULL of satire. " What good is having all this information at our finger tips if its all lies" Romero is timeless and I am always in awe of how he adapts this "nightmare of the living dead" to suit the "you tube generation" I waited patiently to see this film for over a year and even traveled a hour (to the only theatre in the area playing it) George never let me down. Keep up the good work George......
Posted By: kaufmanfan at 2:13am, February 20, 2008
a brilliant little film by the brilliant george a romero
Ever since I first heard that another 'dead' movie was in the works, I was absolutely thrilled. Finally, Mr. George A. Romero was going back to his roots, unchained by corporate finagling, forced re-writes and cuts, etc. Tonight, I went to the theater with great hopes for this sure to be masterpiece of a film. After all, Mr. Romero is the Godfather of the zombie movement itself. Surely, this new take on this much diluted genre, would take my breath away, with old faithful at the helm. I was optimistic, despite some early reviews scathing the film somewhat. What I actually saw was not the film I had built up in my mind.
First and foremost, let me say that in no way, shape, or form am I going to claim that this film was garbage. It had quite a few awe inspiring sequences that had the old Romero feel to it. The kills were amazingly genius and graphically gory. The defibrillator to the head, the Amish scythe double kill, the arrow shots, and the human fish bowl were extremely inventive, awesome scenes. But… the rest of the movie was, to say the least, a bit disappointing.
Firstly, where did George finds these players? Isn’t a George Romero film usually heavily character driven? I was having trouble believing that the scenario was real when the people involved didn’t really even act scared! Let me tell you something… if this kind of shit is going down all around me, I can say with certainty, that I would not be taking it lightly at all. I was painfully aware that I was watching a movie, and not a documentary. Cloverfield, while giving many people headaches and making them nauseous, sucked you in because it looked and felt real. I understand the idea of said people using the camera to avoid having to truly deal with the carnage occurring all around them. But, having the group back up and then re-enter a door to obtain a better shot? Shit, man. There are flesh eating zombies all over the place! Get inside!
The second glaring problem was the piss poor dialogue/ narrative. It sounds to me like Mr. Romero has tried to write dialogue that is alien to him and his particular style. It all just seems way too cookie cutter and just wasn't believable. The entire movie wasn’t like this, but when it was, it was very distracting. I know that in the past ‘dead’ films, Mr. Romero has always integrated social references into his works, and done so quite well, in my opinion. But, what exactly he was trying to say here is really kind of incomprehensible. Okay, so… we, as humans, are our own worst enemy; without our electronic devices and technology as a whole, we are lost; and the media presents nothing but lies and fabricated truths. These are good topics, but, unfortunately, they are nothing new.
I must say, though, that the cinematography was done well. It was a good looking movie for the budget that they had to work with. And even though sometimes a bit distracting in itself, the shots that the film did provide were very pleasing on the eye. As far as the score goes, we had music playing in the background in a few scenes. But, what do you expect when someone is shooting a live documentary type movie?
You can’t tell by this review that I have been a huge Romero fan ever since I watched Night, but I have. I so wanted this movie to be another in a long line of George A. Romero successes. What happened? Maybe Romero just stepped a little too far out of the box on this one. Maybe it’s just the fact that this is once again unfamiliar territory for a once very experienced documentary artist. I honestly don’t know. I even was able to justify and enjoy the much panned Land of the Dead. I hear that a Part II is in the works for Diary… I won’t give up on one of my favorite directors. I have faith that the mistakes that were made in this addition will be corrected in the next. Maybe a second viewing will change my mind. Hopefully, an extended cut on dvd. I must say that I am very glad that this master of film is back at the plate, swinging away. Next time, just aim a little higher, George.
I wanted to be able to log on today and add a very enthusiastic review for this movie and I am extremely sorry to say this..but I can't. After George's break from Universal I thought it would be different as I wanted to blame them entirely for the Land of the Dead, but I saw Diary today and it just wasn't anything phenomenal. There were some great moments as with the arrow killings and the human fish bowl, not to mention the opening "how it began" scene and all of the kill scenes in general. The kill scenes...pure genius some of them and they all looked remarkable, but thats where the good ends and the bad begins. The narrative was horrible....not only did it remove the suspense from the fact that she would live...but she was oh so annoying. She preached and analyzed everything about how we can't trust the media and mankind is its own worst enemy. It is such bland and beaten material that we have heard all before. Next, we have some horrible dialog. It was so stereotypical and over the top. I felt like I was listening to some older people trying to emanate being hip younger people. If he could have just focused on the situation and let it unfold as they would have seen it themselves without all the story by numbers, stupid behavior, and in your face morality lessons, I think it could have been so much better. It almost feels like he was trying too hard to make a message movie of some sociological depth, but instead it came off pretentious and predictable. I love zombie movies...always have and always will, but to see the man that created the very zombie mythos that is ingrained in every zombie movie, book, and our popular culture get lost in the very genre he initiated makes me feel sad. He has continued to do great work in horror, but these last two movies makes me think that he should pass the torch of the zombie movies off to another generation...and this comes from someone from that is first generation.
Wow, are all these good reviews because we all feel bad for old George?
This movie was awful. The acting, the script, everything was just horrendous. I wanted to like this so so much. Even by the end I was trying to justify any part of this mess, but it was just shit. Worn out ideas, preachy narrative, shit.
The documentary style did not work for me like it did in Cloverfield, throughout this whole piece of garbage I was always very aware that I was watching a movie.
It seems to be trying to make some point about humanity, but it never explains what. No truth in the media? Technology controls us? Stick to a point! All we get is a lot of BS from the lead chick about how humans are so awful. But why? Explain yourself bitch!
Anyways, just played out, old ideas that have been done better in any one of George's other 'Dead' films.
And it wasn't even fun. not even 'dumb fun'. Just boring. A few good kills, but that couldn't save this.
Avoid! And I really mean that. Sorry George.
THE HORROR HYPE METER Excited to see this movie? Rate it here!
