Editorials
George Romero’s Underrated ‘Diary of the Dead’ Offers a Relevant Message for These Troubling Times
When Gil Scott-Heron claimed that the revolution would not be televised, I don’t think he was referring to the dystopic future of 2021, but he wasn’t that far off. What was once considered “emerging media” has taken over the world, with live-tweeting and amateur phone footage mostly replacing newspapers and television crews. While this change may have been gradual, there was one filmmaker who lived through the evolution of modern media and felt this cultural shift coming. George A. Romero may be remembered as the father of the modern zombie flick, but he was also an auteur who didn’t mind reinventing himself in order to keep his stories relevant. That’s why I’d like to talk about one of his most underrated movies, the eerily prescient Found-Footage film, Diary of the Dead.
For those who haven’t seen it, the story follows an ensemble of film students as they document a zombie outbreak, exploring how survivors might share and react to information when society begins to crumble. Once these young filmmakers embark on an ill-fated road trip, their impromptu documentary slowly reveals less about the zombies and more about the ugly side of human nature, making for a classic Romero picture with copious amounts blood, guts and post-9/11 allegory. Of course, in order to really appreciate what Romero was going for with Diary of the Dead, we have to look back at the context surrounding this odd little production.
The original Dead trilogy received a satisfying conclusion back in the 80s with Day of the Dead, but the socio-political turmoil of the Bush era ultimately convinced Romero that he had more to say within the Zombie genre. This resulted in a comeback with 2005’s tremendously entertaining post-apocalyptic parable, Land of the Dead. Unfortunately, the production of this undead epic was a terrible experience for the director, as he was forced to deal with studio meddling and a series of personal problems behind the scenes. While I think the final product stands alongside the original trilogy as an iconic piece of horror fiction, it’s no surprise that Romero decided to tone things down a bit in his next project. So, in 2007, George returned to the low-budget guerrilla filmmaking that earned him his stardom, but for different reasons.
While the cultural landscape surrounding Diary of the Dead could not have been any more different than Night of the Living Dead‘s swinging 60s, both movies share a rebellious spirit informed by Romero’s own fears. By the mid-2000s, it was obvious that media as a whole was changing, and so was our way of consuming it. Communication empires were starting to fracture under their own weight and online social bubbles were rapidly expanding. In this chaotic environment, Romero figured that it was up to common folk to rise up and help untangle what he called a “media octopus”. And who better to fight for the truth than a rag-tag band of naïve film students?
“Just keep filming!”
Of course, Romero was also influenced by the rise of YouTube, one of the most revolutionary media platforms of all time. Corporate interests and greedy algorithms may have put a dent in its reputation, but the site was originally envisioned as a place where regular people could share their point of view without fear of corporate oversight. It’s no wonder that YouTube was once regarded as a beacon of free expression, but it was also a hub for all sorts of viral horror content, usually presented as real-life Found Footage. Naturally, these ideas bled over into Diary‘s portrayal of an online media-frenzy.
At the time, Found-Footage had yet to be re-popularized by the Paranormal Activity franchise, but it wasn’t exactly an obscure style of filmmaking. After The Blair Witch Project, the sub-genre was usually adopted by up-and-coming filmmakers as a way of breaking into the business without going bankrupt. Obviously, this wasn’t the case with Romero, as this Master of Horror deliberately chose to make a Found-Footage project because he realized the format’s potential for telling intimate and timely stories.
While themes of media censorship and the ineffective government response provide a terrifying and realistic backdrop for this re-imagined undead uprising, Romero’s choice of telling the story through the lens of amateur filmmakers also adds another level of commentary to the picture. The characters’ insistence on completing The Death of Death (the film within the film) makes for a compelling case of “the medium is the message”, and their obsession with documenting their survival wouldn’t be out of place in today’s social media landscape. In fact, the movie feels even creepier now that we live in an age when we’re more likely to hear about international tragedies through an Instagram post than a special news bulletin.
Despite this novel approach, Diary still benefits from the same charms as Romero’s traditional zombie flicks. Moments like the tragic discovery of Debra’s family or the Professor’s nihilistic musings on the future of humanity echo some of the best aspects of the director’s previous work. That’s not even mentioning the appropriately ominous finale, which concludes the film on a grim viral video. After all, zombies can be stopped with a simple bullet to the brain, but there’s no cure for human nature.
“Now it’s us against them, except they’re us.”
Unfortunately, Diary of the Dead succumbs to some classic Found Footage pitfalls that keep it from becoming a modern classic. From convenient camera angles to questionable CGI, plus a couple of overly theatrical moments, the movie has its fair share of flaws, but I still think it works as a visceral zombie flick. Personally, the simple fact that a filmmaking legend is trying his hand at a new and incredibly difficult form of storytelling more than makes up for some stilted dialogue and computer-generated blood splatters.
