Review? The Zombie Diaries
Jun. 30th, 2009 04:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puinaThis movie, The Zombie Diaries, popped up for rental this week (note: it's from 2006) so I figured I'd give it a try. I checked it out on IMDB first and read some terrible reviews, so I wasn't expecting much of it. The whole premise is: Zombies done Blair Witch style. Sounds pretty cool, in my book.
Well, I didn't think it was that bad, really. I've been wanting to see a Zombie movie done this style for a while now, and even though the plot wasn't awesome in Zombie Diaries, I think it was a good example of how to do it with (what I assume was) a low budget. I guess what many people don't like is that the zombies aren't the main focus of the movie. But that's not bad at all, some of my favorite zombie movies do just that: have some gore, but mainly focus on the way the "survivors" adapt to the zombocalypse, and it's more about human drama while running away from zombies. Well, Diaries isn't too deep on that, but it tries.
The zombies themselves are pretty dumb: not too far off considering they're dead and already rotting. They're slow and not very menacing which kind of makes it hard for you to believe they could sneak up and attack any of the characters that get mauled. I prefer my zombies fast and angry, but I'll take any kind for the sake of entertainment. That takes some credibility away from Zombie Diaries: you can get rid of a zombie by shoving it aside in one scene, but not after he snuk up on a character that had been one fo the "scavengers"- the more daring group of survivors who you assume have some skills or at least enhanced awareness. Maybe he was in shock?
Now for the fun part: the gore. All in all, I think was pretty well done. The first blood and guts scene is not very impressive, but what comes up later in the movie is much better. There is one very hilarious scene in which a zombie very diligently walks up to an unconscious lady, and starts stringing out what I suppose are her intestines. He's so tidy, too! You get your gore in small doses, but when you get it, it's pretty full on.
I won't try to dissect the plot for you because I don't know much about that. It's pretty predictable- but it's zombies! What else can you expect? Then it all goes out the window on the last third of the movie, in a really weird plot twist, and the zombies are sort of left behind for a different kind of "horror". I think it could have done without it, or if they wanted to make it a more original movie they could expand it, blend it in with the rest of the plot and give it a more in depth treatment. Yes, I do think they could make a nice, mixed genre movie with zombies in the background. Weird tastes, maybe, but to each his own, right? This last part of the movie also had me wondering: do zombies feel pain? They really shouldn't.
I need to get my hands on Rec. I could only find Quarantine (if I have not been misinformed, the latter is the remake of the former?) but it was already rented, and then the 2nd NoES was there... that one has a pretty loltastic cover, complete with a glamor shot of Freddy. When was he scary, again?
And there are a lot of other more obscure zombie flicks I want to check out, like Zombies vs Vampires. If you ask me, I think we're closer the Robot Apocalypse than to the Zombie Apocalypse, and in any case it will be Zombies fighting Robots for world domination (zombies don't stand a chance, btw). But I'd like to see the two great undead races duke it out, even if it's a crappy movie. Thoughts?
Well, I didn't think it was that bad, really. I've been wanting to see a Zombie movie done this style for a while now, and even though the plot wasn't awesome in Zombie Diaries, I think it was a good example of how to do it with (what I assume was) a low budget. I guess what many people don't like is that the zombies aren't the main focus of the movie. But that's not bad at all, some of my favorite zombie movies do just that: have some gore, but mainly focus on the way the "survivors" adapt to the zombocalypse, and it's more about human drama while running away from zombies. Well, Diaries isn't too deep on that, but it tries.
The zombies themselves are pretty dumb: not too far off considering they're dead and already rotting. They're slow and not very menacing which kind of makes it hard for you to believe they could sneak up and attack any of the characters that get mauled. I prefer my zombies fast and angry, but I'll take any kind for the sake of entertainment. That takes some credibility away from Zombie Diaries: you can get rid of a zombie by shoving it aside in one scene, but not after he snuk up on a character that had been one fo the "scavengers"- the more daring group of survivors who you assume have some skills or at least enhanced awareness. Maybe he was in shock?Now for the fun part: the gore. All in all, I think was pretty well done. The first blood and guts scene is not very impressive, but what comes up later in the movie is much better. There is one very hilarious scene in which a zombie very diligently walks up to an unconscious lady, and starts stringing out what I suppose are her intestines. He's so tidy, too! You get your gore in small doses, but when you get it, it's pretty full on.
I won't try to dissect the plot for you because I don't know much about that. It's pretty predictable- but it's zombies! What else can you expect? Then it all goes out the window on the last third of the movie, in a really weird plot twist, and the zombies are sort of left behind for a different kind of "horror". I think it could have done without it, or if they wanted to make it a more original movie they could expand it, blend it in with the rest of the plot and give it a more in depth treatment. Yes, I do think they could make a nice, mixed genre movie with zombies in the background. Weird tastes, maybe, but to each his own, right? This last part of the movie also had me wondering: do zombies feel pain? They really shouldn't.
I need to get my hands on Rec. I could only find Quarantine (if I have not been misinformed, the latter is the remake of the former?) but it was already rented, and then the 2nd NoES was there... that one has a pretty loltastic cover, complete with a glamor shot of Freddy. When was he scary, again?
And there are a lot of other more obscure zombie flicks I want to check out, like Zombies vs Vampires. If you ask me, I think we're closer the Robot Apocalypse than to the Zombie Apocalypse, and in any case it will be Zombies fighting Robots for world domination (zombies don't stand a chance, btw). But I'd like to see the two great undead races duke it out, even if it's a crappy movie. Thoughts?
