Griffworks
05-22-2008, 05:05 AM
Got my copy of Diary of the Dead (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary_of_the_Dead) in the mail today, ordered from Amazon.com for $21, shipped. Took me just over two hours to watch the danged thing 'cause of the usual familial interruptions. :roll:
Anyhow.....
This movie is, IMNSHO, the BEST Romero "Living Dead" movie made thus far. It's got the high-level production values of a mainstream, commercial, HollyWeird movie but with the feel of an Indy Flick. It grabbed me from the word "Go!" and held me for the entirety of it's 96 minute run. Well, constant interruptions not withstanding, of course.
The movie is meant to be a finished "documentary" of what happens to a group of twenty-something film majors and their professor the night that The Zombie Apocalypse starts. As with four of the now five Dead movies, this one is set initially in the Pittsburgh area - of the previous movies, Day of the Dead (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead_%28film%29) is the only one not set in or near Pittsburgh, tho was filmed not far from there in the Wampum Mine, Wampum, PA.
The opening sequence is set in contemporary times as the students attempt to film a student film for one of the main characters, Jason Creed. While filming, the students have a radio turned on in the background broadcasting news of the dead rising, prompting one of the actors (and fellow film students) to leave. Jason decides to try and track his girlfriend down at her dorm room and the rest of the students and their professor travel along.
I won't get in to all of the details, but they travel from the Pittsburgh area down to Philadelphia. They encounter a great many zombies and humans during their journey, to include a stop at a hospital, an Amish farmer, an encounter with a group of people in a warehouse and some National Guardsmen. The vehicle they travel in throughout the movie is a Winnebago.
As with all the previous Living Dead flicks, social commentary is prevalent. Most of it consists of the standard "man versus man" issues, how we can sometimes literally be our own worst enemy, as well as how we can sometimes be detrimental to our fellow human being. And, of course, we get the standard look at just how many folks are addicted to the traipings of society. The central theme throughout, tho, deals w/Jason's obsession with recording everything that happens, even if it possibly means the end of his own life or worse - the lives of those around him, to include his girlfriend.
Modern-day technology is used to good effect, in-film. There's plenty of Wii use, as well as pulling info from the Internet. At one point, the characters upload some of the footage up to that point to DaNet in the hope of telling the truth, countering the lies of the government attempting to "control" the situation. As a further look at how obsessed Jason is, he's excited that their upload of the video footage has garnered over 72,000 hits in 8 minutes and how in an hours time it will likely exceed 1 million hits. This also serves in underscoring how many people are online at that time while the world falls apart around them.
None of the characters are truly stereotypical and each of them, IMNSHO, is quite refreshing. Each of them is fully three dimensional in their own way, even the background/supporting characters. There are also some surprising voice overs in the movie from the likes of Stephen King, Guillermo Del Toro, Simon Pegg, Quentin Tarantino and others. George A. Romero even has a brief cameo as a police chief.
Overall, I give this a Gore Score of Five limbs out of Five. I think it's well executed, has a tight story, is well acted and has the usual social commentary that we've all come to expect from Romero. Lots of gore, hundreds of bullets flying, arrows fly, Zombie-Fu and two breastages. I mean, how can you go wrong w/lots of gore and even a touch of gratuitious nudiditity!?! :D
Anyhow.....
This movie is, IMNSHO, the BEST Romero "Living Dead" movie made thus far. It's got the high-level production values of a mainstream, commercial, HollyWeird movie but with the feel of an Indy Flick. It grabbed me from the word "Go!" and held me for the entirety of it's 96 minute run. Well, constant interruptions not withstanding, of course.
The movie is meant to be a finished "documentary" of what happens to a group of twenty-something film majors and their professor the night that The Zombie Apocalypse starts. As with four of the now five Dead movies, this one is set initially in the Pittsburgh area - of the previous movies, Day of the Dead (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead_%28film%29) is the only one not set in or near Pittsburgh, tho was filmed not far from there in the Wampum Mine, Wampum, PA.
The opening sequence is set in contemporary times as the students attempt to film a student film for one of the main characters, Jason Creed. While filming, the students have a radio turned on in the background broadcasting news of the dead rising, prompting one of the actors (and fellow film students) to leave. Jason decides to try and track his girlfriend down at her dorm room and the rest of the students and their professor travel along.
I won't get in to all of the details, but they travel from the Pittsburgh area down to Philadelphia. They encounter a great many zombies and humans during their journey, to include a stop at a hospital, an Amish farmer, an encounter with a group of people in a warehouse and some National Guardsmen. The vehicle they travel in throughout the movie is a Winnebago.
As with all the previous Living Dead flicks, social commentary is prevalent. Most of it consists of the standard "man versus man" issues, how we can sometimes literally be our own worst enemy, as well as how we can sometimes be detrimental to our fellow human being. And, of course, we get the standard look at just how many folks are addicted to the traipings of society. The central theme throughout, tho, deals w/Jason's obsession with recording everything that happens, even if it possibly means the end of his own life or worse - the lives of those around him, to include his girlfriend.
Modern-day technology is used to good effect, in-film. There's plenty of Wii use, as well as pulling info from the Internet. At one point, the characters upload some of the footage up to that point to DaNet in the hope of telling the truth, countering the lies of the government attempting to "control" the situation. As a further look at how obsessed Jason is, he's excited that their upload of the video footage has garnered over 72,000 hits in 8 minutes and how in an hours time it will likely exceed 1 million hits. This also serves in underscoring how many people are online at that time while the world falls apart around them.
None of the characters are truly stereotypical and each of them, IMNSHO, is quite refreshing. Each of them is fully three dimensional in their own way, even the background/supporting characters. There are also some surprising voice overs in the movie from the likes of Stephen King, Guillermo Del Toro, Simon Pegg, Quentin Tarantino and others. George A. Romero even has a brief cameo as a police chief.
Overall, I give this a Gore Score of Five limbs out of Five. I think it's well executed, has a tight story, is well acted and has the usual social commentary that we've all come to expect from Romero. Lots of gore, hundreds of bullets flying, arrows fly, Zombie-Fu and two breastages. I mean, how can you go wrong w/lots of gore and even a touch of gratuitious nudiditity!?! :D