Diary of the Dead

George A. Romero
2007

I entered George Romero's latest undead opus with a fair amount of trepidation. Diary of the Dead takes its form from the Blair Witch/Cloverfield school of passing off edited first person "documentary" footage as a fictional film. Let's call it for what it is: a gimmick. However, after having seen the film I'm a bit ashamed I ever doubted the maestro as Diary is not only brilliantly executed in its chills and satirical relevance, but is also on par with the best installments of the series, Night of The Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead.

We open with the first reported case of the rising dead, as the victims of a family's murder/suicide spring from their gurneys to prey on witless EMT and news-crew workers. When a group of film students (shooting a corny mummy movie) catch wind of the rising panic they decide its high time to get the hell out of Dodge, and begin trekking across Pennsylvania in a Winnebago with the hopes of returning to their parents' homes. Diary of the Dead becomes a road movie, an apocalyptic travelogue in which the film's "director" becomes singularly obsessed with documenting society's disintegration for posterity.

At 68 Romero shows more understanding of our technologically aided information saturation than most Youtube brats and "new media" propagators. Student director Jason Creed's impulse to record isn't presented preciously as a moral or philosophical imperative, but instead as a sick impulse, leaving the zombie ass-whooping to his proactive gal-pal Debra. Romero has always used diagetic media to brilliant effect in the form of radio broadcasts, televised punditry and government spin, but its never been quite so satisfying as it is here, at the conception of the crisis. As expected, Romero keeps things fun with the creative juxtaposition of fantastically macabre subject and ho-hum reality. Treats include a zombie birthday clown, the undead siege of an opulent mansion, a squad of no-nonsense Black Panther-esques stockpiling supplies, and the oft referenced "acid head" shot.

What sets Diary of the Dead apart from prior installments in the series is its (comparatively) positive tone.
Whereas prior pictures tended to focus on precarious survival situations unraveling through human selfishness, stupidity, greed, and a general pall of "ugliness," this time we're introduced to a younger, more appealing human race, one that actually seems worth saving. Land of the Dead may have opened Romero up to a scope of Hollywood filmmaking previously unavailable to him, but now, back on the outside, he's closer to his creation's pulse.

Review by Brett A. Scieszka