Why DIARY OF THE DEAD sucked pt6

[Posted by Ted H]

A friend of mine once saw this movie the day it came out. Afterwards he called me right away to tell me how awesome he thought the movie was.............We're not friends anymore.

Diary of the Dead? More like Diarrhea of the Dead, am I right?

Aaaaaaand it's over. This review clocked in +1 entry and at least a thousand more words than the last review, yet I still feel like I had way more to say and bitch about in the LotD review. I think if I were to ever do another movie review...I'll definitely pick a movie I like instead of a steaming pile of shit movie...just a thought.

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[Why DIARY OF THE DEAD sucked pt6]

Part 6: Challenge Pissing (of the Dead)

I have previously gone on record as saying George Romero is like George Lucas; following up to a beloved and classic trilogy of genre defining movies with three turds of a follow-up trilogy that ruins the classic movies by association. And while LAND OF THE DEAD is indeed like THE PHANTOM MENACE in terms of a jarring shitty movie to introduce us to the new trilogy, DIARY OF THE DEAD follows that trend well by being like ATTACK OF THE CLONES where you watch it and realize that the previous movie was no accident.

Yes, I do realize that this movie was intentionally low budget, indie style  and what not, and I did try to curb my bile in regards to all that. But what can't be forgiven no matter the movie and budget is poor writing and directing, especially by someone who knows better (and yes, this movie was both written AND directed by Romero).

Both major characters in this film (Jason and Deb) are completely inconsistent throughout the entire run time. Deb constantly switches her opinion on Jason filming the events as the movie goes on between hating him for it and being completely ok with it. Meanwhile, Jason keeps going on and on about making this movie will save lives, but every time someone is in danger, he does fuck all to try to help them. Everyone is running around the hospital, looking for help for a dying Mary, and Jason instead decides to film his camera charging...He watches and fails to bother warning Boyfriend about an incoming zombie...Deb has a zombie hanging off her back trying to eat her, but the angle of the shot was way more important than helping...Girlfriend is running for her life in the woods from a zombie, but he decides to instead act like it's instead his monster movie from the beginning...Hell, at least he's consistent at the end when he himself is finally being eaten, and he decides to film his demise rather than escape it. It's like he was gonna name this movie "Survive the zombie apocalypse by doing the exact opposite of what me and my friends are doing."

So let's talk about the overall theme that Romero forced into this movie, as he does usually. Don't trust the media...and people will always be compelled to record tragedies. The whole "Media tells LIES" thing is a bit unnecessary since the whole "Dead rising to eat the living" thing is a bit impossible to cover up for more than an hour when it's as widespread as being let on. Local? Yes, that could be contained. Worldwide? No, you can't cover that up.

As for the whole "Being compelled" thing. I still call that horse shit. I refer you back to my comparison to 9/11. According to Romero, if Jason was in the World Trade Center, he'd be filming while still inside the burning towers, doing absolutely nothing to help anyone hurt he came across.

Like I said before, yes people will feel it appropriate to film terrible events, but only from a position of safety. There was only one time in this movie where Jason was in a position of relative safety: when he and his gang were with the Black Militia. Bunch of people with runs? Yeah, best leave the zombie fighting to them, you can just film it since there's nothing of value you need to do. If the entire movie took place with the Black Militia, then my biggest gripe about Jason would be gone.

So...Is there a better movie in here?

Is it worth saving? You tell me. (See what I did there?...Nevermind...)

The challenge: Make an improved pitch for the bad movie. I'm not allowed to add new characters or change too much about existing ones. I can ignore some characters, or at least downgrade them to minor characters who have no bearing on the story. The location and elements within must also have minimal tweaking.

Now, I'm going to keep the Indie spirit mentality that this movie was made with and not go for broke on things that happen. I'm also handcuffing myself to the idea that this MUST be a "found footage" style movie, so everything involved must be shot with either Jason's camera or the other camera they found in the hospital. But can I still find a better script in here?

A better version of DotD would work like this:
Skip all the bull shit and voiceovers and start right with our "heroes" in the woods shooting their monster movie. You can still have Elliot calling in the background over how "You guys should hear this, something weird is on the news" but have Jason ignore it because he needs to get this scene where Mummy-guy chases Girlfriend in the woods right. See how I made Jason still an insufferable prick while still making it not retarded?

