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(6756) |
2713 |
2312 |
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(1490) |
598 |
510 |
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2115 |
1802 |
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| [Rec] (100%) |
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| Dawn of the Dead (86%) |
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| 28 Weeks Later... (67%) |
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Plot:
A group of film students are making an independent horror film when they become trapped in a world being consumed by flesh-eating zombies. With an obsessive, unflinching eye, one filmmaker documents e...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:August 26, 2008
A group of film students attempt to document the descent of society into chaos as the dead begin to rise again and feast on the living. I had a creeping dread of this film because I had the horrible feeling it would just be The Blair Zombie Project, particularly after witnessing the shapeless waste of an hour and a half that was Cloverfield, but the latest in George Romero's "dead" series actually works quite well. The use of multiple cameras intercut with faux internet footage and closed circuit TV gives rather more scope for dramatic momentum than the usual sole first person perspective and the mockumentary approach gives the film the kind of structure woefully lacking in Cloverfield. Unfortunately it still suffers from the unavoidable weakness of this sub-genre ie ropey acting and poor dialogue for the sake of "realism", despite the fact that somebody constantly filming while all these horrific events are happening to them is of course inherently unrealistic. But as a whole it's rather more intelligent than other offerings of this type, providing a little social commentary and sly digs at the media and the public's obsession with same. By far the best example of this kind of thing I've seen, and a worthy addition to the franchise.
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MCT:August 24, 2008The thing about George Romero's Dead series is that he can take a totally out of this world situation and make it believable, especially Dawn of the Dead. But with his newest effort Diary of the Dead, Romero fails to capture the realism even though he has gone with a grittier style to get more realism. The simple fact is that I can not buy the fact that three people are standing around with cameras filming while their friend is being attacked by one of the undead. I know the film is a social commentary on the media, but to sacrifice a believable story to get that across just ruins the film for me. A sub par film, this is probably the worst of the Dead series.
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MCT:August 22, 2008George A. Romero goes indie on his fifth "Dead" film with a unique commentary on the nature of media. The P.O.V. shooting style, a la Cloverfield, works for this movie and is a welcome addition to the series.
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MCT:August 21, 2008
Not the best Romero movie out there, but it was still fun and a must see if you like his other movies! I liked the concept and the whole capture the moment trend like The Blair Witch and Cloverfield just this time it's zombies. Has it's funny parts and gory nots so it was a good mix
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MCT:August 17, 2008
For those who don't like it, no shaky camera.
Decent acting, but very good suspense and story.
Not the best zombie movie but a good horror. -
MCT:August 17, 2008
I can see what the concept was going to be, but the horrid acting kills it. Also just too preachy and not as subtle in message as Romero's previous Dead films.
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MCT:August 16, 2008
An interesting Zombie movie, one of Romero's better modern movies.I enjoyed the clever way it was shot using handheld and cctv.But I thought the ending was pretty poor.
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MCT:August 15, 2008A huge disappointment for a Romero movie. The style wavered constantly, unwilling to stick with the "amateur" style it was going for and the political message was unnecessary and ill fitting, not to mention insulting to the audience.
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MCT:August 10, 2008I am a big fan of Romero. I wanted to like it and I understood the message but but it jut didn't do it for me.
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MCT:August 10, 2008
feelings may change when i see it on tv but i didn't enjoy this one bit. the acting was BAD, this was supposed to be a "real" movie with the documentary style of it, but it's kinda hard to believe it's real when the acting is BAD!!!
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MCT:August 6, 2008Terrible dialog, impossible to like characters, and sub-par direction. I feel soooo dirty giving a Romero 'Dead' film a bad review, but this one is flat, dopey, cliched, and just way too damn full of itself.
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MCT:August 5, 2008
George A. Romero will go down in history as one of the most significant and influential horror directors of all time. His original trilogy, especially "Night of the Living Dead" and "Dawn of the Dead", are, in my opinion, the best the horror genre has to offer outside of Hitchcock's "Psycho". So, the question is - now that Romero is 68-years-old, does he still have it in him to create a groundbreaking modern horror classic? "Land of the Dead" was entertaining however immediately forgettable... but now with "Diary of the Dead", i'm sorry to say, I almost feel that he's tainted his own franchise. Although I consider Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" one of my favorite movies of all time, I just thought this was absolutely awful with little to no redeeming qualities.
The film opens with newscasters reporting on a violent attack within a household when suddenly corpses reanimate and start feasting on paramedics. We discover that what we're watching has been found on the internet and is a precursor to a student film that will tell the truth on the events, as you can't trust the media with that responsibility. Director Jason (Josh Close) is in the middle of filming a mummy film when he hears a report from the radio claiming that corpses are coming back to life, when him and the cast have to make a run for it and drive around town in their RV. These initial scenes have good intentions, but unfortunately the actors playing the parts are too incapable to take seriously. I felt as though I was watching one of those bad Saturday night films on the Sci Fi channel.
