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Anton Sirius on George Romero's DIARY OF THE DEAD in Toronto!!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Hey folks, Harry here... Anton Sirius sent in this review from Toronto of George Romero's DIARY OF THE DEAD. I absolutely agree with Anton's review here. Romero's DIARY OF THE DEAD I fell in love with. First off - it is its own universe. Second - this is the first time that George has taken on the zombie tale from the point of view of youth. Here you have a group of college aged kids that when the world goes upside down... they just want to go home. And the horror of finding out what home is in a world of the living dead... well, it's painful. I'm proud that we're getting to bring George and this film to FANTASTIC FEST in about a week. Here's Anton with more details on the film...
George Romero's Diary of the Dead (2007, directed by George Romero)
It takes a certain sort of bravery for a artist to go back to square one and begin again. I'm not talking about a studio-ordered "re-imagining", or a nostalgic career overview here; I'm talking about someone willing to take a story they've already done successfully, strip it back down to its basic premise, and tackle it afresh. Even in comic books it's rare for a writer to re-do their own character's origin. The arrogance inherent in (and necessary to?) the creative process leaves little room for thoughts like "My first, best take on this story may not have said everything there was to say..."
That exactly what Romero's managed to accomplish here. Diary of the Dead does not extend the universe he began with Night of the Living Dead, and which ended (maybe?) with Land of the Dead. Instead he goes back to square one, boots up a new zombie-free universe and re-creates that first night all over again, only this time the date is 2007, not 1968.
What's the point, you ask? The point is in the story, of course. Simply put, the 'hint of social commentary' Romero wanted to inject this time around focused on the way our society has become media-drenched and media-obsessed, and that couldn't be accomplished in a universe without a media-heavy infrastructure of cell phone cameras, YouTube videos and 24/7 cable news. So out go the zombie armies of Day and Land of the Dead, and in comes a new group of innocents forced to deal with the rules of death changing overnight.
And not only does it work, the result is a damn good movie, one that is just a slight notch below Dawn and Night in the Romero zombie pecking order.
Two things stood out for me. One is the fact that the gore quotient is rather low. This is going to disappoint some people, but it fits the movie Romero is making here. Simply put, watching zombies eat entrails doesn't carry the shock value it did forty years ago, and there's no reason to focus on it. This isn't a film about zombies. This is a film about people distancing themselves from disasters and pain and life by putting a camera lens between themselves and the world around them, only in this case the disaster in question is the death of death. The effects in the film are top-notch (with Greg Nicotieri overseeing them they couldn't be anything but top-notch) but they are used relatively sparingly.
The second smart thing Romero did, which didn't strike me until well after the credits had rolled, was create a universe without any zombies at all. Not only is there no plague of walking dead, there are no pop culture references to zombies for the characters to fall back on. No NOTLD, no Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide, no endless stream of first person shooters that improbably become Mila Jovovich franchises. The characters in Diary have to learn the hard way that zombies can only be taken down with head shots, and that a bite is fatal. They have to gradually realize all over again the desperate math of Day, and deal in their own ways with a future without hope. While there are occasional winks and nods to the previous movies in the series, the film is doggedly not self-referential.
The question of course is where Romero goes from here. Does he go back to his original set-up, and pick up where Land left off? Does he continue to explore his brave new world? Or does he head off in a completely new direction, now that he's freed himself from the need to stay on one path?
Wherever he goes, it's nice to still have confidence in Romero's ability to make the trip worthwhile.
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SUCKAS!
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Sounds like it might be worth checking out.
Anything's gotta be better than Land of the Dead. Holy jeez was that just a piece of crap or what?
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Sure
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Sounds like going out on a high note. Hope this isn't shaky-cam Blair Witchified.
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but those taste the best.....
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"This is a film about people distancing themselves from disasters and pain and life by putting a camera lens between themselves and the world around them, only in this case the disaster in question is the death of death."....huh?
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The more excited about this i get
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Romero is the mothafucking king!
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That's for sure.
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Need to loose their virginity, seriously.
