Diary of the Dead

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Diary of the Dead
Directed by	George A. Romero
Produced by	George A. Romero Peter Grunwald Sam Englebardt Artur Spigel Dan Fireman John Harrison Ara Katz
Written by	George A. Romero
Starring	Shawn Roberts Joshua Close Michelle Morgan Joe Dinicol Phillip Riccio Scott Wentworth Tatiana Maslany
Music by	Norman Orenstein
Cinematography	Adam Swica
Editing by	Michael Doherty
Distributed by	Voltage Pictures The Weinstein Company[1]
Release date(s)	September 8, 2007 (Toronto International Film Festival) United States: February 15, 2008 United Kingdom: March 7, 2008
Running time	95 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$10,000,000[2]
Gross revenue	$5,188,775[3]
Preceded by	Land of the Dead
Followed by	...Of the Dead

Diary of the Dead, also known as George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead, is a 2007 American horror film by George A. Romero. Although independently produced, it was distributed theatrically by Dimension Films and was released in cinemas on February 15, 2008^[4] and on DVD by The Weinstein Company and Genius Entertainment on May 20, 2008.

Diary of the Dead is the fifth film in Romero's highly acclaimed Dead series of zombie films. It is not a direct sequel to previous films in the series, and "a rejigging of the myth" according to Romero.^[4]

Diary of the Dead follows a band of people making a horror film at the time of the first outbreak who decide to record the epidemic incident documentary-style and end up themselves being chased down by zombies. It appears to be set in a present time (though it takes place in the same time frame as the original) and it is also the first film in Romero's series to explicitly reveal that the zombie epidemic is not a localized event but a worldwide phenomenon.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Re-establishing the Dead franchise 4 Production 5 DVD and Blu-Ray releases 6 Reception 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Plot

The movie begins with an introduction to the a documentary called The Death of Death. the movie then shows a view from a cameraman and a news reporter reporting on a murder of a local family. The reporter and newswoman chat while the ambulance crew load the deceased bodies. Suddenly. one of the bodies moves and a ambulance worker attempts to resuscitate the person when they are bit. Another zombie approaches the news crew and police open fire on them but are ineffective are killing the zombies. The news lady is bit on the neck while the cameraman films. The scene cuts to a group of young film studies students from the University of Pittsburgh are in the woods making their own horror film about a mummy along with their Faculty Adviser, when they hear on the radio the news of apparent mass-rioting and mass murder. Soon, these reports include cannibalism and the fact that the recently deceased are inexplicably awaking and walking.

Ridley and Francine decide to leave the group, while Jason, who wants to film the events documentary-style, heads to the dormitory of his girlfriend Debra Monahan. She does not succeed in contacting her family and they travel in Mary's Recreational Vehicle to the house of Debra's parents in Scranton, Pennsylvania. While driving her RV, Mary sees a car accident and runs over a highway patrolman and three other zombies trying to escape from them. Thereafter, the group stops and the apparently despondent Mary, tries to commit suicide, shooting herself in the head 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. On their way the RV suffers damage, the fuel line is cut. They are assisted by an Amish man named Samuel who can't hear but only reads lips. While repairing the RV the Amish man's barn is swarmed by zombies. Just before escaping Samuel is bitten. He takes his own life by stabbing himself with a scythe through his head, with the blade also running through the zombie's head. They later pass a city and are stopped by an armed gang. They try to barter with the men, who are better armed and supplied. The men are survivors of the attack on their city; everyone else left. The leader is a member of the National Guard, and doesn't believe the military will help. They rest in the city for a while, and edit their videos. There is a small argument amongst Jason and Debra, who doesn't share his belief in the need for videos. Jason sees the recordings as a necessity to show the world what was really happening. His uploaded videos reach 72,000 hits in eight minutes. They also find out that Debra's family was camping for the extent of the crisis, and is just now on their way home. The National Guard survivors gear up after one of their members had a heart attack and dies, then goes missing. They mistakenly kill one of their own and the chase the zombie into the fuel supply area. He is killed when a container full ofHCl is smashed on his head and it dissolves in front of the whole group. The students resupply and leave for Debra's house. They get a video stream from Tokyo from a survivor until they lose signal. The radio towers have become unreliable. The only dependable source of information is from the internet, added by bloggers and the like.

When they arrive at Debra's house they first believe that the family is not there yet. Upon further inspection they find that Debra's family have died and become zombies. Debra's brother jumps on her and is shot in the head by the teacher, with a recently acquired bow. Debra's mother is shot after rising from behind a couch feeding on a hand what is most likely from Debra's father. They escape the house and decide to travel back to Ridley's mansion. Members of the real National Guard stop and rob them. The leader of the unit enters the RV and forces Jason at point blank to turn off his camera while they rob the RV. They steal all but the weapons (the bow and a shotgun) and run off shooting their rifles in the air.

