Zombie Diaries

A London newspaper reporter crew head out of the city into the country, covering a mysterious growing epidemic where people are suffering an illness that starts with flu-like symptoms and ends in death soon after.

“This story could be huge. I want to document everything.”

The crew learns that London is under quarantine, with the sick and dying filling the hospital full. In the village, they soon return to the farmhouse to see if their interview is perhaps inside but unable to answer. Well, he doesn’t answer because he has been mutilated by his zombie wife who had been feeding from his guts. Soon they discover that the village is loaded with the undead, so the crew speeds in the dark to the woods to hold out until morning.

 

We also follow a trio of “scavengers” looking for supplies and food, driving into abandoned towns and such to locate items needed to survive. They will, of course, need to keep an eye out for zombies wherever they go. They survey places they go, loot what is available before outnumbered by zombies, and get out while the going’s good. This sequence shows one such town they stop off at, narrowly escaping a horde.

Regarding the survival camp, I think it will be obvious to most that those who allowed the deviant (too gleeful in shooting zombies over and over) to join them were inviting danger. When he eventually goes totally off the deep end, it is no surprise casualties are involved. The leader falling to the infection, members of the camp not quite strong in the stomach to deal with a psychopath, and a camera operator who shoots what transpires but never inserts himself in the situation to help his comrades. What weakens this storyline, in my opinion, is never taking care of a problem developing right in front of you. To allow this nutcase to remain untouched and not rid themselves of a dangerous threat to their lives, all of them suffer in the end; it is hard to feel sympathy for them when he shows every sign of being a stick of dynamite needing the lit fuse to ignite his psychopathy. Their fates are decided the moment they let him in their camp and failed to capitalize what was so noticeable.

Then we are taken back to the first storyline with the documentary crew. The character of Goke (Russell Jones) is the central antagonist. The zombies are damn near an afterthought as Goke takes center dominance as the chief villain. Zombies aren't in control of what they do, operating on sheer instinct while Goke is simply a diabolical scumbag taking advantage of the kindness of others, capitalizing on their innocence and naiveté. Goke, prior to his arrival at the survivalist camp, had a partner with him that was as sociopathic as him. We see them besiege the documentary crew, striking violently when they least expect, soon killing some, while tying two of them to a tree to toy with them. We see the beginnings of why the lead reporter would wind up in that factory, to be discovered by members of the survivalist camp.

The military is shown entering a compound, eventually finding a final member of the news crew all alone and lost in her terror. Between Goke (his cronie) and the zombies, her life was shattered. Her friends (colleagues) are dead (were terrorized), and the zombie infection has been a scourge the world may never recover from.

Ultimately, I found Zombie Diaries a frustrating experience. There were zombies, but the camera work is all a blur and so are them. That is what the film as a whole is. No one stays in frame hardly two seconds and the camera seems to suffer technical difficulties all throughout the film. I was glad it was over and as a zombie fan, Zombie Diaries did absolutely nothing for me. This is the Walking Dead era of zombie film, and Zombie Diaries follows that route, with mankind not only fighting the undead but tearing apart at the seams themselves. The zombie itself has sadly become less formidable than it used to be because everyone is so wrapped up in trying to hit you in the jugular and play your heartstrings as filmmakers desire to tap into the melodramatic well that is the tumults of the human condition.

 

The third group we are introduced to have coordinated a survival camp, attempting to remain in one location. While they do have to leave at times to find supplies, some always remain behind to fend off and burn away zombies that make their way on the premises. Morale is low, temperament among them often lead to squabbles and bickering, and the camera’s shooting them (especially the women) is considered a nuisance.

As you might expect with the found footage style applied to the Zombie Diaries, the camera work can be dizzying and nauseating. The camera’s eye unable to stay on point, going from here to there without much direction or emphasis, the film as a whole can be quite irritating. However, I liked the choice of shooting in the English countryside, and those who made this film always emphasize that no matter the desolate location (the wide open fields and spaces, the wilderness, the long roads, and farmhouses), if you don’t pay attention and remain aware at all times, the undead will emerge from anywhere unexpected.

 

Once the three storylines are established, we watch the characters deal with the zombie situation. Obviously, being that this is a zombie film, one of the three groups is dispatched not long after being introduced to us. The scavenger life seems doomed because without strength in numbers and command post, the likelihood of withstanding an even minor onslaught seems difficult. We see that when one of three is bitten, a car crash and the zombies converging is all it takes. Before you know it, only the camera operator is left and stuck to flee on foot. In the dark of night before the dawn, the camera operator discovers a makeshift grave, and then he’s attacked by one of his fallen scavengers, with his hand eaten away. Soon he hears gunshots in a slight distance, following the sounds, joyfully running towards those firing off bullets, embracing the upcoming death that awaits him. Such endings are usual in zombie films. Few stories ever end up happily providing survivors with a promising outcome.

The leader of the survivors returns with an infected cut, and it appears he has the virus. His beloved stays by the leader’s side, essentially on death watch. The others in the survivalist camp await the inevitable, all shaken by their leader’s developing viral demise. Even worse, the camp has accepted a deviant who enjoys shooting the undead and later is learned to have tied up a naked female infected by the virus…it is a horrible thought of what this lunatic might have done with the zombie woman (it is noticeable that the tied up woman is the reporter from the documentary crew.) Not long after the cameraman and a fellow male survivor contend with the knowledge that the deviant is among them, and the knowledge of what he is capable of is terrifying. Meanwhile, tensions arise among the camp, with confrontations and conversations quite heated and volatile.

What I did like about Zombie Diaries was the old school George Romero countryside Night of the Living Dead feel to the presentation. I have always felt that zombies spread out and walking aimlessly, more or less approaching potential human foodstuffs accidentally or led somewhat by the smell of fresh meat, are scarier that a horde of fast-walkers (although I like the 28 Days Later variety as well) that surround and overtake victims immediately. I think the chance of survival, a slight glimpse of hope, only for the number to increase eventually in a gradual fashion adds a lot of dramatic tension and palpable suspense and dismay to scenes where humans seem able to outwit and outthink dead-walkers. At first, two human survivors seem able to fend off zombies that are small in number, spread apart, and at a considerable distance. But then unexpected dead-walkers, perhaps missed during an inspection of the surrounding areas near the survivalist camp a day before, appear to join that small number, and the survivors face a slow-moving mass of the undead. One part of the zombie genre that has been more reiterated than I would prefer (personal preference, mind you) is the murder of a child either already turned or soon to be turned. A visual execution of a girl child is shown by a camera for us to see, and I personally felt it was a bit much. I think you can turn away from that, with us hearing a gunshot, and this would work just as effectively.