"Zombie Diaries" Review

-Zombie Diaries (2006, US DVD Release 2008)-

On the back of the DVD case it says "The Best Zombie Movie Ever." The souce: The Dark Side. The friggin "dark side" loves this movie so I had to watch it! Let me first say, this is a Dimension Extreme DVD release. Of course, that means the dvd cover art has nothing to do with the movie. The cover art gives you the feeling you are going to see a zombie-torn London, burned and bombed to hell, with a badass biker guy popin' zombie heads with his shotgun, and trustee backup pistol. Let me warn you... there are no big guns, big zombie head explosions, big zombie kill scenes... in fact, this movie doesn't even take place in London. The story unfolds in the British countryside! You can understand my frustration, because I thought I was BUYING one movie, and instead got another. Fortunately, the movie I bought is a pretty good one.

The movie follows three groups of people: a camera crew filming a documentary about the British government's reaction to a mysterious outbreak, a group called "The Scavengers," who are driving through a small town look for supplies post- zombie apocalypse, and "The Survivors," a group that has secured a farmhouse in the countryside. The movie is about how these three groups intertwine in this new Zombie infested world, even though they never meet. There is another relation besides zombies... but therein lies the plot twist. To quote the movie synopsis, "... an even more horrifying fate lurks among them."

While I wouldn't say the plot twist is horrifying, it is definitely disturbing, and in these times, probably what would happen if the zombie apocalypse was real ... or when it becomes real. That's all I'll say about the plot of the movie... no spoilers here!

Each episode is filmed documentary style... one of the characters is always holding a camera, wanting to document the devastation, so others can understand. This plot device doesn't really work for me, but then again in my fairy tale world of Zombies, humans won't survive long enough for there to be time to study tape of zombie attacks. Romero used the same device in "Diary of the Dead." Both work if you kinda forget about it. Really, it seems the decision to shoot documentary style was more of a budget issue, than art issue. I will give credit to the director though, there is so much tension in the first zombie reveal scene, it is unnerving. The continuous shot as the character checks 3 or 4 rooms before seeing a zombie is really suspenseful and brilliant.

The zombie makeup is really good in this flick, the gore is very realistic, and the entire movie seems to be grounded in reality. There's nothing over the top or outlandish here. 

Overall, if you're looking for a gritty zombie movie experience, check this flick out. While it's not "The Best Zombie Movie Ever," I give it a 3 out of 5. Be warned, this movie will make you feel weird after watching it.