George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead

A group of students document the zombie apocalypse as the dead wake up and start snacking on the living like a Grand Slam at Denny's. Writer-director George A. Romero returns to the genre he invented in a film that's like a greatest hits album: nothing new, even a little dated, but packed with reliable favorites.

By Chris Farnsworth Feb 14, 2008 9:20 PMTags
George A. Romero's Diary of the DeadSteve Wilkie/The Weinstein Company

Review in a Hurry:  A group of students document the zombie apocalypse as the dead wake up and start snacking on the living like a Grand Slam at Denny's. Writer-director George A. Romero returns to the genre he invented in a film that's like a greatest hits album: nothing new, even a little dated, but packed with reliable favorites.

The Bigger Picture:  A student film crew—a cast of mostly unknowns, some good, some not so good—is out in the boonies, filming a horror flick, when the world goes to hell and corpses start to attack the living.

The students try to find safety and shelter, while Jason (Josh Close) films everything and his girlfriend, Debra (Michelle Morgan), serves as narrator. As in Cloverfield, it's all faux-reality. Handheld cameras and cell phones are combined with actual news footage (the same trick Zack Snyder pulled in his remake of Dawn of the Dead). The kids end up making a zombie movie in a world where zombie movies don't exist, to help other people "avoid the mistakes we made."

This isn't a sequel to Romero's earlier Dead movies, which he started on a shoestring budget back in 1968. It's more like an homage to his own work as he tries to return to that ground-level feeling of horror.

Problem is, that shows how much further Romero's acolytes have taken his idea. Diary of the Dead isn't as affecting as 28 Days Later, or as funny as Shaun of the Dead, or even as scary as Snyder's remake. YouTube and MySpace and blogs are all mentioned, but Romero doesn't really do anything with them.

But there are still moments that show Romero at his best: the scene with a clown at a child's birthday party, the creeping horror of entering a deserted home. The scares are there, even if the movie doesn't break new ground.

The 180—a Second Opinion:  Pack the Dramamine or an airsick bag. The gore won't make you nauseated—it's pretty tame by today's standards—but the spastic, handheld camera work will. If you're prone to migraines, you'll probably spend a good chunk of time looking at your shoes instead of the screen.