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as in people don't stay dead anymore
i thought Land was great. Day was great from an fx standpoint. Night was brilliant and so was Dawn. but in Dawn all the zombies looked like they spent too much time in a blue paint factory. -
oops, i missed one.... in my last post i mean.
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...what did you think of Day and Land? If your opinion of those land somewhere with mine then I'm going to get really excited about this.
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It was NOTLD(1990). He wrote the screenplay and produced with Savini directing. I'd say he was pretty involved. Anyway, I can't wait to see this one. LOTD didn't really do it for me.
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No slouch on the man's zombie work -- which is impressive and holds a proud place in my heart -- but I'd love to see more Martins and Bruisers. Creepshow, Knightriders; god help me, I even love Monkey Shines. George is a great storyteller, and I want to see another type of story again sans the undead.
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bad accent or not, any shout-out to San Antonio is worth seeing.
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Where the protagonists have to learn how to deal with zombies? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY?!?! I'm going to chalk that up with bad reviewing, Anton. You totally missed your own point.
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The ultimate zombie movie!
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I'll swallow my ego. I reread it and I see what he was talking about. My fault. It's a 2007 without Resident Evil 4 or George Romero. The hearse in that world's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas isn't called the Romero. There was no Return of the Living Dead to make fun of Trash saying "I Love Sex and Death." There was no industrial artist Zombie Girl chanting "Remove the Head/ Destroy the Brain!". The cheesy 80's gothrock band Alien Sex Feind never had a hit with "Zombified". Wes Craven never had to make The Serpent and the Rainbow. Michael Jackson's Thriller never won Best Video Ever from VH1. Edgar Wright never broke out and Simon Pegg never left England. A world where the concept of "zombie" never existed, until it does suddenly. I have to admit, it's a ballsy move.
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Someone tell me.
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Don't most zombie movies assume that in their universe, nobody has ever heard of zombies? Not to dis on Romero or anything,(because I'm definitely going to see this in the theater) but that's one of the things that bothers me about a lot of zombie stuff these days. As an audience member, I have to sit through at least 45 minutes of "God, just shoot them in the head already, stupid!" Wouldn't things move a lot smoother if at least one of the characters, as well as the entire audience knows the rules from the get go? With vampire movies you know what you're fighting. Nobody ever says "A vampire? what's that? Never heard of 'em?" But I've seen and read so much zombie stuff that goes along these lines: "well, it's a reanimated corpse, and it eats the flesh of the living. Hmmmmm, I wonder what it could be?" It actually takes me out of the experience a little bit. I know it's just a device to ratchet up the tension, but I find it very hard to suspend the disbelief that every zombie movie I watch takes place in a universe where zombie fiction doesn't exist.
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There's one movie of late that does exactly that. It's called "Day X". Check it out on IMDB. Comes out in November.
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When's the release date?
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and social commentary? how ingenius. i wish i had the brains to think of that.
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that zombies kept diaries. Dear diary, ate brains today...again.
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This is the first zombie movie to interest me a long time. I like the idea of stripping down the zombie genre to the bare bones and starting over again. Instead of upgrading the zombies to generate tension, lets push the undead to the background and focus on the fear and confusion of the people trying to figure out what the fuck is going on and trying to survive.
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Zombies, like those in zombie movies, could never take over the world because we'd already know how to deal with them. But with complete ignorance of zombies, I could see it happening.
Also, Land of the Dead was the most devastatingly disappointing movie I've ever seen. Day of the Dead was a thousand times better. Dawn was a billion. -
Wait, that was fucking Beetlejuice.
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Has been for 20 years.
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Romero does some of the best work around..
Hope it goes theatrical ..so he can show the posers how it done. -
The Dead Will Walk the Earth, Bitches
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Romero will still be making these goddamn shoddy zombie movies.
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a (rob) zombie makes another Texas Chainsaw remake.
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Most "zombie" movies usually skip one or two rules. Primarily the whole once you die, your gonna become a zombie. No bites needed, everyone is qualified. Otherwise, the whole concept of the zombie, it wouldn't exist? Couldn't look up it up in the dictionary? What about Jeopardy? I'll take mental states for 1,000 Alex.
