Diary of the Dead (2007)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

George A. Romero

Writer (WGA):

George A. Romero (written by)

Release Date:

7 March 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Shoot the dead.

Plot:

A group of young film students run into real-life zombies while filming a horror movie of their own.

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Film Student | Car Accident | Suicide | Pistol

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Michelle Morgan	...	Debra Moynihan
Joshua Close	...	Jason Creed (as Josh Close)
Shawn Roberts	...	Tony Ravello
Amy Ciupak Lalonde	...	Tracy Thurman (as Amy Lalonde)
Joe Dinicol	...	Eliot Stone
Scott Wentworth	...	Andrew Maxwell
Philip Riccio	...	Ridley Wilmott
Chris Violette	...	Gordo Thorsen
Tatiana Maslany	...	Mary Dexter
Todd Schroeder	...	Brody (as Todd William Schroeder)
Daniel Kash	...	Police Officer
Laura DeCarteret	...	Bree
Martin Roach	...	Stranger
Megan Park	...	Francine Shane
George Buza	...	Tattooed Biker

Also Known As:

George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead (USA) (complete title)
Land of the Dead 2 (USA) (working title)
Ölülerin günlügü (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Chroniques des morts-vivants (France) (subtitle) [fr]
Diary of the Dead (Japan: English title) [en]
Diary of the dead - Chroniques des morts-vivants (France) [fr]
Dnevnik zivih mrtvaca (Croatia) [hr]
El diario de los muertos (Argentina) [es]
Le cronache dei morti viventi (Italy) [it]
To imerologio ton nekron (Greece) [el]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong horror violence and gore, and pervasive language.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A | USA:R | UK:18 | Ireland:16 | Argentina:16 | Portugal:M/18 | Australia:MA | Taiwan:R-18 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:R21 (cut) | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | France:-12

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Artfire Films

Trivia:

Cameo: [Wes Craven]Director of films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Scream (1996/I) The Last House on the Left (1972), and The Hills Have Eyes (1977) cameos in a voiceover role as a newsreader.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When arriving at Deb's parents' house in Scranton, Deb comments that West Virginia (where her parents and brother were camping) is only 100 miles away. Even though we don't know where in West Virginia her family was, the closest point in the state would still be approximately 200 miles from Scranton.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Police Officer: 628 Tremont. 6-2-8. Three dead. No, just the usual. Fuck. Usual. It's no big deal these days, right?

Movie Connections:

References Dead End (1985)

Soundtrack:

Any Other Way

TIFF screening

At first I was apprehensive about this new entry in Romero's Dead series, but that pretty much disappeared after the first scene. The fact that the film was shot all in subjective camera doesn't result in a gimmicky, incoherent mess, like, say, the Blair Witch, but is used intelligently and effectively.

The scares and effects were great, and the movie actually takes a rather complicated approach to the topic of today's media-saturated environment, rather than being a crude polemic.

My only complaint would be that the voice-over and dialogue were a little clunky at times, overexplaining things that could have been inferred without too much trouble. That's a minor problem though. Overall, a totally worthy entry in the series.