'Diary of the Dead' is the latest of George A Romero's zombie films, which always seem at least a cut above his competitors'. This time around, Romero's taken the novel approach of working with the basic premise of 'Night of the Living Dead' and remixes it within our You Tube-happy pop culture. I was very surprised to see such a fresh, contemporary take on the Living Dead coming from one of modern horror's Old Guard.



This is a horror movie that gets better as it progresses. At first, I didn't like it much at all. But within 20 minutes, I did. I appreciate that Romero's largely unknown cast of actors play clever and plausible characters (unlike the way most horror movies portray college students as mindless morons). The satire and social satire are heavy-handed at times, but that's part of what you're buying into when you see a Romero zombie film (and its something missing in most horror films). The gore effects are exceptionally well done, and the film nicely captures the look and feel of 'amateur' video that ends up on the web. There aren't a lot of sudden shocks in this movie; instead there is a growing feeling of despair and dread. By the time the film was over, I felt exceptionally uneasy - which is exactly the way that Romero wants us to feel after his movies.



This isn't my favorite 'Dead' movie - but each Dead movie is a different beast from the others. If you're looking for an exceptionally up-to-date Romero film, this one's for you.