The release in italy is this month so it'll prabably be a while before it hits here.

another rip off... can any1 say 28 weeks later?

I don't know whether or not this reviewer sees something in this film that I'm not catching on, because I really did not like this film. My wife bought a copy (we fancy zombies) from HMV a few weeks ago. About thirty minutes into our first (and last) viewing, we couldn't stop laughing. It was horribly ridiculous. The acting, the lack of any real story, the poorly-executed "student film" fashion- the lot made me cover my face in embarassment. Embarassment for ever having this film playing in my own home, let alone losing some money. We managed to get a refund a few days later.

Let this be a lession: Never pay for clever package art.

I reviewed it as shown at the top, and I really have to disagree with you on the acting, I thought it was good, the only problem being that it seriously lacked zombie action. I will say that this was a very controversial film, it either got great reviews, or people hated it..

i own over 2000 dvds,this is in the top 100,at least for now.

the acting is great,the fxs are well done and its got a lot of REALLY good horror elements in it ASIDE from the zombies (which there should have been more of)

the only down fall is the low amount of zombies and gore compared to others but its story line is a lot better then most horror movies i have seen in years.

the only reason anyone would compare this to 28 days/weeks later is its geography.other then that there nothing alike.
28 weeks later sucked,this movie did not.

I thought the movie was an interesting twist but it felt slightly amateurish- possibly because of the low budget-and I felt it would have worked as a student type showcase on the web but one shouldn't have had to pay to see it.

yes this movie has gotten mixed reviews.. but they did get picked up by weinstein among others.

This is a great movie... I wished there was more zombies in it... that said...
it just shows with out emotion... the horror of a zombie break out... some scenes were v. scarey... i.e. the zombie in the bedroom

The Acting was ****, the script was ****, the DoP was **** but the make up was pretty decent.

If you thought the acting was good your either to obsessed with zombies to not alike a zombie movie or just really stupid

One of the best zombie movies ever and i think Romero should take notes also because this movie is far far superior to his own Diary of the Dead effort. Everything that failed in the new Romero movie is totaly spot on in The Zombie Diaries.
I´ve seen Diary of the Dead two nights ago and seen this one last night and altough with a similar style there´s no way to compare both movies as this one is clearly a superior movie to Romero´s.
In The Zombie Diaries, we actualy feel like we´re watching some lost tapes and the spontaneaty is totaly real, wich is something that fails in Diary of the Dead where it seems all the time there was a strong effort to make the movie feel real.
The Zombie Diaries is also not devoid of social comentary but at least it´s not throwned at our faces everytime a character says a line of dialogue.
I love the old Romero stuff, but by now it´s becoming evident to me that the best zombie movies realy come nowadays from England not the EUA.
And Shawn of the Dead also rules ! :)

In response to the poster who wrote "If you thought the acting was good your either to obsessed with zombies to not alike a zombie movie or just really stupid" to the reviewer ........

Let me tell you - IF YOU think the acting is bad you clearly know NOTHING about 'acting'.

Diary of the Dead and Cloverfield are examples of 'bad' acting. Watch those films, and note the contrived and almost 'computer game' way the people behave. They don't behave like normal people - this is called bad acting.

In Zombie Diaries, the people behave like regular human beings. This is called good acting. Take the first zombie discovery in the farm house, or the moment they find the girl in the barn, or the moment the child is shot. I challenge you to find any moment in Diary of the Dead that has 'acting'/realism anywhere near that level.

I'm sorry to have to condescend to you, but you clearly have no understanding of film or performance if you can write the kind of drivel you have and attack the reviewer in the way you did. I don't normally respond to comments, but yours personified a lot of the brain-dead (excuse the pun) 'home reviewers' out there, who need to be set straight about what good and bad acting is.

Well said Darren!!

Maybe it's just because it's late at night, but my husband and I had a hard time following parts of the plot - we think we got the twist at the end with the guy at the farm who was wearing the black jacket, and doing nasty things with a blonde zombie in the barn - he was with the curly-haired guy in the forest, right, with the zombie tied down on the forest floor? Okay, so then they got after the news crew, from Diary 1 - but what ended up happening to the blonde producer? Was she the one being abused in the barn? Or was she the one in the blue blanket found by the soldiers? I found it was a bit hard to follow because many of the cast members looked a lot alike, with little to distinguish them - like, at least Sue had curly hair and some height, and the one guy had a beard, which was helpful... anyway, if someone could clarify, I would be most grateful.

PS - really enjoying zombie flicks coming from across the pond; too bad none of our Canuck directors are contributing to the genre! Then again, it's so cold up here, all you'd have to do is hole up until winter, and then they'd be frozen in their tracks - not much for story.

