The Zombie Diaries (2006)


Directors:	Michael Bartlett Kevin Gates
Starring:	Russell Jones Craig Stovin Jonnie Hurn James Fisher Anna Blades
Genres:	Horror Zombie Film

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Review by Chad
Added: September 29, 2007

Upon its release (and to this very day, actually) The Blair Witch Project had horror fans divided down the middle; some proclaim it to be one of the best horror releases of the last ten years, while others say that it isn't worth the film that it was shot on. Me? I loved it, and it's probably because of this that I loved the hell out of The Zombie Diaries. Yes, this is a zombie movie that takes inspiration from the filming techniques of Blair Witch, so if you hated the shaky-cameras and the "you are there" method of storytelling, you probably won't get a whole lot out of this one either. If, however, you enjoyed Blair Witch even half as much as I did and if you love a good zombie movie... well, this will probably rank up there in your "best of '07" list.

Just as the plural "diaries" in the title implies, there's more than just one video diary included here. Each of them is pretty basic in terms of storyline, but this fact does little to hurt the overall film as it aims more for realism than for telling conventional stories with traditional characters. The first diary shows us a group of four filmmakers who head out into the countryside to film a documentary on the recent outbreak of a flu-like virus, and while they're out in the middle of nowhere, they find out that the massive amounts of deaths in the city will soon be the least of Britain's worries. The second diary takes place a month after the outbreak and shows us an entirely separate set of people who head into the now-abandoned city for supplies. It doesn't get any simpler than that, but since this is a zombie movie, I imagine that the smarter readers will have figured out that the trip doesn't go exactly as planned. The third and final diary takes place on an old farm where a group of people have holed up in an effort to simply survive the zombie onslaught, but as is always the case during one of these zombie epidemics, it's not always the undead that you have to worry about.

Now, there are moments when the three stories sort of interconnect with one another, but make no mistake about it; these are basically three entirely separate stories with no connection to one another aside from the obvious fact that they're all dealing with the same problems around them. That is a good thing: most horror directors would have tried to make them all come together towards the middle or end of the film, and although the lads responsible for this one hinted that they were going to take that approach during a few key moments, it never happened and the result was just one more touch of realism added to an already chillingly-real film.

Honestly, that's the key word throughout this film: realism. There's no storyline here, there's no "main" characters, and there's no attempts made to figure out why this happened or how they can cure it. We simply watch a group of people react to this situation in very natural ways, we watch as they fall victim to both the zombies and their own issues, and we also watch as London transforms from a bustling city into a deserted wasteland seemingly overnight thanks to this new plague. The goal of this film seemed to have been to put the viewer inside a zombie movie and let them see what it looks like from the front lines rather than from the safety of their couch, and let me tell you: it works. I did have a minor quibble with the ending of the film that I can't really get into without spoiling it entirely, but that can easily be overlooked when the rest of the movie is so goddamned haunting.

I should also point out that while the first-person style of the film is relatively unique (The Zombie Diaries didn't pioneer the style, but few films attempt it), it's not the sole selling point of the film as there is actually a damned effective horror film wrapped up in here. There are some unbelievably tense moments to be found, and the way that we see it all through the eyes of the people who are actually there simply makes it that much creepier. The fact that there's a severe shortage of a score (and in most cases, none at all) only adds to the creep level; after all, when the music turns ominous all of a sudden and you know something is coming, it isn't really a shock... but when a guy (and in turn, "you") simply turns around and finds himself face-to-face with a hideously-deformed zombie, well - let's just say that the first appearance of a zombie in this film had to have been one of the creepiest scenes that I've seen in quite some time.

The Zombie Diaries gets my highest recommendations, and fans of zombie movies that are actually effective horror films rather than mere gorefests will probably love it as much as I did. However, I should once again point out the shaky-cam first-person style of filming that was used to tell the stories: you won't like it here if you didn't like it in Blair Witch, but if you can get past that, you'll love what I consider to be one of the best horror films of the year. 9.5/10.

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#1: grain of sand - added 01/02/2009, 06:08 PM
I really did not like this movie. It was just.. Boring.
Kinda reminded me of Automoton Transfusion with all the praise on the box and then pop it in and you've been had again......

2/10
The zombie well is drying up, all we have to look forward to is Island of the Dead and World War Z..

#2: Greg Follender - added 01/10/2009, 01:36 AM
Loved this film... but I have to disagree with the reviewer's assessment that the three stories were disparate... they DID, in fact, link up with one another as one group's fate directly intertwines with the other. All three groups do interact together, at least peripherally, in one way or another within the film's runtime.

Regardless... fresh and entertaining... a welcome balm to soothe the recent rash of utter shite zombie flicks!

#3: Hellknight03 - added 07/02/2009, 08:19 PM
I disagree with "Greg" (worked on the film perhaps ?). This movie is probably the worst of the "recent rash of utter shite zombie flicks!".

One bitemark out of Ten.

I agree with grain of sand. Its one of those movies where the cover misleads you, it makes you think this is a proper movie when its justa few morons running around with their mums camcorder in the nearest forest. Seriously, that is literally how bad this movie is. I dont see how you could actually call it a zombie film, there is like two of them in the whole movie and when they show up its boring and ineptly done as hell. Dont waste your money on this cover gimmick trash. Two pounds I wish I had back for a better rental.

#4: Zagnutbarsaregood - added 08/03/2009, 08:14 PM
I agree with with Hellknight about the misleading cover and the overall awfulness of the movie. I also agree with him that Greg might have worked on the film. 0 out of 10.

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