As the crew drives along, hitting bodies on the way and crossing paths with some sort of African American militia (no doubt an homage to themes previously featured in Romero's work), tensions rise about the filming itself. What is is that draws people in to observing these vicious attacks? Why do we feel the need to document such violence? Romero makes a lot of stabs at the American media, however, his comparisons are so flat-footed and in your face that it's hard to take serious. While "Dawn of the Dead" can't exactly be classified as a subtle film, it certainly gave the audience more to think about than this. Romero gives you a puzzle and solves it for you - essentially telling you to watch some gore and leave your mind at home. A child can pick up on the so called political themes that are constantly crammed down your throat by the narrator.
Although a lot of Romero's initial ideas and innovative additions to the horror genre remain (the political commentaries), the wit in his writing has completely vanished. I found this script to be painfully bad. This was also a problem I had with "Cloverfield" - you have a film that's supposed to essentially be more real and raw than any other film, however thanks to poor acting, laughable writing, and inexcusably dumb melodramatic moments, it comes off as nothing more than a zombie soap opera. This is cheesy and lame and not in a good way.
There were some things about the script I liked and the film did always progress before getting boring, however after the 80th zombie jumps out from behind a corner you're just worn out. The scenes I particularly liked, such as when a character proclaims "mornings and mirrors only serve to terrify old men" seem to serve no relevance to the film itself but to the director. But again, in what is a very powerful scene, it's bogged down by one of the characters dumbing it down to the lowest form of intelligence. "Oh, I think I know what you mean! Mornings show you for what you are, instead of what you think you are!" Give me a break. Stuff like that is inexcusable and just a complete joke. Have faith in your audience to put some of these pieces together.
Horror films are typically excused of harsh criticism due to their nature. You don't need a fully developed cast or even necessarily have to raise important questions - it's all about legitimate scares, sharp writing, and stylish direction. Unfortunately, I found none of that within the 95 minutes of "Diary of the Dead". It very much depresses me to see the day where George A. Romero pokes fun at the zombies of "28 Days Later..." or the "Dawn of the Dead" remake when I know damn well that his film is amateur in comparison. I don't know what happened. I have all the respect in the world for the man and he's certainly a legend - but this film needs to be buried six feet under and never spoken of again. -
MCT:August 4, 2008
A much better effort from Zombie master Romero. Although much like Land the political message is too obvious. Dawn's message was hidden within a horror movie. Diary hits you over the head with it. With that and the overdone Blair Witch style of filming (granted not as bad as cloverfield and last two Bourne movies) in mind this movie loses a star. Otherwise glad to see Romero back in form. Maybe now high budget films who are controled by the studio, he will forever avoid.
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MCT:August 3, 2008
BAD BAD GEORGE ROMERO MOVIE WORST ZOMBIE MOVIE EVER! I THOUGHT STEPHEN KING AND WES AND QUENTIN WERE IN THS? I DIDN'T SEE ANY OF THEM. THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED. NOT EVEN WORTH A RENTAL.
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MCT:August 2, 2008
Not the best movie out of all of George A. Romeros zombie movies but still worth a watch. Much prefer Dawn of the Dead and Land of the Dead to this movie.
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MCT:August 2, 2008O melhor filme do Romero desde A Noite do Mortos Vivos. Sério.
Se você é uma das pessoas que ficou triste e decepcionada com Terra dos Mortos, então assista este filme e lembre por que o Romero é o cara cultuado que ele é. O roteiro crível, com diálogo humano e reações que se espera de uma pessoa normal (ao contrário das reações positivamente "filme de ação" dos filmes de horror mais recentes).
A direção e edição não perdem o ritmo em momento algum. Os comentários políticos e sociais são um pano de fundo bom, sem interferir nem parecer pregação. E eu já comentei que as pessoas agem como pessoas?
Sinceramente, vá assistir este filme. Pegue na videolocadora e assista. Mesmo se você for do tipo que não tem estômago para filmes de horror - esse é de suspense.
No geral, dou total apoio as minhas 5 estrelas. Ganhei um novo filme favorito. -
MCT:August 2, 2008
I truly had no expectations of this movie when I first watched it. I knew that it was by Romero but didn't follow any kind of hype about it. I thought that it was a great movie and was glad to see the Night of the Livind Dead approach used again. As he says on the commentary, the characters are having to deal with the epidemic as it was happening, where his last 3 zombie movies had the movie placed in the aftermath. This movie proves that Romero still has the touch and can adapt to technology and world events. Pretty sure that I saw a lot of Hurricane Katrina footage mixed in there. It was no Dawn of the Dead (1978) but it was still a great movie and I have a copy for my collection that hasn't been opened. I rented one from Netflix just so I could watch it. Nice to see that he brough back Greg Nicotero and co. to work on the make-up. It was truly top notch. Nicotero has a cameo as the doctor zombie at the hospital. I will be a Romero fan till I die.
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MCT:August 2, 2008
It's not perfect - the film has many faults, and as, always, my review is pretty subjective, but I *loved* Diary of the Dead. It's the horror underdog of 2008 in my opinion.
"The film was shot with a Panasonic HDX900 and an HVX200. I did the final cut on Jason's laptop. I've added music occasionally for effect, hoping to scare you. You see, in addition to trying to tell you the truth, I am hoping to scare you, so that maybe you'll wake up."