Romero actually described his experience with Found-Footage like “coming home”, saying that he enjoyed the possibility of unscripted surprises and down-to-earth storytelling. In behind-the-scenes featurettes, the director actually claimed that there’s more planning involved in setting up a convincing Found Footage shot than a traditional one, and he explains that he preferred to cast stage actors in order to facilitate longer and more complex scenes. At the end of the day, it’s quite clear that he had fun playing around with this new format while commenting on the future of emerging media. It’s a real shame that he didn’t get the chance to perfect his technique with more Found-Footage projects, though I’m still grateful for what we got.
Even then, most of Diary‘s flaws are justified by the premise. The entire movie is meant to have been cobbled together by a handful of amateur film students, so some of the pretentious narration and wonky pacing actually contribute to the realistic tone. There’s also a surprising amount of humor in this mostly nihilistic picture, from playful jabs at running zombies to dynamite-wielding Amish folk. Horror fans are also likely to appreciate the numerous voice cameos from other masters of the craft like Guillermo Del Toro, Stephen King, Tom Savini, Wes Craven and even Quentin Tarantino.
Diary of the Dead is far from Romero’s greatest work, but it’s still worth watching after all these years. The subtext is still on point, the zombies are still scary and there’s no beating that chilling apocalyptic atmosphere. So, whether you’re a zombie enthusiast, Found Footage fan or just a casual horror hound up for some socially conscious thrills, I wholeheartedly recommend digging this one up. The revolution may not be televised, but if the late, great George A. Romero is to be believed, it might just show up online. And I think that’s a relevant message for these troubling times.
Can you believe it’s already been fifteen years since 2009? I feel older than Jason’s mother’s head. But never mind all that. We’re going to look into the past in celebratory fashion today and take a month-to-month look at what the world of horror looked like back in 2009.
The dreaded month of January kicked things off in usual January fashion with a forgettable title, The Unborn. A David S. Goyer picture that’s not very memorable but managed to be the sixth most successful horror film of 2009 domestically, raking in over $42 million at the box office.
Right behind it on the calendar was Patrick Lussier’s My Bloody Valentine 3D starring “Supernatural” actor Jensen Ackles. This slasher remake took the idea of January horror and embraced it, making a silly and gory slasher that was the world’s first R-rated film to ever use Real3D technology. Anyone looking for legitimate scares was probably pissed (the film has a 44% Rotten “Audience” rating) but genre fans had fun with it to the tune of over $51 million at the box office (on a $14 million budget).
Next up, releasing on January 30 was the sleepy PG-13 horror flick The Uninvited. For the life of me, I’ll never understand the choice to release a movie called The Uninvited two weeks after a movie called The Unborn; to be fair, most of us are unable to remember much about either of them.
The reboot of Friday the 13th was served up to us for Valentine’s Day Weekend 2009. A slasher movie that made a ton of money and had fans begging for a sequel… that never came. The Platinum Dunes reboot may not be universally beloved, but I know a fair share of fans (myself included) who thought the new Jason, Derek Mears, and team made a film that was both fun and brutal. And it was juicy enough to come in as the number three most successful domestic horror film in 2009 to the tune of over $65 million. Friday the 13th ’09 was nowhere near perfect but it was a damn fun time with some underrated Jason Voorhees moments and a sleek plan to tell Jason’s origin story quickly via flashbacks that some superhero franchises could learn from. Oh yeah, and it starred the other “Supernatural” bro, Jared Padalecki. I’m sensing a pattern here.
‘Last House on the Left’
Next up, yet another remake of a classic horror film: The Last House on the Left. Wes Craven wanted to see what his low-budget horror film would look like with a little walking around money and the results were that we, the audience, got to see a dude get his head microwaved. The critics weren’t huge fans but let’s be honest, it could have been a lot worse given the subject matter and lack of nuance in the 2000s. Last House went on to land itself in the top ten horror box office returns of the year.
March would also feature one of the many notches in Kyle Gallner’s horror belt, The Haunting in Connecticut, a movie with maybe too many generic possession genre moments to make a major dent in the status quo but enough to make it memorable. I’d take it over many of The Conjuring franchise spinoffs of today, personally. Though, they’re all very much alike.
April Horror would conjure nothing for audiences but Sam Raimi would bring the loud, scary, and funny back to the genre with Drag Me to Hell on May 29. This film that was somehow still PG-13 even with a cat murder, flying old lady eyeball, and mouth-to-mouth puke action was a blast to experience in the theater. Audiences agreed as the film ranked #7 on the horror box office of the year, cashing out at $42 million thanks to a loveable lead in Alison Lohman, the forever horror victim Justin Long, and some good old-fashioned, Evil Dead II-type fun.
‘Drag Me to Hell’
July would shock horror fans in a completely different way with adoption horror flick Orphan. The ending may have had all of us feeling super uncomfortable and shocked but the movie itself had adoption groups majorly upset at how the film depicted the dangers of adoption. So much so that the studio had to add a pro-adoption message to the film’s DVD. No matter, the performance of Isabelle Fuhrman would carry the film to a $41 million box office run and later spawn a decent prequel in 2022.
