It was inevitable that George A. Romero’s latest zombie flick would draw comparisons to “Cloverfield.” Both movies use the first-person camera gimmick as their main storytelling device, but unlike the J.J. Abrams monster movie, “Diary of the Dead” doesn’t have a particularly engaging story to tell. The set-up may be different than Romero’s past films – in this one, a group of college students become victims in a real-life zombie attack while shooting their own horror movie – but the events that transpire are so formulaic that you might as well just pop in “Night of the Living Dead” (now available in a 40th anniversary remastered edition) instead. This isn’t just one of the worst acted horror movies I’ve ever seen, but it’s also one of the most idiotic social commentaries that Romero has ever attempted. Cameras are likened to guns, racist National Guard soldiers play out their hottest Black Panther fantasies, and documentary filmmakers are blasted for their supposed cold-heartedness. Unfortunately, I don’t know a single person that even cares about any of this stuff, and while Romero deserves all the credit in the world for creating such an excellent subgenre, it’s about time he passed on the torch to someone better suited for the job.