Unless they thawed like roaches in the spring...

Cheers!

THIS MOVIE SUCKS COMPLETELY IF I COULD TRADE THIS FOR A SANDWICH I WOULD, I WANT TO RETURN THIS MOVIE THE COVER HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! COMPLETELY NOT WORTH THE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dont waste your time, seriously!!!

I wasted money on this rental. This is the biggest largest turd to be craped out by off brand movie producers. A compleat ****ing wast of time.

I just picked Zombie Diaries up at Wal-Mart. The cool cover art and back cover comparisons to '28 Days Later' convinced me to make the purchase. A few thoughts:

1) The cover art has NOTHING to do with the movie AT ALL. False advertising by people who can't just sell the actual product they made without deception really REALLY ticks me off.

2) The filming and directing were very decent. Other "diary" type films such as Blair Witch and Cloverfield are horrible because they overuse the shaky-cam. "Ohhhh we are really amateurs here! Really! We aren't trying to make a movie at all! See how much the camera shakes! Only amateurs here!" Zombie Diaries does a good job in its presentation as "video journals". The night shots are the only time the shaky-cam is a bit overdone, but it isn't excessive and lends itself to the confusion that goes along with running around in pitch dark. The shooting locations were also beautiful, and the actual directing of each scene was pretty good.

3) That being said, the acting was HORRIBLE. There were a FEW passable performances, but overall it was undeniably atrocious. Coupled with a SUPER forced and unatrual dialogue, it made for a lot of cringing during the film, which would be good if the cringing was because of the ZOMBIES and not the acting jobs.

Someone above said that the actors acted like real people would.... this is a bunch of bologna and if you think that is how real people talk and act, you seriously need to get out in public more! There was one particular bloke who was TRYING to act like he was American (I think), but his failed attempt to hide his British accent and the horribly stilted dialogue actually had my wife and I laughing out loud.

4) It WAS a bit hard (as someone noted above) to tell who was who without the visual cues like a beard or curly hair. I am also confused by the ending, because I couldn't tell who the blonde found by the soldiers were. I am sure it is quite a good twist of an ending somehow, but neither I nor my wife got it.

All of that being said, it was still a passable Zombie flick, and if you can pick it up for $5 or MAYBE $10, it is worth the purchase. It had a lot to say about the human condition, that being humanity is deeply sinful and depraved, though it doesnt do much with that message. Can we be saved from our depravity? If so, who is the savior? Is it the real Savior Christ, or hippie butterflies, unicorns, and rainbows?

Anyhow, Zombie Diaries was definitely not on the same level as the standards of good modern Zombie flicks such 28 Days Later or I Am Legend, but it was a valiant and passably entertaining contribution to the genre.

This film was probably one of the worst zombie films i have ever seen (and I have seen a lot).

It had 2 good points, which drag it up from the worse zombie film honour, firtly it tried to explain how a "slow" zombie infection could take hold so quickly without just infection via bite. Secondly you had the psychopath which was a nice touch.

The bad points are numerous.

1: Slow zombies, if you are using slow zombies then you have to have the characters in a situation where they are trapped, blocked in etc. In this film I felt that the zombies were no threat at all, I laughed out loud when one victim (actually I think he was the only victim in the film that was alive when the zombie nabbed him) was sat in a car when a ninja zombie sneaked up and bit him (anyone that unobservant deserves to die). The other laugh out loud bit was at the market when they come outside and see a line of about 8-10 zombies about 30 yards away - cue panic - WHY? "Oh no we only have about 2 minutes before they manage to shamble into range, quick, quick." It would have been simpler to wander over with a baseball bat and bash their brains in then go back to shopping. If you wanted to make it better then put a zombie or 2 in the dimly lit store, hidden away until it grabs the leg or arm of the unwary...

2: Shaky cam - while this is a standard in low production value cinema I find it really annoying (thats just a personal thing but i dont believe it added much to the film).

3: Characters - I didn't get attached to any of the characters, we never got to know them really and thus never cared about them. I couldn't remember their names let alone care who killed them.

4: Acting - I am unsure whether the acting was good or bad, they had a script and they ran with it, if they were trying to portray people with minimal survival skills who panic a lot then i guess they pulled it off, the acting was not memorable though even if the script wasnt much to work with.

5: Advertising - the cover is a complete delusion, I think I counted about 20 zombies
in the entire film and never did I feel as if I was confronted with a horde even in an implied sense.

6: Realism - Why waste ammunition on zombies when you dont need to, just get an eye mask if you are worried about blood splatter and baseball bat them in the head, I mean its not as if they shuffle very quickly is it...

