Diary of the Dead

I have always been a sucker for apocalyptic/dystopian future films and books. Anything concerning the end of the world or a post-apocalypse society and I am on board. Zombie movies, while usually considered to be straight-up horror, belong with a foot firmly based in the apocalypse camp. To me, there is nothing scarier than a zombie uprising, especially when it's done well. Let's face it, there are scores of abysmal zombie movies out there, and thanks to the recent upsurge of zombie popularity, (zombie t-shirts and mugs? YES PLEASE!) there has been a deluge of some of the worst zombie films ever, (Day of the Dead remake featuring Mena Suvari and zombies that crawl on the ceiling? NO PLEASE GOD NO).

Of course, George Romero, a king among men, is the father of the zombie film. But the one thing that I always loved about Romero's films was that behind the zombies is an underlying treatise on the state of the world, politics, consumerism, and humanity. All of that and braaaains. It's horror for smart folks, and that is the best type of horror. Romero's last entry to his zombie saga was Land of the Dead, his first zombie film that was given a semi-respectable Hollywood budget, but as we all know, with a Hollywood budget comes Hollywood executives who think they know better than everyone else what the audience wants. Romero himself in several articles has decried the system and the way that these executives hack and slice their way through movies to get a better rating. Naturally, Land of the Dead suffered for this, and Romero acknowledges it. He decided to make Diary of the Dead, independently, and it is his true vision, and totally kicks zombie ass!

Done in the "found footage" format that when used well, can be totally awesome, Diary of the Dead centers around a group of film students who are in the middle of filming a movie when the dead start to rise. The film then chronicles everyone's stories, their attempts to get home, survive, and battle. The gore is minimal, with a few really cool sequences, and the plot moves along at a good speed. The film also features some great characters including Samuel, the deaf Amish guy, who can wield a scythe like nobody's business, and the coolest drunk professor ever. Diary of the Dead is a great film, by a great director, and I can't wait for the next one. Here's hoping Romero lives forever.