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

Details

Official Sites:

Bac Films [France] Official site

Country:

USA

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:

$275,061, 17 February 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$958,961

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,364,858

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Wes Craven: Director of films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Scream (1996), The Last House on the Left (1972), and The Hills Have Eyes (1977), cameos in a voiceover role as a newsreader.

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Goofs

When the boy zombie is hit by the arrow he's thrown back and pinned up to a wall. HIgh speed projectiles like bullets and arrows tend to quickly penetrate the body. There is not nearly enough mass in such a projectile to transfer the amount of momentum required to jerk a body several feet back and up against a wall. Secondly, the connection of the arrow to the wood in the wall is not strong enough to support the weight a body. The arrow would snap off or pull out of the wall.

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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

Referenced in Travelogue of the Dead: On the Rhodes Again (2010)

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Soundtracks

Prelude in D Flat Major
Opus 28 No. 15
By Frédéric Chopin
Performed by Christine Hye-Su Kim

User Reviews

Something of a return to form.

I just saw a screening in Glasgow last night and was really impressed. After seeing Land of the Dead I feared GAR was destined to make only studio controlled zombie films that sold out his previous works, but this is something of a return to form. The budget is tiny and the actors unknown (as is the case with his best films), but the special effects are top-notch and there is plenty of gore that's made even more unsettling as seen through the lens of a camcorder.

The 'Point Of View' technique is bound to generate concern over similarities to other films using the same style (Cloverfield for instance) but Diary is a very different kind of film and certainly not a 'rip-off', but rather a smaller scale movie doing it's own thing.

There's humour (some real laugh-out-loud moments), social commentary (perhaps a little heavy handed, but relevant and intelligent), suspense, gore and everything else we've come to expect from a Romero film but bundled-up into a new and fresher style by the old guy. It was really interesting to see him trying something new.

As a fan of the genre and of Romero's works I was ultimately relieved and impressed by Diary after entering the theatre a sceptic. This isn't his best film and some fans will no doubt be let down, but after seeing it myself I was happy to see him back on track.

Thanks George.