Diary of the Dead is the fifth instalment of George A. Romero’s zombie legacy.
We all know how it started, way back in the late 60’s with his – at the time – extremely controversial movie, Night of the Living Dead.
From that horror classic, his legend grew. Some people think that with each instalment, his movies got worse, some feel the opposite.
Me, I’m simply a fan.
I’ve never been a huge fan of horror, with only a couple of notable exceptions. I’m even less a fan of gore. I guess it’s the fact that I’m just getting old, and with modern technology, making gore seem more realistic, and thus, horrific, I just can’t stomach it any more.
The nice thing about Diary of the Dead, is that the gore isn’t over the top. It is there, believe me, but it’s nothing that I haven’t seen before on regular television.
No, I’m not kidding. I’ve seen worse on some medical shows.
Is Diary yet another social commentary or is it just a film made for fun? Personally, I believe it’s a bit of a commentary on just how accessible information is today, with more and more computers being accessed not only in North America, but globally.
I believe that it is also a commentary on how the media takes news and puts its own spin on things, hiding the truth, changing the truth.
Can, by the media changing what it films, cost lives?
I think that is the basic message behind the movie – that and for pure entertainment value of course.
And the answer is yes. If the media changes things, puts its own spin on a story, vital information could be twisted or changed, or left out completely.
Thus, misinformation could very well cost lives.
A call for the media to change its way. And a bit of an invitation for armatures to continue to film what they see and post it online for others to see. That is until the government or others who control the media get to it and force it off the web.
Right now, I wonder what a person such as myself might be able to find on the whole earthquake in China, or that Typhoon that wiped out so many lives in Miramar.
Makes one think, doesn’t it?
Also, it deals with obsession, in this case, one that is to the point it could be considered an insanity. With what happened in the movie, it’s not a big surprise, really.
Anyhow, enough of my own social commentary.
The movie was wonderfully done! It had the feel of a amateurish production, being shot through handheld cameras, but at least it didn’t make me motion sick to watch, like a movie I enjoyed earlier this year called Cloverfield.
And, the movie takes place right at the beginning… right as the rising began. Even the first shot of the dead rising being caught on film. It was pretty intense to watch, despite the fact that I knew what to expect.
Of course it also showed how quickly civilization could crumble under something totall unexpected, and where the media has been twisted to the point that nothing but misinformation is getting out.
Thus costing lives that could have otherwise been saved.
As with any major disaster, the other thing that I really enjoyed about the movie was how it brought out not only the worst in people, but the best.
You’ll see what I mean with a gang, and with the military.
For myself and my wife, the movie wasn’t scary. Intense, oh, yes… but scary? Nah, I’ve seen far worse. My son – well, he’s only thirteen and he was a little scared watching it, but again, he’s seen worse and it hasn’t bothered him.
Hell, some of the gore in Shaun of the Dead was worse than what was depicted in this movie!
Ok, now for the special features. You have the required commentary with writer / director George A. Romero, director of photography Adam Swica, and editor Michael Doherty. There is also a very long feature called For the Record, a documentary on the film’s cast, crew and creation.
There is a featurette called The Roots, which is the inspiration for the movie, The First Week, which is a visit on the set, Familiar voices, out-takes with the various people who had cameos, and Character Confessions.
Finally, there were 5 short zombie films from a contest held on my space.
A really excellent film, one of the more enjoyable DVD’s I’ve watched in a long time. I just wish it would have gotten wider release earlier this year.
4.5 out of 5