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I certainly hope this gets a theatrical release. I wasn't crazy about Lsnd of the Dead (too much CGI gore), but still bought the DVD the day it came out. George Romero is a master, and I never fear he'll someday deliver another classic. Maybe this is it. All this talk of zombies and Halloween coming up takes me back to the old horror TV hosts. Check this out: http://tinyurl.com/2mw36t
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...I just had to mention it. Watch White Zombie, Last Man on Earth, and then Night of the Living Dead. NOTLD was hardly an original piece even back in 1968. 'Romero's Rules'?! What the?
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Sometimes they are zombies!
Hmm, what about Ninja Zombies? Do zombies ever keep their ninja skills from life? -
Sep 11, 2007 7:37:46 PM CDT
Hey! woman tortured by 6 people in the news! when is -
by hamiltongeyser
the exploitive horror movie based on this story come out? i needs my torture porn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I have been wishing he would make a movie that seems to be exactly what is being described here. Excellent!
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Unfortunately there wasn't only a Creepshow 2, but a (so I've heard) shitty-ass Creepyshow 3 was released a couple months ago. Maybe Romero could follow Fox's lead and do Creepshow 2: Requiem...or not.
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come on, someone give us a movie of this!
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Sorry, but the merits of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD are accidental (forfeiting a camera tripod has been translated into cinema verite). LAND OF THE DEAD was a mess (the happy ending invokes HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL): DAY OF THE DAY is akin to a one-act play fueled on stereotypes. CREEPSHOW lost its lustre even before it was released. Romero's political polemics are about as subtle as one of Jesse Jackson's tired diatribes. Romero best cinema is the first 15 minutes of DAWN OF THE DEAD (genuinely scary; the balance of the film is variable). But he's Orson Welles reincarnate compared to the likes of Eli Roth and Rob Zombie (not saying much but I'm trying to circumvent total negativity). Worst line in the Romero compendium is from his NIGHT/LIVING DEAD remake (screenplay, Savini directed): the central heroine stares into the camera and drones, "We are them and they are us." Yecchh.
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I remember those positive early reviews for Land... including Vern's, which really got me psyched... but everyone was watching it with nostalgia in their eyes, and couldn't see how fairly lame and lifeless it was, despite the gore and overly-acknowledged "social commentary"... still, I'm hopeful.
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I hope it's as good as people are saying. I'm always up for more great Romero zombie movies!
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Wasn't really looking forward to yet another zombie flick, but now I am.
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What are there now, 1-2 per year? Let's see, follow-up to Land of the Dead + low budget = me not interested.
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Might wanna get the head checked, most low budget movies tend to be somewhat decent and have less studio intervention. Usually when they rely more on visual effects it turns out better then cg. Unless its a situation unrenderable by the hands of men. Even then thats a thin border.
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stop making zombie movies sir.
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But I have seen a few and besides maybe Shaun, I can't think of any overt references to prior knowledge of how to deal with zombies in any movie.
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with writing a smart movie and showing intestine munching? The apparent lack of zombie eating habits disturbs me.
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I hope this is a drastic improvement.
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will knock your socks off - very cool/well shot
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George, who apparently isnt a good filmmaker (PFF!), I want you to make 2 zombie movies a year please until the day you become one yourself. If people dont want them, dont go and see them. It doesnt hurt anyones person if they are released. Its fine. I didnt even like Land that much, but I welcome the attempt. And if people are not interested then why do they click the link to read this piece of news? GRRR I could crush my breakfast cereal sometimes....
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I agree. people complaining about too many zombie movies?! whats the world come to.
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This sounds like dueling zombie projects!
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What IS it with all these people demanding that George retire??? Is your sad life THAT affected by a man making a movie, most likely hundreds of miles away from you, that you are NOT required to see??? If it bothers you that much, seek some professional help. There are a lot of movies out there that I have no intention of seeing, but it's no skin off my nose if people want to make them.
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The greatest 2 zombie movies ever made were "Dawn" and "Day". I like "Land" more than most, but it didn't have the same feel as the other two. "Diary" sounds absolutely fantastic. It is so nice to have George Romero back in his independent mode. Please review Harry immediately after the fantastic fest tonight.
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