Reviewed by Andre Dellamorte

George Romero is still cranky. He’s still annoyed. And he still has an eye. Watching his Diary of the Dead isn’t as painful at home as it might have been in the theater, likely because it’s something of a small screen effort, and the errors of this sort of film don’t play as poorly on the small screen (see also: Redacted). Though it’s a hard film to love, there are things to enjoy about Romero’s modest return to the form he invented.

Here a bunch of Canadian actors face the invasion of zombies that four previous groups of actors faced before. Set in a parallel universe to the first film, here the invasion breaks out, and instead of a disparate group of strangers, the party is a crew of Pittsburgh would-be filmmakers. Such leads to the whole thing told in cinema’s epistolary style of the found footage format, though hosted by Debra Moynihan (Michelle Morgan), who suggests that this is mostly her boyfriend’s footage, implying the cameraman will eventually die.

The group run across different survivors and victims, and footage, all of which essays the world’s collapse, while the cameraman looks to upload the footage to the world, still attracted to the ideas of exposure, and awareness, and perhaps fame.

Nothing really comes together in this film as a coherent notion that sticks as great commentary. Yes, we live in an age of instant dissemination, but Romero seems kinda cranky about that, even on the commentary. There is no perfect form of media for dissemination, so I don’t get Romero’s problems, but I don’t think he ever gets to persnickety about it. It’s just there. Instead, this is a more effective use of the found footage technique (in its way) than Cloverfield, but less satisfying. It is no more or less than the Blair Witch Romero Project. And that’s fine. But you expect more from a guy who directed four great zombie movies. This is not one of his best efforts, but at least he’s hungry to work.

The Weinstein Company presents the film in anamorphic widescreen and in 5.1 surround. Extras include a commentary by Romero with DP Adam Swica and editor Michael Doherty. As to be expected Romero dominates the track. “Character Confessionals” offers four characters talking directly to camera (20 min.) and much of it is pretty actorly. “The First Week” is from Michael Flescher and covers the first week of filming (4 min.). “The Roots” (2 min.) talks of how the film is a parallel story to Romero’s first zombie film. “Familiar voices” offers the uncut audio provided by Guillermo Del Tor, Simon Pegg, and Stephen King (5 min.). “For the Record” (81 min.) is a five part making of, focusing on Romero, the cast, the make up, the visual effects, and photography and the design. Rounding out the set are the five Mysace contest winners for zombie shorts (14 min.).

Released the same day by The Weinstein Company is the film’s companion piece, 1968’s original Night of the Living Dead. Calling the film a horror classic is an understatement. This was a game changing, ingenious piece of business that still packs a punch today. Filmed with virtually no money by amateurs, this tells of a group of strangers who end up in a house together fighting off the zombie invasion. Duane Jones plays Ben, the black man who ends up the defacto leader, who helps protect Barbara (Judith O’Dea). Barbara’s brother tries to kill her after becoming zombified, and goes comatose shortly thereafter. They find a farmhouse, where a bickering Cooper family (Karl Hardman and Marylin Eastman) who think the basement is the safest place, and have a sick daughter (Kyra Schon) downstairs. There’s also Tom (Keith Wayne) and Judy (Judith Ridley). Who know the area okay. They’re surrounded by zombies, with little contact to the outside world. They come up with a plan, and they hope to make it to safety.

Pitch perfect, informative, brilliant, and with one of the most perfect endings in the history of cinema, this is a must see. There are not enough good things to say about the film.

The film comes in a full frame (but aspect correct) 1/33:1 transfer in 2.0 mono. The transfer is excellent, though the film is obviously public domain. Solid black and white, fairly sharp. It’s decent. The film comes with two commentaries, both from the previous laserdisc and DVD editions, the first with Romero, Producer/star Karl Hardman, writer John A. Russo, and Eastman, the second with producer/Johnny “Russell W. Streiner, Production manager Vince Survinski, and actors O’Dea, Bill Hinzman, Kyra Schon and the late Keith Wayne (who makes fun of his blinking throughout. One for the Fire (84 min.) is an excellent “round up the usual suspects” documentary on the making of, that talks to everyone involved who was still alive at the time of production (Hardman has since passed), and some fans. It’s a perfect compliment to the commentaries. Also included is a conversation with Romero (16 min.) called “Speak of the Dead” Both this and the feature-length doc are new add-ons that improve on Elite’s previously definitive version. Even fans who feel they’ve bought this white album before might need to double-dip. And also included is “Ben Speaks” (17 min.) the final interview with Duane Jones.  There’s also the theatrical trailer, a still gallery, and a PDF copy of the script. This is a must-have, even if you already have.