Also if i had just uncovered evidence that one member of my survivor community was 90% likely to be a homicidal maniac then quite frankly I would have waited for him to turn his back and then shoot him in the head - I mean its not as if we need to worry about the police doing you for excessive force is it :P

I noticed a comparison to the romero diary effort and I dont agree, although I didnt like the romero diary effort much either (compared to his other films), at least it had better production values and you had time to get to know the characters somewhat.

Terrible film. I really like Zombie films, the whole genre, will watch pretty much any Zombie related thing.

This was awful. The Acting killed it for me, it had the feel of an ameuter dramatic society play. Criminally bad. I never normally turn off a Zombie film, but I gave this one up after about 40 minutes.

Only scary bit in the the entire film was the zombie in the farmhouse bedroom.

Shit film. Only watch this if you are a diehard Zombie fan (I did) - but prepared to be disappointed.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Avoid. Shit. Shit.

In response to the poster who wrote "If you thought the acting was good your either to obsessed with zombies to not alike a zombie movie or just really stupid" to the reviewer ........

Let me tell you - IF YOU think the acting is bad you clearly know NOTHING about 'acting'.

Diary of the Dead and Cloverfield are examples of 'bad' acting. Watch those films, and note the contrived and almost 'computer game' way the people behave. They don't behave like normal people - this is called bad acting.

In Zombie Diaries, the people behave like regular human beings. This is called good acting. Take the first zombie discovery in the farm house, or the moment they find the girl in the barn, or the moment the child is shot. I challenge you to find any moment in Diary of the Dead that has 'acting'/realism anywhere near that level.

I'm sorry to have to condescend to you, but you clearly have no understanding of film or performance if you can write the kind of drivel you have and attack the reviewer in the way you did. I don't normally respond to comments, but yours personified a lot of the brain-dead (excuse the pun) 'home reviewers' out there, who need to be set straight about what good and bad acting is.

This film was probably one of the most realistic zombie films i have ever seen (and I have seen a lot).

My feelings:

1: Slow zombies - much more realistic that springint zombies

2: Shaky cam - added to the realism - it felt like you were in the middle of an outbreak

3: Characters - no character development whatsoever - which is exactly true to life. No life affirming arcs - this is filmmaking showing what it is like to be in the trenches of humanity on the brink of extinction

4: Acting - very realistic and natural

5: Advertising - the cover is a complete delusion, I think I counted about 20 zombies
in the entire film and never did I feel as if I was confronted with a horde even in an implied sense.

6: Realism - Spot on!

7. Budget - for what they did on £8,100 - the filmmakers should be given medals. It's a shame most people don't understand what they achieved (A thinking man's zombie film) on limited resources.

I noticed a comparison to the romero diary effort and I dont agree - this film is way better, in a league of its own.

for anyone to say this movie is better than romero's diary of the dead or 28 days later is complete nonsense.

This movie goes with the rest of the crappy zombie movies I have wasted my money on, like romeros. I only liked how the people actually had the common sense to put the camera down when needed...but I wanted more zombies. It was a waste of 10 bucks...

Why can't they make more zombie movies like Dawn of the Dead?

I bought this movie for $9 at Walmart. I should be payed $9 just to have watched this waste of time. From the beginning of this millennium has been an onslaught of terrible, below even the earliest B-movie attempts at zombie greatness. The worst being that these horrible movies are plaguing our local movie rental facilities, such as blockbuster. My question is how can a movie of such low standards be represented and sold next to movies of any worth. My review of this movie is two severed thumbs down.

I don't understand how anyone can condone this movie unless to be seen for free or more reasonable paid to see it.
For all those who agree with me are those who really know their zombie movies. Those who think this movie is good or "great" should probably never have any input on any zombie movie to be made in the future.

I waited until this movie hit the $5 mark at Walmart thankfully. By the end of the movie I was hoping that they would all be eaten. "Hey, let's wait until it's night and then run around in the woods!" "Okay, but let me check these bushes again!" "Yeah, sorry, I forgot to check the bushes earlier." "That's okay, just don't to forget to check the bushes again, or we'll be in trouble with Goke." "Yeah, we don't want to be in trouble with Goke...we really need him!" "Should we barricade this sturdy old farm house and arm ourselves with some heavy, blunt objects.' "No dammit, we stick with the plan: keep checking the bushes and running around in the dark." "Should we take the truck and go look for food?" "No we're almost out fuel and we need that for burning the bodies." "Yeah, we need to burn the bodies or Goke will be mad at us and then we won't be allowed to run around in the dark and check the bushes." 'Yeah, that would suck." "Yeah."