REVIEW OF THE ZOMBIE DIARIES I have never been a big fan of Zombie Movies if I am going to be honest. I watched Night of the Living Dead when I was young and loved it. Dawn of the Dead then blew me away. Apparently there are hundreds of other 'zombie' movies around but these made it under my radar. I caught 28 Days Later (Which was alright!) and now The Zombie Diaries courtesy of London's FrightFest. The film is not perfect, but I thought it was quite a solid little film. The directors came on stage afterwards and said the film was made on next to nothing, but I didn't have this info during the screening and it never once felt like that. In fact, the entire production was very slick, and despite getting much criticism I found the acting to be pretty good. There are quite a few actors in the film, and I would say maybe 3 or 4 of them could have improved. The rest were very natural and it didn't feel like acting at all (Which was the point). It's basically three "video diaries" inter-cut in a pulp fiction style that show England in the grip of a zomboe plague. It feels very real I must say. My biggest issue with this film was the absolutely ridiculous COVER ART the distributor chose. I am not surprised the film has had the backlash it has when it has been presented as a high-concept Hollywood epic with scenes of chaos and destruction in London. Imagine if they had put some kind of "Independence Day" cover art on a movie like PI? Imagine the response. Well that's what happened.. Putting the cover art to the side I also have a few minor quibbles. As mentioned 3 or 4 of their actors could have done better, and the script felt a little loose (Although I suspect this was to do with the amount of improvisation the filmmakers talked about). The good points would be: The Score, The Natural Acting, The clever way the 3 stories inter-link, and the atmopshere. I really do not like hardcore films that are bathed in blood and have no atmosphere. I found the spooky side of The Zombie Diaries very good. In fact there is a set piece about 20 minutes in set in a farm house that I would rank as one of the best and most atmopsheric moments in any horror film this year. So it's a mixed bag really. The cover art is rubbish and there are a few flaws here and there with over-acting, but on the whole its a decent flick and the special fx are pretty good, although they should have remembered to put make-up on the zombie's hands!! Overall a 7/10. Next time I would like to see the directors given a decent budget and spend more time on their scripts and get a distributor who won't try and lie about the movie. A Hollywood epic it ain't! A solid little indie it is! - that's my advice!
Review of Zombie Diaries
