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Movies / On DVD / George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead

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George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead (2008)

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Reviews Counted:122

Fresh:73

Rotten:49

Average Rating:6.1/10

Consensus: As Diary of the Dead proves, time hasn't subdued George A. Romero's affection for mixing politics with gore, nor has it given him cinematic grace or subtlety.

Rated: 18 [See Full Rating] for strong horror violence and gore, and pervasive language.

Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:07-03-2008

Synopsis: Director George A. Romero returns to the subject matter that made him famous with this postmodern take on the zombie genre. DIARY OF THE DEAD begins in innocuous fashion as a group of film students... Director George A. Romero returns to the subject matter that made him famous with this postmodern take on the zombie genre. DIARY OF THE DEAD begins in innocuous fashion as a group of film students head out into the woods to make a low-budget horror film. This film-within-a-film is directed by Jason Creed (Joshua Close), who draws on a group of friends, and his college professor, to get the job done. But the filming comes to an abrupt halt when news comes in that the dead are springing back to life, devouring people, and taking over the world. Film obsessive Creed doesn't put his camera down for long, and he's soon heading out on the road with his friends in a quest to document the real-life carnage as it unfolds. The film is shot entirely from the point of view of Creed and his camera-wielding friends, and in a neat nod to contemporary technology, Romero's feature is full of references to websites such as MySpace and YouTube. This interesting sidestep from Romero's long-running zombie saga is a 21st century take on the initial zombie outburst that occurred in the director's 1968 classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Romero unleashes much of his trademark gore and violence as the film progresses, and there are some increasingly witty and inventive ways in which characters become zombiefied. The cast of young unknowns fit snugly into their roles, particularly Michelle Morgan, whose character is in charge of piecing together Creed's film in the editing room. But what really sets DIARY OF THE DEAD apart from its horror-movie contemporaries is the hefty dose of social satire that Romero works into the film, making this a welcome return to the director's trademark style following the more straightforward gore-fest of 2005's LAND OF THE DEAD. [More]

Starring: Michelle Morgan, Josh Close, Shawn Roberts, Amy Lalonde

Starring: Michelle Morgan, Josh Close, Shawn Roberts, Amy Lalonde, Joe Dinicol, Scott Wentworth, Philip Riccio, Chris Violette, Tatiana Maslany, Wes Craven, Guillermo Del Toro, Stephen King, Simon Pegg, Quentin Tarantino

Director: George A. Romero

Director: George A. Romero
Screenwriter: George A. Romero
Producer: Peter Grunwald, Art Spigel, Sam Englebardt, Ara Katz, Dan Fireman
Composer: Norman Orenstein

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Reviews for George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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For Romero, someone who still retains respect and admiration for previous work, Diary of the Dead points to the realization that it is time to close the door on zombie movies and move to other horror subjects.

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment 1 Comment
10/18/08
Steve Ramos
Steve Ramos
Screen International

This is hardly a new idea by now, and Romero does it to death with ponderous musings about camcorder culture and the ethics of stopping to look, not to help. Intermittent fun, though.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
03/07/08
Tim Robey
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The opening news-report sequence is very strong. But from there on in ... well, what more is there to say about the zombie genre and its metaphors for our undead society?

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
03/07/08
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
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The horror is toothily familiar.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment 1 Comment
03/07/08
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
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The zombies may be dead but George Romero's taste for social commentary certainly isn't in Diary of the Dead, the latest instalment in his long-running walking corpse series.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
03/07/08
Jamie Russell
Jamie Russell
BBC
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Like the recent ‘Cloverfield’, Romero uses the kinetic immediacy of digital video shot on-the-run, but in a more sophisticated and disturbing way.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
03/07/08
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An enthusiastic cast are partially up to the challenge, but some of the thesping belongs on a Straight-to-Video shelf.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
03/07/08
Rob Daniel
Rob Daniel
Sky Movies

A raw, vivid despatch from the frontline, this melds content with frights in classic Romero style. An outstanding exercise in showing the kids how to do it.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
03/07/08
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
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Disappointing zombie movie, let down by some appalling acting and a script that fails to do anything useful or interesting with its central set-up.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment 1 Comment
03/06/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

sees the writer/director well and truly back from the dead and returning to his independent roots, with a small, character-based production that is intelligent, bleak, and at times jarringly funny.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
02/28/08
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Channel 4 Film
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Trenchantly implicates the media into the ongoing apocalypse that in previous Dead chapters already included family, capitalism, the military, class divides

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/27/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

A sly but low-level zombie movie for the YouTube crowd.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
07/17/09
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peter Keough
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/18/08
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's rough around the edges, dirty in the middle, and stained through with a sort of nihilistic humanism that ultimately unsettles more than the lurching undead themselves.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/18/08
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
10/18/08
Reel.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Once again the master of the independent genre film manages to bring something fresh and worthy to the table.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Insiders | comment Comment
10/18/08
Jonathan W. Hickman
Jonathan W. Hickman
Entertainment Insiders

I hate to say this -- partly because I don’t want it to be true and partly because it’s such a terrible pun -- but could the zombie movie finally be dead?

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
10/18/08
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

Everything that CLOVERFIELD did right, this does wrong.

Full Review Source: Sin Magazine | comment 3 Comments
07/22/08
Austin Kennedy
Austin Kennedy
Sin Magazine

Diary of the Dead, even for zombie diehards like my little group (we watched Shadow: Dead Riot, for pete's sake), was not very good at all. I mourn.

Full Review Source: Cinerina | comment 1 Comment
07/17/08
Karina Montgomery
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead

November 03, 2008: Romero Promises "A Lot of Action" in Next Dead Opens in new window
It doesn't have a title yet, but production is underway on George A. Romero's next zombie movie, and USA Today has the inside scoop -- along with your first look. More...

May 19, 2008: RT on DVD: National Treasure 2, Diary of the Dead, Plus Salo News!
Exciting announcements abound this week (Fearless Director's Cut! A new Little Mermaid movie! Gossip Girl on DVD!) while Nicolas Cage's treasure-hunting adventure sequel,... More...

March 07, 2008: Guide of the Dead - An RT Romero Retrospective
As Diary of the Dead hits cinemas, we sit down with George A. Romero to talk retrospectively about what has come from his zombie opus, the Dead series, and what the future has... More...

February 17, 2008: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

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