Diary of the Dead (2007)

A group of young film students run into real-life zombies while filming a horror movie of their own.

Director:

George A. Romero

Writer:

George A. Romero

Stars:

Michelle Morgan, Joshua Close, Shawn Roberts

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Todd Schroeder	...	Brody (as Todd William Schroeder)
Laura de Carteret	...	Bree
Amy Lalonde	...	Tracy Thurman
Martin Roach	...	Stranger
Joshua Close	...	Jason Creed (as Josh Close)
Joe Dinicol	...	Eliot Stone
Michelle Morgan	...	Debra Moynihan
Shawn Roberts	...	Tony Ravello
Philip Riccio	...	Ridley Wilmott
Tatiana Maslany	...	Mary Dexter
Daniel Kash	...	Police Officer
Chris Violette	...	Gordo Thorsen
Megan Park	...	Francine Shane
Scott Wentworth	...	Andrew Maxwell
George Buza	...	Tattooed Biker

Storyline

While filming a horror movie of mummy in a forest, the students and their professor of the University of Pittsburgh hear on the TV the news that the dead are awaking and walking. Ridley and Francine decide to leave the group, while Jason heads to the dormitory of his girlfriend Debra Monahan. She does not succeed in contacting her family and they travel in Mary's van to the house of Debra's parents in Scranton, Pennsylvania. While driving her van, Mary sees a car accident and runs over a highway patrolman and three other zombies trying to escape from them. Later the religious Mary is depressed, questioning whether the victims where really dead, and tries to commit suicide, shooting herself with a pistol. Her friends take her to a hospital where they realize that the dead are indeed awaking and walking and they need to fight to survive while traveling to Debra's parents house.

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Plot Keywords:

hospital | mummy | film student | video camera | barn | 

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Taglines:

Shoot the dead.

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong horror violence and gore, and pervasive language

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene with the zombie doctors, a voice can be heard on the radio inviting people to aim for the head. This is the voice of Tom Savini, a longtime friend of George A. Romero. In fact, this audio is lifted directly from the bonus features of the remake of Dawn of the Dead.

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Goofs

When arriving at Deb's parents' house in Scranton, Deb comments that West Virginia (where her parents and brother were camping) is only 100 miles away. Even though we don't know where in West Virginia her family was, the closest point in the state would still be approximately 200 miles from Scranton.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Police Officer: 628 Tremont. 6-2-8. Three dead. No, just the usual. Fuck. Usual. It's no big deal these days, right?

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Connections

Featured in Nostalgia Critic: Should Found Footage Stop? (2015)

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Soundtracks

Any Other Way
Written by James Parker / Scot Thiessen / Alina Tringova / Tim Walker
Produced by James Parker
Performed by The Captains Intangible

User Reviews

oh dear

I have always admired the films of Romero and there can be no doubt that he is the godfather of zombie films. Alas, i think he should have finished his zombie career with day of the dead. Land of the dead certainly wasn't a bad film and this is far from the worst i've ever seen but the step down is none the less noticeable. The modern cinematic world owes a lot to Romero but it's clear that the modern cinematic world has moved on from him.

Lets start with the main problems(and ignore the million little ones):-

1. An idiot who keeps filming even when he or his friends are in danger (at no point does the brilliant idea of putting the camera down occur to him)

2. A narrator that appears to have edited the film so that it looks polished and yet who chooses to leave in the moments when the camera goes off or turns black

3. A narrator (and editor) who thinks incidental music should be added for tension (imagine those who filmed 9/11 doing the same and you will arrive at the same tasteless nature of this)

4. A narrator (and editor) who wishes for us to witness her rotting corpse family attack her (journalists may pretend to put journalistic integrity before emotional involvement but this is perverse)

5. An allegory for the war in Iraq (we aren't being given the full information etc) that needs to be endlessly repeated.

6. The notion that they needed to film everything to show the world the truth (like walking zombies wouldn't do it for most people)

7. Romero getting the opportunity to remind everyone that he thinks zombies should be slow (and reminding us again and again)

This isn't an absolutely awful film by any stretch but in relation to the history and reputation of Romero, it is alas.....somewhat of an embarrassment

Details

Official Sites:

Bac Films [France] Official site

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 February 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$232,576, 17 February 2008

Gross USA:

$958,961

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,540,941

Company Credits

Production Co:

Artfire Films, Romero-Grunwald Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1