The group then watches video feed from what must be the internet of a zombie hunting group. The group enters a building and find an old couple. The couple tells them not to go into the house, but the hunters do so anyway, asking "What are you hiding in there old man?".The group enters and one of their members are attacked by a zombie. They kill three of them and then turn to the old couple. The three uninjured men debate over whether or not to kill the couple for not telling them about their family members. The injured member pulls out his sidearm and shoots the couple in their chests. He says "I want them to wake up dead!" and then shoots himself in the head.

They arrive at Ridley's mansion to an unlocked front door. They enter the house to find it abandoned. The professor marvels over a first edition copy of A Tale of Two Cities in the library. One of the bookcases opens to reveal a Panic Room. Ridley stumbles out delusional. He brings the group on a grand tour and then explains what happened in his house. His father was the first to turn, followed by a few of the servants and his mother. He also explains that Francine was attacked by his butler. He invites two of them to look at where he buried the family. He explains that it wasn't in the garden, he could never ruin his mother's flowers. They follow Ridley outside to where he says he buried his family and the servants. He explains the blood on the floor as belonging to the cook. It turns out that he didn't bury them, but just put them in the pool. Ridley locks the two in the pool room and runs away to the house. Inside the house he turns into a zombie and begins to hunt the group. The professor hears the commotion and runs into the panic room with the shotgun. Ridley goes over to the RV and attacks Tracy and Jason. This scene is a joke involving the beginning of the movie where Jason says that dead things move slowly but Ridley, dressed as a mummy was walking quickly. Tracy is chased into the woods wearing the same dress as before by Ridley who is wearing the same costume. While running she falls and has her dress torn off. Jason distracts Ridley long enough for Tracy to knock him out. She then runs to the RV and drives away, angry at Jason for filming rather than helping. Ridley finds his way back to the house and kills one member of the group. The two fall into the tub in the bathroom and are electrocuted by the hairdryer that went in with them. The survivors then go back to the panic room for a while. Contrary to popular belief, Ridley was not killed; he bites Jason. The professor cuts through Ridley's head with a sword and then Debra shoots Jason. Debra watches the video on Jason's camera and sees his last message, about his happiness to be documenting the events, apparently filmed right before his attack. Debra decides to continue the video.

In the morning they awake to see the staff of the mansion who were in the pool have made their way out and were breaking into the mansion. The professor, Debra, and the last of the group lock themselves in the panic room. Inside Debra watches the last thing Jason filmed. Two men had formed a zombie hunting group and had tied three zombies to trees as targets. The last one was a woman hanging from a tree by her hair. They shot her head, allowing the rest of the body to fall. Debra ends the movie with that, and asking one question...

"Are we worth saving? You tell me."

[edit] Cast

• Shawn Roberts as Tony Ravello^[5]
• Joshua Close as Jason Creed^[5]
• Michelle Morgan as Debra^[5]
• Joe Dinicol as Eliot Stone^[5]
• Scott Wentworth as Andrew Maxwell^[5]
• Phillip Riccio as Ridley Wilmott
• George Buza as Biker
• Amy Lalonde as Tracy Truman
• Tatiana Maslany as Mary^[6]
• Tino Monte as Newscaster
• Megan Park as Francine Shane
• Martin Roach as Stranger
• Alan Van Sprang as Colonel
• Matt Birman as Zombie Trooper
• Laura DeCarteret as Bree
• Janet Lo as Asian Woman
• Chris Violette as Gordo
• Todd William Schroeder as Brody
• Alexandria DeFabiis as Zombie
• Nick Alachiotis as Fred
• George A. Romero as Chief of Police
• Boyd Banks as Armorist
• Gregory Nicotero as Zombie Surgeon

Quentin Tarantino, Wes Craven, M. Night Shyamalan, Guillermo del Toro, Simon Pegg, Josh S. Clair, and Stephen King lend their voices as newscasters on the radio.^[7] Shawn Roberts also appeared in Land of the Dead, making him the tenth actor to appear in at least two of Romero's zombie films, after Simon Pegg, Joseph Pilato, Tom Savini, Gregory Nicotero, Boyd Banks, John Amplas, Alan van Sprang, Taso N. Stavrakis and Romero himself. Of the aforementioned ten, Romero and Nicotero have made appearances in three films, with Alan van Sprang set to join them upon the release of the next installment, ...Of the Dead.

[edit] Re-establishing the Dead franchise

The film is the fifth film in Romero's Dead series^[8] and there are some notable references to earlier Romero films. One example of this is the same news track from Night of the Living Dead (1968), is used in the scene where the cast is in the garage of Ben.

