Dear diary...the dead are back

Diary Of The Dead (2008)

I gotta say first off that I am a bit of a fan of zombie movies in general so my opinion is probably a bit more biased than some others but if you've seen any of Romero's other films and thought they were great, you will probably like this.

A few of my friends criticised this film greatly because of the not-so-brilliant standard of acting and the fleeting realism of a couple of scenes, such as a cameraman's nonchalant reaction to his friend being pursued by a flesh eating zombie, and a drunken incredibly stereotypical Englishman, suddenly being transformed into John Rambo when given a bow and arrow.

That aside, I feel as far as zombie movies go this is definitely one of the better ones. JJ Abrams and the rest of the team from Cloverfield should really take notes on how to do hand held camera work because whereas I felt nauseous and was fed up of staring at the various floor and street surfaces on offer in Cloverfield, Diary Of The Dead communicated the same intended intimacy and immediacy, without you feeling like you've been sitting in a washing machine for 90 minutes.

I felt some of the characters and methods of dealing with zombies were truly inspired, with particular reference to the mute Amish man who was hilarious. Where some people feel shooting, stabbing or beating zombies is sufficient, this man uses volatile explosives to clear his front lawn of the undead. Classic.

I felt the story was fair and realistic, and lead to some interesting scenarios without becoming too implausible and providing a good few jumps along the way with plenty of suspense. Also a more than welcome return to good ol' slow zombies which I find much more threatening and spooky than the fast zombies.

All in all, can feel a little cheesy in some places but proved a fun zombie film nonetheless, kudos Mr. Romero another great horror.

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