Enter an actual zombie that Jason and Girlfriend mistake for Mummy-guy in the dark. The zombie eats Girlfriend and THAT is our introduction to zombies in this fucking zombie movie. Not some news video, not a jump scare, but actual action. The group fights off and Mary (who somehow had a gun remember) kills the zombie. Instead of shooting herself out of shock of what she did, the group can take a rational response to Mary having a gun and just take it away from her so she can sulk in the RV for a while.

Everyone can freak out over what's happening like in Romero's version: Mummy-guy and that random girl can drive off while Jason decides he needs to find Deb. Also we can add Girlfriend dying right now and biting Boyfriend's dick off or something. The group can panic here and drive off without them, effectively saving us from bad acting and "Don't mess with Texas" in one awesome swing.

This is where my version gets way better than Romero's: While in the dorm to find Deb, instead of running into some random criminal, Jason instead runs into a zombie that gets a bite in. Jason is now effectively dying. Instead of videotaping his friends all dying, he decides in my version that he wants to chronicle his slow death on camera so that the rest of the world can have a firsthand account of how this zombie virus is happening.

The rest of the movie suddenly becomes tolerable because we're no longer trying to comprehend why Jason is insisting on taping. Then at the end we could have a bad ass death for Jason, where as he finally succumbs to the virus inside him, he hands Deb a camera and says "When I turn...shoot me." Then Deb films him waking up as a zombie before she blows his brains out.

...Also the Professor can still take the stupid bow and arrow, but the idea that it could help him fight off the undead leads to an immediate and hilarious demise.

This movie COULD be good, but it wasn't. Romero tried to go back to his roots a bit with this one after fumbling LAND. We couldn't see ourselves as these characters like in other Romero Dead films. NIGHT had a bunch of strangers trying to survive together in a farmhouse...DAWN had a few schmucks hole up in a shopping mall. Both films involved the characters acting in realistic ways. We could see ourselves in certain characters

DIARY has no realistic characters. No one would be like Jason where you'd have to be a complete scumbag to wanna not only film everything, but also do jack shit if anyone was in danger. And none of the other characters were realistic since literally anyone else would just chuck that fucking camera out the RV while it's driving over a bridge, 1st chance.

This movie is not as bad as LAND OF THE DEAD. LAND was a fucking mess beginning to end. You walked away from that movie with a bad taste in your mouth and no hope for George Romero's career. DIARY had its moments, but you left that movie with a bad taste too, just a different kind of bad taste. You leave it thinking and feeling that it was such a waste of potential. And sometimes that feeling is what makes this movie hurt more than the other.

It's that feeling that makes me never even acknowledge SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD. I'd rather watch that shitty remake of DAY OF THE DEAD a thousand times...and that's saying a lot.

Why DIARY OF THE DEAD sucked pt5

[Posted by Ted H]

"Prelude in D Flat Major" is the way overused music in this movie. I've learned to hate it.
...Also, the movie was shot in Canada...because Romero's love for Pennsylvania isn't as big as it used to be...

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[Why DIARY OF THE DEAD sucked pt5]

Part 5: Women and children first!

The overarching plot to this mess is finally reaching its payoff. We have reached Scranton and arrived to Deb's house. After a bit of speculation as to why the house looks abandoned*, Deb decides to abandon the party and urges everyone to get back on the road without her. I am all for this idea. Sadly, this won't happen.

*Did I mention the family was vacationing at the time? And that at one point they managed to get a text out to her that they're ok (at the time) and are driving home? No? Did I gloss over those parts? My bad, I must not have cared. To be fair, the scene where Deb gets a text is right after the 72,000 Myspace views argument and I was still blind with rage at this movie...

Before deciding to leave, Deb looks to the camera (because that's the only way to talk to Jason anymore) and says something along the lines of "I guess I'll call you," like this whole zombie apocalypse thing was more of an awkward first date or something with Jason replying in equally dumb fashion. At this point Jason is committed to the idea that he's gonna leave his girlfriend home alone during the zombie apocalypse to keep filming his Myspace movie. Tony quickly calls bull shit on this and decides to stay with Deb so she isn't alone. Then everyone quickly decides they have their own reason to get off the RV and chill at Deb's house; Girlfriend wants to pee, Elliot wants to play video games, Professor wants to get drunk...I'm not shitting you on any of these reasons...but the only person who has no legitimate stated reason for wanting to stay with Deb is her own fucking boyfriend.

