George A. Romero\'s Diary of the Dead

After taking the ’90s off from making zombie flicks, genre master George A. Romero seems to be making up for lost time. First came 2005’s criminally underrated Land of the Dead, and now, just three years later, comes Diary of the Dead.

Diary is a much smaller film than Land — actually, it’s probably closer in size and scope to Night of the Living Dead than any of Romero’s other films — borrowing the Blair Witch/Cannibal Holocaust self-shot-shaky-cam formula, and focuses on a small group of young film students trying to survive the first night of the zombie outbreak. But like all of Romero’s zombie films, this one has an ax to grind with society: blogging and homemade media. Listening to Romero in the DVD’s commentary and making-of docs (all of which are very entertaining in their own right), it’s surprising and fascinating just how pissed off/disturbed he is with everyone being given a voice via the internet. One would think that one of the founders of do-it-yourself filmmaking would be excited by that prospect, but not so. Still, it’s Romero’s honesty and opinions that have always made his movies a little more interesting and weird than the usual crap, and Diary is no exception. And as usual, he makes a pretty good case.

It’s not a masterpiece, and that’s fine. Diary is simply a great Romero horror flick, nothing more and nothing less, coming with all the highs and lows of his previous work: It has excellent gross-out effects, it’s creepy, silly, intentionally funny, unintentionally funny, hammers you on the head with its themes and opinions, has okay acting, and is an overall really fun time.

KEY EXTRAS:

FEATURE COMMENTARY: by writer/director George A. Romero, Director of Photography Adam Swica and Editor Michael Doherty

Worth Watching For: Romero’s criticism of blogging culture, as well as insight into how hard some shots (particularly the opening scene) were to pull off.

FOR THE RECORD: Feature-length documentary on the making of the flick

Worth Watching For: The interviews with Romero. He was obviously fired up by not having to answer to studio bigwigs, and his enthusiasm is infectious.

More Fun Stuff:

THE ROOTS: The inspiration for the film

THE FIRST WEEK: A set visit

FAMILIAR VOICES: Cameo outtakes

MYSPACE CONTEST WINNERS: 5 zombie films from filmmaker fans

KFR Grade:
Movie — B+
DVD — A-

On DVD