This self-aware latest entry into Romero’s unequaled undead oeuvre has high energy and typically disgusting gory gags from special effects makeup wizard Gregory Nicotero, plus a healthy sense of humor and an appealing low budget vibe. Fans of the director’s shambling masses of flesh-eaters should be greatly amused – I certainly was.
But just as Romero’s student-filmmaker protagonists are toiling away on a mummy film with an underlying social conscience, so Romero has infused Diary of the Dead with a lot of criticism for our media-saturated society. These concerns sometimes threaten to overwhelm the picture, particularly in the case of some obvious and unnecessary voice-over narration. Nevertheless, Romero does a memorable job of demonstrating how the influx of instant communication in recent decades is seemingly more liable to create panic than curb it.
by Victoria Large | Source: Weinstein Company DVD
08 Jun 2008 2:07 PM | Submit Comment