So, upon reflection, it's more and more likely that Jason isn't so much Deb's boyfriend throughout this movie as much as Tony is. Go back and watch some parts of this movie; whenever Deb needs someone to lean on or for general support, it seems like she goes for Tony way more often than she even acknowledges Jason as an option. Maybe because it's Tony actually making an effort for the group to survive, or maybe it's because Deb has silently agreed that she needs to dump Jason for being a dipshit (she just needs to find the right off camera moment to have "that talk") and has already decided Tony makes a fantastic rebound.

Into the house we go and we discover that the family did indeed make it home, but they're nowhere in sight. Deb discovers the abandoned car they drove home on and is pointed to a damaged and bloody window in the front passenger side. So yeah, shit looks bleak. Deb starts freaking out and needs to find them, only for Tony to stop her and explain that they might not be ok. Ya know, gear her up for the worst case scenario...shit a boyfriend would do....while her actual boyfriend silently records it and says nothing. At this point I'm convinced that they did break up off camera.

While Tony is being the concerned apocalypse boyfriend to Deb, you should at this point take notice of the Professor standing over them, rocking out his dumb fucking bow and arrow set and you just know that shit's gonna get shoehorned in this movie now. Just, gear yourselves up now for that. Meanwhile, Elliot and Girlfriend are somewhere else in the house and...not looking for the family? Cuz seriously, how hard is it to find either 3 zombies, 3 scared alive people, or any combination of the two?

Before we continue, I must warn you, this next bit is where the movie fucking dies. Before it was just a shaky plot with some seriously underwhelming acting. But the part where Deb's brother, as a zombie, ninjas over and jumps onto Deb's back (without biting her, because why would a zombie do anything like that?) is the part where the S.S. Diary of the Dead can officially be classified as a sinking ship.

Why DIARY OF THE DEAD sucked pt4

[Posted by Ted H]

Just gonna go ahead and announce that it'll be a cold COLD day in hell before I review Survival of the Dead...........

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[Why DIARY OF THE DEAD sucked pt4]

Part 4: Why I hate Deb

Cut to everyone* pushing the RV because something is wrong with it. Girlfriend says it's the fuel line (because her dad was a pit crew guy for some redneck NASCAR driver. Fire arms and cars, she's from the south you guys, GET IT?) so they gotta fix it up. Only after already pushing the RV onto a strangers property does anyone think to maybe ask the owner if it's cool. Don't worry though, the owner is just walking by because anyone having to find him without Jason to film it just wouldn't do.

*Obviously Jason doesn't help because he's too busy filming it, because he's a fucking cunt, and because every single tiny detail MUST be filmed!

The owner does enter immediately, but because this film is full of dumb choices, he's a deaf Amish guy who announces his presence by groaning in the way deaf people do, but it sounds similar to a zombie moan, so everyone needs a dumb jump scare. After quick introductions, the Amish dude points out actual zombies that are pulling a ninja zombie attempt. Then the Amish dude tosses some dynamite and blows them up in a really shitty looking way.

Why DIARY OF THE DEAD sucked pt3

[Posted by Ted H]

I'm gonna try to power through this movie as best I can before I move. That way I can give this shitty movie back to my brother. I'd hate to rush the end. If I'm gonna hate on a movie, I'm gonna hate on it right, God dammit!

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[Why DIARY OF THE DEAD sucked pt3]

Part 3: Priorities
Into the hospital we go...and it too is abandoned. At this point Deb pulls an idea from the Fred Jones playbook: Let's split up, gang! So the group splits up despite one group not being able to bring the injured Mary with them. What happens if they find help first? Run around lost, looking for Mary so they can save her? I know Deb said "We'll look for the ER" but what if whatever help you find goes to the ER to meet them there only to find that Deb and company went to the wrong fucking floor or something? This was not a rational decision, but a Romero decision because we're gonna be in a situation soon where it's just Jason talking to Mary and we need the other characters to not be around for that.

