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Diary of the Dead
Directed by: George A Romero Starring: Joshua Close, Scott Wentworth, Michelle Morgan
Synopsis: A group of film students are making a Mummy horror movie when they learn of the outbreak of the zombie plague. Deciding that he needs to document the events for prosperity, Jason convinces his friends to help film the events as they unfold to them and post it on the internet. review: As much as I love Romero’s previous zombie movies, I’m beginning to wonder if the master now needs to take lesson from his many students. While the central concept of this movie is fine, it’s execution unfortunately doesn’t quite work. I think the problem that this movie, and any other movie which uses the internet as a plot device, is that it treats the internet as something special, something new. Well, it isn’t new, special or exciting anymore. It’s just part of everyday life for about 90% of the planet. This movie portrays Jason as an edgy innovator for editing and posting his movie on the web, when in reality it’s likely to be lost amongst the many million clips of babies and kittens that proliferate Youtube and the like.
Debra's (Michelle Morgan) narration provides a number of problems, too. Whilst it isn’t as patronising or annoying as 10,000BC, the narration in this movie does tend to provide unnecessary emotional cues – warning the audience of what is about to happen (example, when the gang arrive at Debra’s parent’s house - it's the equivalent of watching the movie with someone who's already seen it and keeps going "ooh, this bit's real scary!"). The other problem is that the narration informs us that what we are watching is a Finished Product. It’s been edited together and has had music added “for dramatic effect”. So you know that someone has survived the movie. The narrator herself must make it to the end, to add her narration to the movie. Compare that to Cloverfield, where we are told at the start that the video camera was retrieved from Central Park – but no mention of the person(s) who shot it. Or, even more relevantly, [Rec], which has no reference point at all – we’re watching raw footage of a documentary-gone-wrong. In both cases, we have no idea what is likely to happen to the protagonists. With Diary of the Dead, the audience is forewarned that there will be survivors. 
The movie tries to make a point about censorship. A big deal is made over the way the initial news coverage had been re-edited at some point. The problem is that the movie doesn’t explain what had been manipulated or what the proposed effect would be. It only serves as a motivation for Jason to keep filming and posting his movie online. 
This isn’t to say the movie isn’t entertaining – it just isn’t the cutting edge social commentary it thinks it is. There are a lot of standout moments, including a comical routine with a deaf Amish farmer who helps them out at one stage. It also manages to maintain a creepy atmosphere for the most part, although there are attempts to add humour late on which really don’t work. Verdict: Not a disaster by any means, it’s just that the format has been handled a lot better by other films. To see this done properly, check out the spanish horror, "[Rec]". 6 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)
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