Comprised of edited footage shot by film students, along with voice-over narration and assembled CCTV, web-cam and cell phone clips, Diary of the Dead depicts the outbreak of the dead 'waking up', and the ensuing plague that encompasses everything around it. Instead of a continuation from Day of the Dead or even Land of the Dead, Diary starts afresh, whilst still bearing the hallmarks of vintage George A. Romero. And appearances can be deceptive; this is no standard zombie horror film, or even that sub-genre of horror - the 'found footage' horror (a la Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, [Rec] etc). This is first and foremost a social satire.
"The President continues to monitor the situation from his ranch"
There are parallels here, believe it or not, to the Bush Administration; the 'handling' of the outcome of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, human rights violations and torture. There's also witty comment and critique on the role of the media and the way in which a campaign of panic can affect people's responses, and how things can be edited in order to shape mood or personal gain. The manner in which Diary is filmed means there is also a lot of self-reflection and irony, strengthened by the narration and a bleak epilogue.
"I thought long and hard about whether to leave this footage in the film. I decided, in the end, to show you exactly what happened."
Executed with style and invention, Diary is also, of course, filled with some excellent zombie despatches. It's remarkable that after so many zombie films in a crowded market dangerously close to saturation, there's still plenty of ways in which to kill the undead. Here, two of the highlights are an I.V. stand and a bow and arrow, and for a low-budget independent film, there's plenty of satisfying blood and gore. Coming to Diary and expecting a gorefest though is likely to leave you disappointed - it's the political commentary that stands out the most and what has always made Romero a cut above the rest. So ignore some dodgy performances, some technical inaccuracies (which, thinking about it, could arguably have been added in by the narrator to add 'authenticity') and turn the lights out.
"Are we worth saving? You tell me."
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MCT:August 2, 2008
Interesting new approach in the 'Dead' series, taking a documentarian POV a la 'Blair Witch' or 'Cloverfield.' Certainly not the best Romero zombie film, and suffers from being heavy handed at times; overall it's noteworthy and intriguing. The swimming pool scene is a nice idea, as is addressing the impact on PA's Amish community to such an outbreak. Definitely worth a look for fans of the series.
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MCT:August 1, 2008
Its so god awful i rather stick a pen in my face! and this is coming from a george romero fan! Stop making movies george!
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MCT:July 31, 2008
Acting in this is terrible, but it does have some pretty gruesome deaths and other than that is a typical zombie movie.
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MCT:July 30, 2008
Inventive deaths and an interesting central conceit on our current obsession to record our lives, makes up for some very dodgy acting (english professor is truly terrible). Clearly Romero still has his finger on the pulse. Big improvement over Land of the Dead - he's always better on a smalll budget.
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MCT:July 29, 2008good morals storie. Kinda makes you think that if some thing like this happened would it realy be like this. Some are willing to be down with a cause but after all we are all we have. EVER
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MCT:July 29, 2008
what can i say this is typical for b grade zombie films, typical storey line, steriotypical characters, people die far too easy somehow.
i could tell from clover field that i hate movies where the storey is told though a hand held camera, it's horricfic to watch sideways angels and the juryness of this style, theirs a reason 12 year old children arn't camera men and thats becuase it's bloody hard to watch a movie with unprofessional camera set up, although i give this movie an extra half star seen as it used this stupid camera angle a lot better than clover field did, up to a point where you didn't want to scream and run away.
the deaths of the zombies where, if just accidentally quite good, the pole into the skull, the dynamite thrown by the deaf armish man and the broad sword up the middle of the head. but this just exponentiates the main problem with this movie not enough action! instead the director trys to milk drama from the script which is a big mistake seen as horror film if at least zombie films should not try to use personal drama, they should stick to the reason why people watch zombie films and that is for exploding heads! -
MCT:July 27, 2008
We've come here concerned about people crossing the border into our country. But that's not the problem anymore. The problem now is all those creatures crossing the border between life and death.
My Friends Said...
Diary of the Dead Recent Reviews
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Comments
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agentanamacphistoposted 25 days ago -
We've come here concerned about people crossing the border into our country. But that's not the problem anymore. The problem now is all those creatures crossing the border between life and death.
posted 31 days ago -
this movie was actually pretty good if you can get past the "home video" camera work. I feel like they could've done a bit more with the ending tho... like how did she finish editing the movie? and post it? where did she get the internet connection from if the internet was practically down all over the place? Other than that, i liked it!
posted 92 days ago -
This film is the worst movie i have ever seen! I am honestly surprised it was released to the box office let alone the fact its made over seas! Diabolical acting and terrible narrative.
The only film ive ever walked out of =/posted 163 days ago -
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i'd seen the trailer..and i think this would be another one of george romero's best zombies film since the dawn of the dead and land of the dead..i think this would make you scream and jump on to ur seat!!lolz....hope to see this movie soon....another best film of george a romero..
posted 219 days ago -
i'd seen the trailer..and i think this would be another one of george romero's best zombies film since the dawn of the dead and land of the dead..i think this would make scream and jump on to ur seat!!lolz....hope to see this movie soon....another best film of george a romero..
posted 219 days ago