So Jason, Deb and the lovebirds take Mary and eventually run into a zombie. Along the way they hear a radio transmission that explains that you gotta shoot em in the head. Thankfully the male love bird has the gun so he can fight off the zombie. What the shit though-everyone splits up but only one group takes Mary AND the only weapon.

Now another zombie shows up, but OH NO! THE GUN JAMMED! Then Deb walks by the zombie within arms reach and gets some defibrillators, and the zombie doesn't even attempt to go after. Then Deb does the clichéd defibrillator dispatch from every move featuring one ever (except for CRANK) then the zombie falls dead out of frame in a way that won't match its position when the camera pans down to see the body. Sloppy sloppy sloppy. But wait, the zombie isn't dead and gets up for a jump scare despite Jason facing that direction. And I know he's facing that direction because that's where the fucking camera is pointed! A little heads up, Jason?

Time to resume getting help, but wait, the camera is low on battery power. Clearly Jason has to stay behind to charge the camera while still filming despite there being nothing to film because everyone else has gone ahead to find help but leaving Mary behind with Jason. So now one group has the only gun, Jason alone has Mary, and the other group has nothing. WHY BOTHER SPLITTING UP? The most likely outcome here is the group with the gun finds nothing while the other group gets eaten because they're defenseless while Mary just dies because she's sitting around waiting for help in a clearly abandoned hospital!

So now we have Jason alone with a dying Mary and a couple dead zombies that I swear to God their position on the floor changed again. Jason is lamenting on how useless he feels being unable to help cuz he's stuck babysitting his charging camera. Don't worry, charging a video camera, and documenting the charging of said video camera is WAY more important than trying to save the life of your friend. This is invaluable footage of a girl dying that the world needs to see!

Scream off-screen and gunshots happen. Normal people would think to help, but not Jason because this camera charging footage isn't gonna shoot itself. Deb returns with a video camera of her own in tow. She uses it as a shame tactic against Jason for everything I talked about in the previous two paragraphs. Jason pleads for Deb to put her camera down and just tell him what happened. Deb does with Jason still filming because fuck consistency in an argument! She tells the story and plays it up for the camera, then halfway through her bullshit another dead guy arrives and Deb IMMEDIATLY starts filming it too on her camera. Didn't you just get done chastising Jason for doing nothing except film shit during this whole ordeal?

Male love bird, that was his cue, now walks in and dispatches the new zombie like it's his fucking dead end job or something then gives one of the most phoned in "I just killed another man" zombie movie speeches ever. And out of nowhere comes the Professor to give some speech about how he was in war or something and killing becomes easier and blah blah blah. Then it becomes his turn to chastise Jason for videotaping everything instead of doing a damn thing to actually help.

Jason, seriously, not a single person so far has said anything along the lines of "Dude, yes, videotape the zombie apocalypse. This is definitely helping us survive this ordeal." Everyone who has weighed in on you so far (Tony, the random criminal in the girls dorm, your girlfriend and your fucking college professor who is the reason you got into directing) have all agreed: stop being a twit and actually contribute.

Before anyone can delve deeper into how much of a fuckass Jason is, Mary dies and starts turning. Male lovebird once again phones in his performance as he goes through the motions of trying to decide if he can go through with killing zombie-Mary even though she's his friend (I think? It was never really established how she knew the rest of the group. My only theories are 1-Deb's bff...2-no ones friend but rather the one chick who has access to the RV everyone wants to party in so everyone pretends to be her friend to get to the RV...3-the naive chick who the Professors been fucking on the side cuz the Professor looks like the type to take advantage of the occasional student) Anyway, the professor takes the gun, dispatches Mary, then continues to bitch out Jason while pawning off the gun to Tony because of psychotic reasoning. Dude, the Professor is a fucking asshole when he's sober. Somebody get this man a whiskey!

Some more preachy bull shit from Deb's voiceover happens and I choose to not acknowledge because I'm trying to get through this part in one sitting. Then the cream-de-la-crop of Jason being a fucking useless human being happens. He fucking films a zombie walking right up to the male love bird and barely warns him as the zombie bites into the guys arm. Then he just fucking stands there filming while the poor bastard tries to fight off the zombie while Elliot feebly pushes the zombie away, then uses an IV pole to stab the attacker in the chest to show everyone else that the zombie is a zombie.

