Review of Diary of the Dead (2007) by Edward B — 19 Mar 2009
Of all the first-person handheld camera movies (Blair Witch, Cloverfield, and Redacted), Romero's Diary of the Dead is easily the best of the lot. He has made a solid horror film that raises concerns about the now.
Like his previous films in the "Dead" series, which attacked or expressed concerns about the state of the times that each entry was released, Diary concerns itself with the human need to document stories.
Think journalists in Iraq, and I'm pretty sure you're along the same lines that Romero is thinking. Romero shows it as both a selfish and a selfless act, showing how it can aid others experience what others have experienced, but also how the documentarian hopes that his/her actions will bring fame and recognition.
Using a great post-modern film-within-a-film technique, and embracing the currents You Tube and my space trends, Romero occasionally stumbles in his execution of ideas, but nonetheless succeeds in pulling off what a horror film, namely what a zombie movie should be doing, and that is making a perceptive social comment while scaring the shit out of you at the same time.
This review of Diary of the Dead (2007) was written by Edward B on 19 Mar 2009.
Diary of the Dead has generally received mixed reviews.
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