For someone like myself, a zombie film lover and Romero devotee, this film was a hope that the wayward Land of the Dead would not be the final chapter in Romero's zombie bible. It's a good thing then that Dawn of the Dead stands on such a high pedestal that it is unlikely to be dethroned, ever. Diary of the Dead is a major disappointment. The film definitely carries the style that seemed interesting and quirky in Martin, and was flat out unnerving in Day of the Dead. It does feel like a Romero film. Even Land of the Dead had his signature opn it, although somewhat diminished and washed off. Unfortunately that's about all this film has going for it.
Romero is not the best director by far. That issue is not really open for debate. What he does well is to create a mood, a feeling, an environment that seems plausible and beleiveable. He brings horror into the real world. Diary of the Dead does attempt to do this. The college students, the cranky professor, the world gone out of control, it's just that the performances are often so bad no information is conveyed tot he audience. He never grounds the apocalypse in our world. It never hits home, because he we never truly see the outside world excpet through the lens of a new programs, and radio declarations. Unlike Dawn of the Dead in which the survivors isolate themselves fromt he world, ROmero begins Diary of the Dead witht he characters already isolated. There isn't a sense of something they are running from. Instead they are moving towards the world and their families. This desire to connect is at the core of Romero's social commentary in the is film, but it never resonates.
I understand that he's exploring the world of self-centered media, MySpace, YouTube, blogs, but it appears that Romero is too old, too much a part of a different media ethic, to have anything truly important to say. Romero came of age as a commercial editor at a time when the news was shot on 16mm. Night of the Living Dead was a film he piece meal with borrowed and left over goods. The concepts at work here are just not fully fleshed out. It's also obvious that the man is very disconnected from the youth he seeks to portray in this film. Their clothes, mannerisms, and motivations seem half-hearted and unreal. Some of that is due to the relatively poor acting, but there is no excuse to put someone in Buddy Holly glasses to show he's a nerdy hipster in 2007. Unfortunately Diary of the Dead seems closer to Romero's more forgettable works like Bruiser, than to his past zombie masterpieces.