Anyone remember Tom Savini's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD remake? Remember the scene where not-Barbara shoots a zombie a couple times in the chest to show it's a zombie because she's sick and fucking tired of everyone bitching about how the attacking zombies can't possibly be dead? Yeah, Elliot's doing pretty much that right now. My problem here is we've seen plenty of zombie killing action to the point that no one should be questioning that the dead are returning to life. Fuck, didn't everyone just get done watching Mary die and turn? Elliot and not-Barbara's tirades are always a pleasure to watch, but only if you don't feel like it was forced in after you stop and think about the context for a moment. Trust me, there was plenty wrong with Savini's NIGHT, but that scene wasn't one of them (now that shirtless zombie that happened immediately after is a different story, but let's save that for a review that I hopefully never do)

Zombie dead, female love bird rushes to her now (slowly) dying man, who is now poorly acting his way through his post zombie bite. Deb is filming this when she suddenly catches herself and realizes she's a fucking hypocrite. Now more Deb voiceover where she wonders what is it that makes people so interested in tragedies. Let's skip that and talk about what makes Jason so compelled to record everything thus far.

Yes, people are interested when crazy shit happens. And yes, they often times record it. Nowadays it's because their YouTube hits will skyrocket for it. But what they don't do is record horrific events while they themselves are active participants in immediate danger. Yes, people are compelled to record terrible things, but only from a position of relative safety. Need a plausible real world example?

Let's talk about 9/11...

The events at the destruction of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001 stands as one of (if not #1) the most well documented tragedy in freakin history. Go to YouTube right now and type in 9/11 or anything similar and you'll be buried in a shit ton of results made by people taping and documenting the attack and eventual collapse of the two towers. You've got angles of people hanging out of windows with an inferno behind them. You have angles of people jumping to their deaths, with the camera following their decent as best they can. You even have some idiots who run onto the main plaza to get a better look at the scene (naturally unaware of the potential of the towers collapsing, otherwise he'd be a mile away.)

And speaking of collapsing. There are angles upon angles upon footage upon footage of each tower collapsing. And on top of that, we have countless shots of the 2nd plane crashing into the south tower to go with the one or two rare pieces of footage of the 1st plane hitting the north tower. (Fun fact: the most well known footage of the 1st plane strike was taped by a guy shooting a documentary of a rookie firefighter. He was getting some B-roll footage of the chief doing some lazy Tuesday morning bull shit when the plane happened to fly low overhead and get everyone's attention.)

So, where's the outrage for anyone making 9/11 tapes? Well, it wasn't like they were shooting their footage while inside the towers. Unlike Jason, they were recording their footage from a safe perspective. I mean, yeah, on 9/11 America was under attack and technically nowhere was safe, but everyone with a cell phone camera or whatever were recording their footage from a (relatively) safe place. And it's not like any non-first responder is gonna be of any use anyway.

Jason, on the other hand, is right smack in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. He is not shooting his film from a safe location and he can be of use to his friends if he bothered to put the camera down and help. People around him are dying and all her can do is record it as opposed to bothering to help. There is the outrage. He is a detriment to his group and his actions (or non-actions) are costing other people their lives.

New day and Mary is buried. Jason had the common courtesy to not film the process but I highly doubt he lifted a finger to help. Everyone with a shovel (where did they find a couple shovels?) is finishing up the grave while we pan out to find that the male love bird is already dead. You guys think that maybe a 2nd grave is warranted? No? Did nobody like this guy? Was he only around because he was the blond chicks fuck buddy?

Enter the standard fare of "Why is he dead after one bite?" and the usual conversation as to what could have caused such a quick and fatal infection. Nothing to gripe about there unless you don't like zombie movies (And if you don't, why are you here?). Tony decides that it's time to kill the male love bird before he turns...and for some reason decides that the best way to announce this is by cocking the chamber right next to the grieving (poorly grieving) girlfriend's ear. (Why are you cocking the gun? It's already loaded and has already been fired before. All you're doing is wasting a bullet!)