However, the film is not a direct sequel to any of Romero's films. The film was "an attempt to re-establish a profitable franchise," the film is "a rejigging of the myth" says Romero,^[4] and is meant as a side story during the same timeframe as Night. Even though the fourth film, Land of the Dead (2005), was studio-produced through Universal Studios, Diary of the Dead was produced by Romero-Grunwald Productions, formed by Romero and his producer friend Peter Grunwald, with Artfire Films.^[9]

[edit] Production

Romero announced the film in August 2006 after signing a deal to write and direct it.^[9] Filming began its four-week shoot in Toronto on October 19, 2006.^[5]

Despite the low production budget, somewhere around 2 million dollars,^[10] director George Romero made extensive use of computer-generated imagery, because it allowed him to shoot the film quickly and add the effects later. Also, the film's style, as if shot with hand-held cameras, necessitated a shift from his usual method of working, which involves filming multiple camera angles and assembling scenes in the editing room. Instead, Romero filmed much of the action in long, continuous takes: "The camera was 360, so everybody was an acrobat, ducking under the lens when the camera came past you," said Romero. "The cast was great. They had a lot of theater experience. I think they could have gone from scene one all the way to the end of the movie, all in a single shot."^[11]

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Midnight Madness on September 8, 2007.^[12] According to a poll taken by the Toronto Star, it was one of the most anticipated films at the Festival.^[13] Just four days later, The Weinstein Company announced that it had purchased the rights to distribute Diary of the Dead in the United States and Mexico for $2.5 million. There, Dimension Films are distributing the film.

[edit] DVD and Blu-Ray releases

The DVD was released by The Weinstein Company and Genius Entertainment on May 20, 2008. Special features include a feature-length documentary, an audio commentary, deleted scenes, Behind the Scenes featurette, and five short films that came about via a MySpace contest. It was released the same day as a news authorized edition of Night of the Living Dead on DVD was released by The Weinstein Company.^[14]

The film was released on Region 2 on June 29, 2008, in single disc,^[15] double disc and blu-ray editions.^[16] The double-disc and blu-ray both contained a UK exclusive interview from Frightfest 08, and a feature length documentary entitled One for the Fire - The Legacy of Night of the Living Dead. The double-disc edition was released in limited, numbered steelbook packaging, and online retailer play.com sold an exclusive edition in a slipcase.^[17] On October 21, 2008, a Blu-ray version was released in the United States.

[edit] Reception

George Romero won a 2008 Critics Award for Diary of the Dead. The film received mixed reviews, with a slight majority being positive. Most reviewers acknowledged that Romero is still the master of the genre, and that the film was as enjoyable as Romero's previous entries in the 'Dead pentalogy, and that it also retained Romero's social commentary. The film currently has a "fresh" rating of 60% on Rotten Tomatoes.^[18], making it the lowest rated entry in Romero's series.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Diary of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
• Diary of the Dead at Allmovie
• Review of Diary of the Dead at Internal Bleeding
• Diary of the Dead at Apple
• Diary of the Dead at MetaCritic
• Diary of the Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
• The First Week – A look at the first week of filming on Diary of the Dead, hosted by Special Features Producer Michael Felsher.
• Official Site UK
• Trailer, the first trailer of the film released January 10, 2008.
• Interview: George Romero on Diary of the Dead

v • d • e The Living Dead series Romero's Dead films Night of the Living Dead (1968) • Dawn of the Dead (1978) • Day of the Dead (1985) • Land of the Dead (2005) • Diary of the Dead (2008) • ...Of the Dead (2009) Dead series remakes Night of the Living Dead (1990) • Dawn of the Dead (2004) • Day of the Dead (2008) Return of the Living Dead films The Return of the Living Dead (1985) • Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988) • Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993) • Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis (2005) • Return of the Living Dead: Rave from the Grave (2005) Unofficial sequels & remakes Zombi 2 (1979) • Zombi 3 (1988)  • Children of the Living Dead (2001) • Day of the Dead 2: Contagium (2005) • Night of the Living Dead 3D (2006) • Night of the Living Dead Reanimated (2009) Related topics Return of the Living Dead (1977 novel) • Document of the Dead (1985) • Flesheater (1988) • Shaun of the Dead (2004) • Escape of the Living Dead (2005) • Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green (2005 video game)

v • d • e Films directed by George A. Romero Feature films Night of the Living Dead • There's Always Vanilla • The Crazies • Season of the Witch • Martin • Dawn of the Dead • Knightriders • Creepshow • Day of the Dead • Monkey Shines • Two Evil Eyes • The Dark Half • Bruiser • Land of the Dead • Diary of the Dead • ...Of the Dead Other O. J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose • Filmography