Month: April 2024

Today’s quick review: Diary of the Dead. As the dead rise to attack the living, Jason Creed (Joshua Close), a film student at the University of Pittsburgh, hits the road with his camera, his girlfriend Debra (Michelle Morgan), and a few of their classmates. As the students road trip across Pennsylvania in an RV, they capture footage of the zombie outbreak as it is unfolding and upload it to the internet to get the truth out there.

Diary of the Dead is a zombie survival movie, the fifth from director George A. Romero. Diary of the Dead breaks with the progression of Romero’s previous work. Instead of venturing further into a zombie apocalypse underway, it chronicles a new outbreak through the lens of modern technology. This gives the movie an angle that other zombie flicks do not have, but it comes at the cost of weaker characters and story.

Diary of the Dead has interesting things to say about modern technology, the media, and the dissociative nature of film. The movie is framed as a documentary assembled from footage recorded by Jason and his friends. Their motives are high-minded: setting the record straight in the face of relentless media spin. But being behind the camera insulates them from the reality of the situation and makes their reactions less human.

The Achilles’ heel of Diary of the Dead is its characters. Jason and his classmates are too generic to get attached to, and the movie never invests the time to develop them further. Jason’s obsession with recording everything, the tension this causes with Deb, and a couple of other personal dynamics have potential. But otherwise there is not much to latch onto, and the inevitable casualties pass more or less without incident.

The sense of gory spectacle also pales in comparison with other zombie movies. Taking the outbreak back to the beginning means that the movie has to spend its time re-establishing the rules of zombies and overcoming the characters’ incredulity at what they are seeing. There are no major scares, set pieces, or shootouts. There is a touch of creative gore, but for the most part, the action is small-scale and personal.

How much you get out of Diary of the Dead will depend on what you are looking for. As a case study in film and media during a crisis, it has a lot to offer. Just seeing the practical side of what it would take to document a disaster of that magnitude is rewarding. But as a zombie movie, it is missing a lot of the usual reasons for the audience to care. Approach with caution.

For a simpler but more powerful take on the early stages of a zombie outbreak from the same director, check out Night of the Living Dead. For a dark, found footage science fiction movie with more impact, try Chronicle or Cloverfield.

[5.6 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848557/). I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for fascinating themes embedded in a mediocre story.

Today’s quick review: Land of the Dead. Years after a zombie outbreak caused the collapse of civilization, Pittsburgh has become one of the last bastions of humanity. Mr. Kaufman (Dennis Hopper) and his fellow elites live in luxury and security, while the poor eke out a living on the streets. But when Cholo (John Leguizamo), Kaufman’s top enforcer, goes rogue, Kaufman sends Riley (Simon Baker), a seasoned scavenger, to track him down.

Land of the Dead is a zombie action movie, the fourth from director George A. Romero. Land of the Dead depicts a world even more radically changed by the undead than its predecessors. Society has morphed to cope with the existence of zombies, and an uneasy truce exists between the wealthy and the poor. Imaginative world-building gives the movie a unique angle, but it is hampered by an awkward plot that never gets off the ground.

Land of the Dead goes the extra mile with its setting. Unlike Romero’s previous zombie flicks, the world is not just a crippled version of the modern one but something new. The daily facts of life in Pittsburgh, the details of the city’s security, and the power games Kaufman uses to stay on top are all promising ideas. The movie also explores zombie intelligence, with a smart zombie named Big Daddy (Eugene Clark) leading an attack on the city.

But these novel ideas are undermined by poor fundamentals. The characters do a good job of showing off the setting but do not give the story much to work with. Instead, the movie has to engineer conflict by pitting Cholo against Kaufman and then sending Riley, who only wants to away from the city, to clean up the mess. The action is serviceable, but the overuse of gore dulls some of its impact.

Land of the Dead is a movie that takes bigger risks than other zombie flicks, attempting to construct a world of its own to play in. Unfortunately, its gamble does not entirely pay off, and the crisp vision and compelling storytelling of Romero’s previous work is nowhere to be seen. Still, the combination of elaborate gore, a jumbled but still-entertaining plot, and some novel ideas make it a decent pick for the right fan.

For another brush with intelligent zombies, check out Army of the Dead. For another sci-fi movie set in a stratified society, try Snowpiercer, Daybreakers, Equilibrium, or Aeon Flux. For a violent, dystopian future with a similar attitude, try Escape from L.A..

[6.2 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418819/). I give it a 6.5 for a promising world and a weak story.