More run of the mill "He might not turn" or "Let's just wait and see what happens" which is fucking stupid because you just got done burying Mary! Who died and came back without being bitten! So guess what's gonna happen to someone dead who was bitten! This all ultimately turns into the girlfriend having to kill her dead boyfriend as he awakens...alone...because closure? This never really gets explained, which is inexcusable. Jason insists on taping everything he finds relevant to this apocalypse, and if people get pissed, he just pretends to stop filming, just to get what he wants on film. So the conversation where the girlfriend decides she'll wait alone for her boyfriend to reanimate so she can kill him seems like a pretty big conversation to skip.

Whatever, boyfriend reanimates, and the girlfriend shoots him in the head, first try, without properly aiming (or any firearms training but I guess it's assumed that since she's from Texas she should already know firearms? Like it's taught in grammar school right after Math.) Male lovebird is now gone, poorly acting his death as he did everything else in life. Then the Professor makes some tasteless comment about the boyfriend "he just flunked out." I know he's been drinking steadily since at least Mary's burial, but you don't get to make a stern speech to Jason about being a twit in the zombie apocalypse, then turn around and make stupid one liners like you're kicking off an episode of NCIS Miami.

Dead are now buried, we can get on with this road trip. But not before Jason pisses off more people by taping their reactions to the impromptu double burials. You guys go on ahead though and leave me with the bodies. No? Fine, let's keep this train wreck a-chuggin!

Next stop: Amish country!

Why DIARY OF THE DEAD sucked pt2

[Posted by Ted H]

Oh man, I now know how to end Pure Human. I just, ya know, have to make time to actually write it. But in the meantime-I've been watching a bad movie some more to review!

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[Why DIARY OF THE DEAD sucked pt2]

Part 2: ROLE CALL!
So the movie started and so far it looks like it can pull off a decent run. The start has introduced us to a bunch of idiots, but the story has hit all the right points and maybe putting these characters through some shit can force a character arch on a couple and make them likable. This movie CAN be good, it just can't throw anything else stupid to make things worse. This was all set up, however, before we meet Deb.

Enter the dorms! And about an hour has passed since it's been first reported that zombie shits going down, everyone in the dorm has abandoned ship. It's iffy to say the least, but it sets up a nice scene, so I'm all for it. Something crashes off screen and Jason investigates to reveal some random dude stealing shit and freely admitting to it to a camera. Right...cuz anyone committing a crime will just up and say it on camera to a total stranger. Ok...maybe they would, but it would be that stupid looking. Anyway, the random criminal turns the conversation back at Jason by asking "What's a guy with a video camera doing in the women's dorm?"

That...is a very valid question. I'll stop complaining about this guys needless insertion to the movie for that.

Anyway, about 10 seconds later we meet Deb, the only actual college student in the dorm who didn't leave. How very fucking convenient. The first thing she says is a question as to why Jason is recording the zombie apocalypse. Get used to that question, kids. Jason then puts the camera down, assuming his girlfriend won't notice it's on. Get real used to that, too.

On Deb's computer is a video playing of the zombie attack that opened the movie. Wait, I thought it was mentioned that this was uploaded later by the cameraman? This video playing is pretty much a highlight reel of the good parts with someone talking over it. Considering how the zombie apocalypse is just starting, that's pretty quick for someone to upload the "truth" seeing how there's barely been enough time for any "lie" about this whole situation to even be reported.

Deb has been trying to call home and check on her family to no avail. She decides now that she wants to go home. I guess she was just waiting for her boyfriend to find her? The entire dorm is long gone and there was definitely no certainty that Jason would show up and not (oh, I dunno) try to find his own family (assuming he or anyone else in his little group has one since literally no one else shows any interest in finding their own family in all this) so wouldn't it be a better and smarter option to just make for home first chance you get? Don't have a car? Bum a ride with someone else. Not everyone in a college is a local and not every non-local is gonna want to brave the zombie apocalypse to go all the way home. Worried about your family? Get your ass home. Leave Jason a fucking note if you honestly think he'll break into your dorm room and look for you. Have him catch up later. There's nothing about him that says "this aspiring film director is a must have for when the world descends into chaos."

Deb voiceover: "I think that's what started the panic-not knowing the truth." Oh lord, shut up. I'm pretty sure knowing the truth about the rise of the undead would still stir a fucking panic, probably a bigger panic. Stop trying to be deep.

