George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead review

A Review by Geoff Bough

!POTENTIAL SPOILERS!

First off I want to preface this review by saying that being the niche publication that we are, it would be easy to give everything Romero did a good review. With his latest film Diary of the Dead, the old man deserves my praise.

In his first independently financed film since he gave birth to the modern zombie film 40 years ago with Night of the Living Dead, George Romero returns to put an even more modern spin on the zombie movie genre.

In the opening sequence of the film, we see a news lady reporting in front of an apartment complex where a man has just murdered his family and then himself. As the news lady reports, the bodies rise from their gurney’s and attack paramedics and police. The infection has begun. We then see a montage of clips from various sources as this video hits various media and trickles down the technological grapevine.

We then see a woman who introduces us to what we are about to see, the edited footage of what her boyfriend Jason had documented.

Diary of the Dead follows a group of film students from Pittsburgh who are shooting a mummy movie in the woodlands. There are some pretty good lines in here such as a comment Jason (director of the mummy film) makes by telling Ridley (the mummy) that “dead things don’t run!” after Ridley moved a little too quick for being dead. A gentle ribbing to those filmmakers who have opted for the more fast moving variety of the undead.

Production is soon halted on the student film as the news is reporting that the dead have been returning to life over the radio. It’s here that Jason decides to abandon his production and now document the events unfolding before them. We then see the film through the eyes of Jason, who documents everything, fearing that if he puts down the camera he might miss something important and feels some kind of safety behind the lens.

I was reminded of an interview with Tom Savini in the documentary “The American Nightmare” where he was speaking about taking combat photos of wounded soldiers in Vietnam. He said he felt a sense of security behind the camera, as if by documenting it, it couldn’t happen to him.

The students then take off in a Winnebago with their alcoholic professor Maxwell. As reports start coming in from all over the country and later the world, we are given this information from various sources: the internet, radio, TV, evangelists, etc. In probably the most overtly satirical statement of the film, how technology and the passing down of ‘news’ is skewed and spun by different medias and how the government shelters us from the truth. We’re really at the mercy of whatever information we are given on these mediums that we covet like electric prophets.

This is a reason why Jason wants to document the truth in a rather selfish attempt at providing it but he believes this is the only source of reality in this new world where the dead walk. It’s a new age of bloggers, myspace, backyard journalists etc. that are capturing ‘news’ and events in what they believe to be the truth. Though in the beginning of the film we are told that Jason’s footage has been edited by his girlfriend Debra so really, whose truth are we being told?

It’s all very reminiscent of the post 9/11 era where we, the citizens of our own country are monitored by anything and everything and anyone with an internet connection can create their own news. It’s a chore in itself to decipher the truth of what we are being told by our government so what better way to expose the truth then to thrust yourself into it?

While on the road, there are some great encounters with other survivors, most notably in the character Sammuel, an older, scythe-wielding, dynamite throwing, deaf Amish guy. Who momentarily shelters the group while they fix a mechanical problem with their transport. A scene which reminded me of Night of the Living Dead as the undead swarm the barn house and beat on the doors trying to get their prey.

In another hold-up, the group encounters a group of heavily armed African Americans who take the group to a warehouse stockpiled with weapons and food. After a brief standoff, the black survivors give the students some weapons and food and send them on their way.

There are some very great audio clips in the film, some which you might recall from Romero’s previous works but there are some clever new ones featuring the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Wes Craven, Stephen King (who I thought I spotted as a zombie later) and Simon Pegg. There is also a great line about immigration from Guillermo Del Toro in which he states we no longer should fear those crossing the border illegally but should fear the ones not knowing the border between life and death.

In the end, the students make a stand in the palacious estate of their fellow student Ridley and we are told that Jason’s girlfriend Debra is planning to continue documenting the events, thus opening the door for the already planned sequel.

This film is one of my favorites of Romero’s. It blends old and new elements of the subgenre and stands its ground as a great zombie film. It’s certainly the most satirical of his works and manages to create this overwhelming sense of uncertainty. It’s that element of uncertainty in a zombie film that if captured well, is terrifying. Being in a position where you must forget the world you existed in minutes before, you’re naturally going to question everything and not having any answers is chilling. Diary of the Dead manages to capture that incredibly well.