Diary of the Dead

Diary of the Dead is an independent horror film. It will not be the fifth film chronologically in director George A. Romero's Dead series. However, in "an attempt to re-establish a lucrative franchise," the film will, technically and philosophically, be a reboot, "a rejigging of the myth [sic]" says George A. Romero. Even though the fourth film was studio-produced through Universal Studios, Diary of the Dead will be produced by Romero's and his producer friend Peter Grunwald's Romero-Grunwald Productions with Artfire Films. The film began its four-week shoot in Toronto on October 19, 2006.

Romero announced the film in August 2006 after signing a deal to write and direct it. The plot involves a group of film school students who are filming a horror movie in the wilderness and are attacked by zombies. The entire film take place during the same night as Night of the Living Dead. It will give a new perspective on the whole phenomenon as the students learn about the zombies through first-hand experience, as opposed to the people locked up in the farmhouse in Night of the Living Dead. George was interviewed by Fangoria issue #261. He says it won't be like the Blair Witch Project, but he wants more of a non-realistic view of things. The movie was released Fall of 2007. Its sequel is Survival of the Dead; which comes out on May 28, 2010.

Plot

A group of young film studies students from the University of Pittsburgh are in the woods making their own horror film about a mummy along with their Faculty Advisor, when they hear on the radio the news of apparent mass-rioting and mass murder. Soon, these reports include cannibalism and the fact that the recently deceased are inexplicably awaking and walking.

Ridley and Francine decide to leave the group, while Jason, who wants to film the events documentary-style, heads to the dormitory of his girlfriend Debra Monahan. She does not succeed in contacting her family and they travel in Mary's Recreational Vehicle to the house of Debra's parents in Scranton, Pennsylvania. While driving her RV, Mary sees a car accident and runs over a highway patrolman and three other zombies trying to escape from them. Thereafter, the group stops and the apparently despondent Mary, tries to commit suicide, shooting herself in the head with a pistol. Her friends take her to a hospital where they realize that the dead are indeed awaking and walking and they need to fight to survive while traveling to Debra's parents' house. When the RV had technical problems, they had to fix it in a amish barn with a amish farmer. The zombies arrived and attacked them. The farmer was the only one to die from the zombies in the area by getting bitten and commiting suicide. On their way, they were carpooled by a gang of a nearby city led by a former national guard. They gave them supplies such as food and weapons and gas. When they arrive they find that Debra's family have died and become zombies. They escape the house and decide to travel back to Ridley's mansion. On their way, they were stopped by the national guard and their supplies of food. The raid was lead by Sergeant "Nicotine" Crockett (who soon becomes the main character in Survival of the Dead). They arrive to find that all the staff and family at the mansion are zombies and the deranged Ridley is soon to become one. Also becoming one at this point is Elliot, the technology expert who thought the house was safe and let his guard down. Tracy storms off, after Jason chose to film a zombie attack on her rather than help. After Jason is attacked, the remaining survivors then seal themselves in the family's panic room. After an undisclosed amount of time, we see the last video Jason downloaded before he is bitten and then shot. It is a video of two men tying zombies up and using them as targets. Jason wanted to make the video so he could help people and maybe even save a few lives. Debra's final words after we see the zombie target shooting video are...

"Are we worth saving? You tell me."

Cast

Shawn Roberts^[1] - Tony Ravello
Joshua Close^[1] - Jason
Michelle Morgan^[1] - Debra
Jon Dinicol^[1] - Eliot
Philip Riccio^[1]
Scott Wentworth^[1] - Maxwell
George Buza - Biker
Amy Ciupak Lalonde - Tracy
Tatiana Maslany^[2]
Tino Monte - Newscaster
Megan Park - Francine Shane
Martin Roach - Stranger
Alan Van Sprang - Colonel
Matt Birman - Zombie Trooper
Laura DeCarteret - Bree
Janet Lo - Asian Woman
Chris Violette - Gordo
Todd William Schroeder - Brody
Alexandria DeFabiis - Zombie
Nick Alachiotis - Fred

External links

'Diary of the Dead' on Internet Movie Database
The First Week – A look at the first week of filming on Diary of the Dead, hosted by Special Features Producer Michael Felsher

The Living Dead series

Official Romero directed films: Night of the Living Dead • Dawn of the Dead • Day of the Dead • Land of the Dead • Diary of the Dead • Survival of the Dead

Dead series remakes: Night of the Living Dead (1990) • Dawn of the Dead (2004) • Night of the Living Dead 3D • Day of the Dead (2007)

Notable spoofs/parodies: The Return of the Living Dead and its sequels • Night of the Living Bread • Shaun of the Dead

Unofficial sequels: Zombi 2 and its sequels • Children of the Living Dead • Flesheater • Day of the Dead 2: Contagium