Now we're in the RV, and the first thing Deb does is question the camera again (that's 2) and Jason decides everyone should introduce themselves to the camera/audience...because that's the sign of a great movie-having to stop the film so we can get to know the characters. Ya know, maybe Romero was on to something. So let me stop this review and introduce everyone as well...

Batting (and dying) 1st: Mary. She just wants to go home. And the best way to accomplish that is to drive to someone else's home first. I dunno why, maybe it's along the way. Where is she driving right now? "I dunno. Just trying to get out of dodge." Because picking a random direction instead of trying to get some place specific is a totally rational idea for everyone to be following. At one point she also points out that she's currently not dating anyone. She is also the only person in this film without any sort of significant other (Jason+Deb...Jason+Elliot...Tony+his established counter nature to Jason that won't end until Jason gets some sort of final 1 up over him...the one love birt+the other love bird...the Professor+booze) So unless Mary hooks up and hooks up quick, she's a goner. Besides, everyone knows how hard it is to find love in the zombie apocalypse. Finally, she's religious, because that won't aid in her expandability in this movie.

2nd: Deb, who twice in her bit questions the camera (4). She just wants to go home, too. And her home is SCRANTON...because aside from a missile silo in Florida, the zombie apocalypse is only allowed to happen in Pennsylvania for George Romero (Night: rural PA...Dawn: some mall in PA...Land: Pittsburgh, PA) The longer the impromptu interview goes, the more Deb gets pissed at Jason for filming. I wanna say that Deb is doing a good job portraying my own attitude to Jason in this movie but she soon descends into insufferable herself. So in retrospect, I hate her from the start.

3rd: Tony. Tony is suppose to be the "too cool for the rest of you" guy who is with the group, but clearly against Jason in a non threatening way. Anyone remember Cholo from LAND? Yeah, he's Cholo; an ass who Romero wants us to think is a bad ass. During this interview, Tony mentions how he wasn't suppose to do makeup for the monster movie and Deb mentions that she was suppose to but "Sorry babe, but you know what happens when we try to work together." Again, not shit people say knowingly on camera...but maybe she does this to embarrass Jason into not filming anymore. Tony is from Queens, meaning he isn't going to die. Everyone also knows that New Yorkers don't get killed by zombies. They're too awesome to die.

Batting cleanup: Elliot. Elliot is clearly Jason's bff. He introduces himself by fixing a TV that we didn't know was broken so that he and Jason can have a generic back and forth about the government explanation to the beginning of the zombies. So...the "lie" is just now making its rounds on the news...now would be a good time for that cameraman to upload the "truth", not before the "lie", AFTER! Anyway, Elliot wants to get home as well, but I guess it's along the way, or maybe he was being sarcastic.

5th and 6th come the lovebirds. Because this film needs two people who love each other (as opposed to Jason and Deb). The one girl has to explain that there's a camera in her phone (because in 2007 we still need to point out that phones have camera functions.)

7th comes the Professor who has nothing serious to contribute, but at least plays along. And I'm pretty sure he's an alcoholic.

There's also Jason. But he's too busy being a cameraman to be a character.

Back to the movie! The RV comes to a car crash scene. "Oh my God, we'll never get passed that," someone says despite the right side of the road being open. A burnt zombie approaches the RV while everyone debates on if it's really a zombie. Just then, the camera has an unknown issue and cuts out for a second, but comes back just in time for a jump scare as the zombie throws its face against the driver's side window...and everyone right then freaks out. So I guess everyone went blind along with the camera?

Mary freaks out and starts driving away (which involves driving passed that seemingly impassable car crash) and along the way runs over three zombies (all on the right side of the road while the left side was wide open)...Later on she pulls over and has a breakdown over the belief that the zombies she ran over were actually living people. Then she goes into a field and shoots herself (with a gun that wasn't even hinted about), but not fatally, because a fatal head shot would be too easy.

Again, this movie is hitting all the points, it's just the acting that's failing hard. And it's really hard to communicate the bad acting on a write up. Don't worry though, the directing and character actions will soon descent into a LAND OF THE DEAD style mess soon enough.

For now though, this movie has an immediate purpose and direction, as opposed to just aimlessly driving around and talking about going home: Get Mary to the hospital before it's too late.

Next time: It's too late