"Zombie Diaries" does something that only the dorkiest zombie fan will appreciate: it takes the zombie apocalypse seriously. It does so at the expense of plot, character development, and even at the cost of entertainment. The stars of the film are not individual characters (I can't remember any of them), nor even the zombies themselves (they don't really get much screen time, and their appearances get repetitive fairly quickly). The star of the film is the zombie apocalypse itself.
I think this is why audiences have been so polarized. You have to already be in love with the idea of the zombie apocalypse for the movie to be enjoyable. I think that with all the well-made zombie movies in theaters lately (28 Days Later, etc), a lot people have convinced themselves that they are zombie fans. They're not--they just like good movies.
Zombie Diaries isn't a "good" movie. It won't make the zombie apocalypse seem very interesting if you don't already find it to be. It's even a bit boring sometimes. But that's kind of appropriate, because a real (lol) zombie apocalypse would be quite boring indeed.
To me, the movie was a jolly good time. It uses the Blair Witch camera technique, but unlike the other zombie films that do so (I can think of three others off the top of my head), this isn't a gimmick so much as a necessity. It deals with the zombie apocalypse so intimately that conventional camera techniques would get in the way.
In conclusion, this is not a zombie movie for horror fans. It is not a zombie movie for movie lovers. It is hardly even a zombie movie for zombie fans. It is a zombie movie for those among us who seriously, deeply, long to live in the zombie apocalypse, boring or not.
Wait, an additional point. The acting is kind of lame sometimes. And there is some audio added in post production that kind of doesn't make sense, IE scary music. just thought it should be mentioned.
I think this is why audiences have been so polarized. You have to already be in love with the idea of the zombie apocalypse for the movie to be enjoyable. I think that with all the well-made zombie movies in theaters lately (28 Days Later, etc), a lot people have convinced themselves that they are zombie fans. They're not--they just like good movies.
Zombie Diaries isn't a "good" movie. It won't make the zombie apocalypse seem very interesting if you don't already find it to be. It's even a bit boring sometimes. But that's kind of appropriate, because a real (lol) zombie apocalypse would be quite boring indeed.
To me, the movie was a jolly good time. It uses the Blair Witch camera technique, but unlike the other zombie films that do so (I can think of three others off the top of my head), this isn't a gimmick so much as a necessity. It deals with the zombie apocalypse so intimately that conventional camera techniques would get in the way.
In conclusion, this is not a zombie movie for horror fans. It is not a zombie movie for movie lovers. It is hardly even a zombie movie for zombie fans. It is a zombie movie for those among us who seriously, deeply, long to live in the zombie apocalypse, boring or not.
Wait, an additional point. The acting is kind of lame sometimes. And there is some audio added in post production that kind of doesn't make sense, IE scary music. just thought it should be mentioned.