Alternate Covers
(register to change the above image)
|
|
|
There's not a whole lot you can do with the whole 'documentary style' horror film these days. "The Blair Witch Project" pretty much perfected the entire sub-genre and recent films like "Cloverfield" have just gone to show that there's not a whole lot to add to that, unless you count special effects as 'something'. So, that's the first fundamental flaw with George A. Romero's new zombie opus, "Diary of the Dead'. His intentions and ideas were very noble - he wanted to make a film like he used to make a film - low budget, with unknowns in the leads, and with his traditional brand of zombie, the slow-walking corpses most remember. But how do you do something like that in this day and age and make it both entertaining and frightening? He decided to use the handheld camera approach, with the actors documenting pretty much everything going on in the picture. It doesn't always work, but it's a noble idea. It's always interesting to see an established filmmaker like Romero try something new. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and this film proves that that saying is just plain ridiculous. "Diary of the Dead" doesn't fit in with the rest of the 'dead' franchise, but I don't think it is supposed to be part of that franchise - it's the beginning of a new 'dead' franchise, a youth oriented one that amps up that trademark Romero humor. "Diary of the Dead" falls flat on a couple of occasions, and the idea is not something totally original that will blow you away, but the film is very entertaining and Romero still has a steady hand for this kind of material. Just like the zombies in his film, he isn't going anywhere.
The picture opens with a group of students from the University of Pittsburgh filming a mummy movie in the woods, complete with bad make-up and stock horror movie lighting. The director of the project, Jason (Josh Close) explains to the actor playing the mummy that dead bodies don't walk fast because their ankles would break - a nice jab to films like "28 Days Later" and the new "Dawn of the Dead" film. They overhear a radio report that dead bodies have begun re-animating. At first, they don't all believe what they're hearing, but after a while they realize something serious is going on. The rest of the film follows the students' attempts to get home, especially that of Debra (Michelle Morgan), who wants to find her family before it's too late. Along for the ride are your usual assortment of attractive college students representing different social ladders. You've got the hot Southern girl who works on cars (Amy Ciupak Lalonde), the geeky guy who knows everything there is to know about everything (Joe Dinicol), the tough guy (Shawn Roberts) and even the British talking film professor with a substance abuse problem (Scott Wentworth). The students explore various locations during this quest, including a hospital which is now abandoned, a suburban townhouse and even a large mansion that turns out to be more than they bargained for. Jason seems desperate to film everything, even when it means risking the lives of others. The rest just float along, serving as so many background extras.
The most frightening aspects of "Diary of the Dead" are how Romero creates this portrait of a country that has shut down, essentially, and running on lies. No one knows what to believe. The bloggers have taken over the world, so to speak, and are the only ones putting out accurate information. The opening sequence of the lost newscast footage is quite effective and is a perfect reminder of how Romero knows how to create a sequence that lingers with the viewer. It's very simple and very well done. What always make a Romero zombie picture so intense and so suspenseful is that, just because his zombies move slowly and can be easily out-thought,doesn't mean they aren't lurking in the shadows. You don't know one is there until it's right up behind you. My favorite sequence takes place at an Amish farmer's barn about halfway through the film. This is one of the sequences that really highlights Romero's trademark sense of campy humor. It's also a nice homage to the original 'dead' film. The special effects are well done, when they are used, and they help keep the film up with the times. They were also probably cheaper that doing the effects practically. As for the cast, everyone does what they're supposed to do. I wouldn't say there are any specific standouts, but no one really ruins the film either. Romero has always had difficulty finding universally talented casts, and he doesn't quite impress us with these actors, but they don't disappoint us either. I think he was going for more realism.
That said, very much of "Diary of the Dead" feels staged and very calculated. Actors make deliberate choices because their director told them to make those choices. The realism in the film is lost because you have all of these choices, and these larger than life characters like the British professor and the film student who won't do anything but film, because that is all that's important. These characters also make the same stupid horror movie mistakes as fictional characters do. My biggest problem with the film was that it was trying to be this new and exciting take on an old formula, but they used the same damned pieces of the formula to make it happen and didn't try anything new other than the whole handheld camera approach. But, Romero is a master at horror and knows how to make it work, for the most part. When it does fail, it isn't because he didn't try, it's just that he didn't try hard enough I guess. My second biggest problem with the film was the narration from the lead female character. It seemed unnecessary. I would have enjoyed it far more without that commentary, or at least give me a narrator with a better voice. It kind of bogged the film down in this political aura that didn't need to be there and distracted from the pace and the action in the film.
So, on the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed "Diary of the Dead". If you go in expecting another addition to the 'dead' franchise, you're going to be sorely disappointed. It's keeping the tradition alive, but it's taking it down a new path that may or may not work. We'll see. One thing is for sure - George Romero still knows how to craft a zombie flick and he's not falling behind on the times, he's keeping right up with them. "Diary of the Dead" does not pack as many genuine thrills and chills as the other films and it has a lot more of Romero's humor in it than the others, but those aspects didn't bother me. It's nice to laugh sometimes in a horror film. It's also a rare compliment to find a horror film that keeps you entertained without scaring you so much. Romero doesn't resort to cheap bumps or anything like that - he lets the zombies speak for themselves, so to speak. "Diary of the Dead" will either make you very happy or disappoint the hell out of you. It disappointed the person I saw the film with. It made me smile, kept me entertained, and made me appreciate Romero a whole hell of a lot more. Check this one out at a theatre near you. But don't watch them all in sequence.
8/10.
|
This review hasn't been rated yet.
|
|
|
![Diary of the Dead [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51d16XcL7iL._SL75_.jpg "Diary of the Dead [Blu-ray]")
