George Romero's Diary Of The Dead (2008) Synopsis:
The storyline revolves around a group of film students who encounter real zombies when making a horror movie in the woods.
George Romero's Diary Of The Dead (2008) Movie Review:
Seeking to return to his trailblazing indie days, George A. Romero has made an unorthodox fictional documentary titled “Diary of the Dead.” Shot with a low budget brio, the rough and self-aware “Diary” is about a film crew that attempts to navigate a zombie apocalypse. The hook of Romero’s story is that the crew seeks to “shoot the dead” with cameras instead of bullets. “Diary” is a film seen entirely through the point of view of said camera and, thus, locates the new trend of real-time horror movies started by “Cloverfield” just a few weeks ago. “Cloverfield” may have been released first but Romero has been sitting on “Diary” for quite some time so I credit him with this trend. Most importantly, the filmmaker has clearly tapped into this Age of Youtube we live (and watch) in and regardless of what I personally feel about his new work, its ability to capture the zeitgeist vis-à-vis with his zombie series must be noted.
This sequel, if it can even be called that, feels more like a side-story or parallel Romeroverse narrative than a bonafide continuation of Romero’s (I Am) legendary zombie series. In addition to “Cloverfield,” the style crosses the line between intimate “Blair Witch Project” spookiness, “28 Weeks Later” polemics and Brian De Palma’s bombastic (and divisive) “Redacted” in its attempt to comment on the plurality of media that is invading our lives and, yes, ultimately turning us all into brainwashed zombies that constantly thirst for the visual image. I see what Romero is going for here and find no trouble applauding his bravado but this visually urgent concept, yearning for topicality above all else, comes at the expense of the quality of storytelling I’ve come to expect from Romero. Is that a fair trade off? Depends on the viewer. I happen to feel it IS even as the grandiose “Diary” represents his weakest narrative to date; in fact, there’s not really a story to speak of beyond the gaggle of annoying film students who open “Diary” in the middle of shooting a zombie movie (haha) only to suddenly find themselves in a “real” zombie movie, which, in a most fascinating turn of events, the perpetually-behind-the-camera student director treats the horror of reality no differently that if it were simply a narrative that exists for him to document it. Building upon Cronenberg’s “new flesh” notions, Romero is implying that the culture has acquired a digital entitlement that mandates us to shoot everything and reduce life (for lack of a better word) into a story or diary as it were. The students bantering, featuring certain characters moral indignation at the indifferent filmmaker and back-and-forth “what does this all mean” philosophizing, is arch and poorly acted but the momentum the film places these lens-lads in, and cultural meaning ascribed to such action, is undeniably compelling and reason alone to support Romero’s film. I love how the journey the students embark on quickly turns into a compulsive attempt to document first, evade and survive second.
As was the case with “Cloverfield,” characters in this film lack dimension and risk their lives not to save humanity or even save themselves but to get hits for the survival footage they are posting on My Space. As their self-indulgent odyssey takes them from one ravaged location to another, a noteworthy devise used here is Romero’s insertion of news snippets from what’s going on outside their journey. This is achieved though various radio and television blurbs that are peppered throughout the story (listen for all the cameos from famous directors ranging from del Toro to Tarantino that read these reports). I found myself fixating on these bite sized news reports and wanted linger on and hear more but, of course, the characters in the film could care less about what’s happening outside their personal space. Which is the point! Romero’s message about the wavering nature and spin placed on reality in this increasingly un-real postmodern existence where humans see through cameras rather than their own eyes is clearly made. But this should not imply that it’s elegantly made.
In the context of Romero’s other “Dead” films I also found it bothersome that this story doesn’t vibe with the continuity established by Romero’s long-running series. There’s little accounting for the timeline discrepancy between “Night of the Living Dead” set in 1968 and the techno conscious “Diary of the Dead” which imagines the presumably same zombie takeover happening TODAY. Perhaps Romero should have just allowed this radical film to exist apart from his series. But that would presume that Romero could make anything these days beyond a “Dead” film. The catch is, after watching the innovative “Diary of the Dead,” I’m convinced he CAN. So why didn’t he? The answer, sadly, is financially motivated. This film needed to be attached to a name brand to ever get made. And even then it barley got made. While intriguing to me as a horror movie curio, Romero’s film, even as it retains the “Dead” association, looks to continue his lamentable loosing streak at the box office; the film is far too formalized, rigid and, dare I say, experimental to attract an audience beyond Romero-heads such as myself. The hope is that it will find an audience on DVD. Regardless of such matters, I recommend the film even if I didn’t totally vibe with it. More than anything this review is simply a place holder as I am convinced through writing about it that a second viewing is necessary in order to really get a fix on Romero’s vision.
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George Romero's Diary Of The Dead (2008) review written by: Greg Douglass
13th October, 2008 
