Review of Diary of the Dead (2007) by Dave B — 28 Jun 2010

Meeehhhh. It's Romero, so it's not bad, but it's definitely the weakest of the Blank of the Dead series. I really have trouble believing that, in such extreme situations, anyone would be so commited to filming everything. In the end, that hurt the story the most for me. Half of the movie was spent trying to justify the reason for filming. It is a general pitfall for that style of film-making, and I think Cloverfield is the only movie made in that style that I really enjoyed.

Also, for whatever reason, it seems hard to act well in movies shot with hand-held cameras. Half of the cast was decent, the rest were just awful. The social commentary that is worked so well in Romero's other works is almost oppressive here. I don't agree with all of the opinions that are presented in the movie, but I respect Romero for not holding back. Overall, the film was good enough to warrent a Fresh rating. It's entertaining, but can be a bit preachy.