Speaking of collecting, The Collector was also released in July 2009 and was a pleasant surprise featuring a shitload of originality and some scares to boot. Yet another horror success that would make $10 million on a $3 million budget and spawn a sequel. We’re still waiting on third installment, which abruptly stopped shooting several years back under strange circumstances.
The fourth Final Destination film graced us with its predestined presence in 2009 as well with The Final Destination; the 3D one with the race car track opening. The film was (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) a financial success, raking in over $186 million (worldwide) on a $40 million budget.
Rob Zombie went Rob Zombie’ing as hard as he’s ever Rob Zombie’d with Halloween II later that month. He’d Rob Zombie so hard that we wouldn’t see Halloween on the big screen again until almost ten years later with Halloween 2018. And nothing controversial ever happened in the franchise again. *Shuts book* Stop trying to open it! NO! NOOOOOOOO!
‘Halloween II’
Another remake in Sorority Row was the first film to follow Rob Zombie’s divisive stab-a-thon with a schlocky Scream-esque slasher flick that had a good enough time and even boasted a few neat kills. Critics weren’t fans of this one but if you were? You’ll be happy to hear that writer Josh Stolberg just announced he’s working on the follow-up!
Sexy Horror September continued a week later with Jennifer’s Body and an all-new, emo kind of Kyle Gallner. Jennifer’s Body didn’t exactly crush it for the critics or the box office but has success in its own right and is considered somewhat of a cult classic thanks to some hilarious writing and leading performances from Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried. Also, shout out to Adam Brody’s band Low Shoulder. Machine Gun Kelly could never.
Part of the low box office for Jennifer’s Body could have had something to do with what came next as Paranormal Activity would rock the horror world a week later. The genius marketing of the low-budget film would feature clips of audiences on night vision cameras losing their minds. Whether it scared you to death or you found the entire concept ridiculous, you had to see it for yourself. Paranormal Activity would bring in almost $200 million worldwide on a 15 THOUSAND dollar budget. I’m no mathematician but I’m pretty sure that’s good. The horror game changer may just be the most remembered of all the 2009 films and it’s one every studio in the world wanted to replicate.
‘Paranormal Activity’
One film’s game changer is another film’s flop as Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster’s space horror Pandorum had the unfortunate scheduling of lining up against Paranormal Activity on that fateful day and in turn, being mostly forgotten.
Spooky Season 2009 kicked off with the beloved horror-comedy Zombieland in October, complete with Jesse Eisenberg’s meta-rules for surviving a zombie apocalypse, Bill Murray, and Woody Harrelson who just wanted a fuckin’ Twinkie. There’s nothing like a good horror comedy and Zombieland proved that all the way to the bank, making $74 million domestically en route to a second film that brought back the entire cast.
It’s only been twelve seconds since I said the word remake, so let’s fix that. The Stepfather remake would follow a week later and be met by an audience getting a little sick of them. Unlike some of the other spirited remakes that surrounded this era in horror (not that they ever stopped), The Stepfather felt like an uninspired retread of the understated but completely messed up 1987 Terry O’Quinn horror cult classic. It’s largely been forgotten over the years.
“Who am I here?” Oh yeah, it’s October in the 2000, there’s bound to be a Saw movie around here somewhere. Saw VI would be released on the 23rd of October and continue the story of Detective Hoffman while adjusting the rates of some shady insurance adjustors. Saw VI would also fall victim to a little bit of Paranormal Activity mania with the film being bested by the continued rollout of its predecessor. Things were looking a little bleak for the franchise at this point. Probably none of us would have imagined that fifteen years later we’d be talking about the same director (Kevin Greutert) returning for the eleventh movie in the franchise.
‘The House of the Devil’
After all these humongous box office successes, sequels, and remakes it would be three memorable indie flicks that would round out October of 2009; the ultra fucked up Willem Dafoe, Lars von Trier sex/horror flick Antichrist, followed by Ti West’s ’70s haunter The House of the Devil and rounded out with some Australian torture horror in Sean Byrne’s The Loved Ones. All three movies each make their mark in their own special ways. What a way to end October.
But it was November that would bring the movie that scared me more than any other on this list: The Fourth Kind. A lot of you are assuredly rolling your eyes right now but this one messed me up on a cellular level despite it being a complete and total fake. The Fourth Kind decided to meld a traditional horror film with the stylings of The Blair Witch Project in an opening designed to make you believe it was based on a true story. An embarrassing attempt but the film itself had me afraid to sleep near windows at night after seeing those found footage abductions. It still messes with me, to be honest. WHY ARE THEIR MOUTHS STRETCHING SO MUCH?!?!
December was too busy doing Avatar and Alvin and the Chipmunks-type family affairs for any horror movies but even without it, 2009 was quite a year for horror. I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention some other memorable films that were released either straight to video, limited or overseas that year including Case 39 (that oven opening!), Exam, Daybreakers, Splice, Dead Snow, The Hills Run Red, The Descent 2, Blood Creek, Cabin Fever 2 and [REC] 2.
What were your horror favorites from 2009? Comment below and let us know!
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