# 8 - diary of the dead

Diary of the Dead (2008)

Director:  George A. Romero

Actors:  Joshua Close, Michelle Morgan, Scott Wentworth, and Shawn Roberts

Let me preface my review by saying that I am no Roger Ebert or Peter Travers.  I am not claiming to be a connoisseur of horror movies, nor am I suggesting that I am worthy of rating films for a renowned publication.   I’m simply a person who loves movies and who likes to write about “stuff”.  If you are not interested in scary movies or if you don’t like reading… then delete this immediately.

The movie is Diary of the Dead.  A zombie flick meets social commentary, shot Blair Witch-style.  George A. Romero is back with the 5th installment in his undead saga.  It all started in 1968 with Night of the Living Dead, followed by Dawn of the Dead (1978), Day of the Dead (1985), and Land of the Dead (2005).  He set the rules more than 40 years ago and we’ve been adhering to them ever since.

A group of college film students are shooting a low-budget mummy movie in the woods of Pennsylvania when they hear word that there is an apocalypse of the zombie variety.  They devise a survival plan which involves getting out of town as fast as possible… in what else but a rickety van.  Jason (Josh Close), the director, grabs his camera intent on capturing every moment of the chaos on film, much to the dismay of his girlfriend Debra (Michelle Morgan).  The rest of the cast and crew are along for the very. gory. ride.

Blood-thirsty corpses are slowly staggering with their heads tilted, intent on destroying the living and eating their insides for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  It is up to Jason and his cronies to document every moment in hopes of containing the madness, or at least helping “everyone else” survive one more day. 

As the body count rises, however, Diary of the Dead just gets more fun.  A nearly deserted hospital, an Amish farm (sure to deliver some Shaun of the Dead-type laughs), an abandoned warehouse turned arsenal of capitalism, and Debra’s parents’ house (oh brother…) all provide the backdrop for this living dead romp.  There is no shortage of blood, guts, and gunshots to the head… staying true to the MO of the “Grandfather of Zombie”.  (Listen for voice cameos from some pretty infamous Romero fans… Wes Craven, Stephen King, Quentin Tarantino, Simon Pegg, and Guillermo del Toro.  It is no coincidence that some of the greatest names in horror/film worship the ground he walks on.  Tarantino once boasted that the “A” in George A. Romero stands for “A F-ing Genius”.)

The movie is scary indeed, but has some great moments of dark comedy and is also a deeply satisfying political spoof.  One talking head comments that the real “immigration problem” now is those crossing the border from living to dead.  And Jason’s efforts are just a microcosm of the Facebook/Twitter/Internet era.  The government and mainstream media effectively shield us from “the truth”… hence we are forced to follow bloggers, amateur journalists, and YouTube in order to maintain a sense of reality.

Diary of the Dead (all of Romero’s movies, actually) is a social satire with a good deal of condescension.  But is he wrong?  We are literally obsessed with instant updates and image consumption.  For this reason, Jason charges his camera constantly and uploads his footage to the internet whenever possible (sound familiar?)… Thank goodness though, because he just got 72,000 hits in 8 minutes.  Take that “evolution of dance” and “charlie bit my finger”.

Although he is 70 years old, Romero has his hand securely on the pulse of generation Y.  He knows and understands that “seeing is believing” for the teens and twenty-somethings.  “If it didn’t happen on camera, it didn’t happen… right?” 

Diary of the Dead is not just a horror movie, although it’s a goodie.  If you thought it was, take a second look and you will certainly find a deeper level beyond the eye-popping gore.  Romero brilliantly uses zombie metaphor for how dead we have become in our day-to-day lives. He begs us to ask… are “we” even worth saving?

Was Diary of the Dead scary?  Sure!

Jami’s Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

Would I recommend this movie:  Yes.