George Romero, the grandfather of the zombie film, has proven his willingness to experiment within the sub-genre he created by trying a “Blair Witch” like re-imagining of his series. Romero’s films are rife with social commentary underneath the main story of the dead rising and taking over the world. “Diary of the Dead” is dripping with social commentary, even more so than his prior installments, but he doesn’t forget the primary focus of the film - to scare its audience. Using a cast of unknowns, Romero demonstrates his ability to work with new actors and pull appropriate performances from them. For a film that only got a limited release earlier this year, I was blown away by how good and interesting a film had been created that few were given the opportunity to see.
The movie starts with a group of college film students out in the woods shooting a horror movie for a senior class project. The film within a film set-up works as a jumping off point for the audience to get used to the first person camera perspective, which is the primary showcase of the film. Used to good effect with a main character holding the camera - our viewpoint into the movie - gives audiences only a limited view of the action, creating additional tension about what we don’t see. Jason is the director and he is so caught up in the action of what is happening around him, he can’t put the camera down. He wants to record everything and upload it onto the internet, to show the world what is really going on, not what the networks on television are spinning to the public.
Romero gives equal critiques to opposing social viewpoints, at one point using the film to criticize corporate media and its handling of the news while also warning of the glut and untrustworthiness of the information available through new media. The government response to the zombie outbreak is also slow and unorganized, a la Katrina, and the characters first concerns when things start falling apart are terrorists. The commentary is thinly veiled in this latest of Romero’s flicks and quite dense, with multiple targets and points trying to be made. However, the story and scares do not suffer from the director mixing the themes underneath.
Some of the characters and performances stand-out, such as the girlfriend, Debra, the British professor, and an Amish gentleman whom the group meets, while other performances can be a bit rough around the edges. Overall, if a new indie director had created this film, he would be hailed as brilliant and an up-and-coming talent. The fact that an established director like Romero, has created something new and fresh, goes to prove what a cinematic visionary he continues to be.
Rated R for strong horror violence and gore, and pervasive language.
