Diary of the Dead

Play trailer

Diary of the Dead

R

2008

1h 35m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

62%

Tomatometer

129 Reviews

41%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

While on location filming a horror movie, a group of college students find themselves overrun by zombies, and ultimately end up capturing the epidemic on film.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

As Diary of the Dead proves, time hasn't subdued George A. Romero's affection for mixing politics with gore, nor has it given him cinematic grace or subtlety.

Read Critics Reviews

Marc Savlov

Austin Chronicle

10/18/2008

3.5/5

It's rough around the edges, dirty in the middle, and stained through with a sort of nihilistic humanism that ultimately unsettles more than the lurching undead themselves.

Go to Full Review

Desson Thomson

Washington Post

07/16/2008

We want to high-five Romero for finding new ways to off his lifeless marauders.

Go to Full Review

Manohla Dargis

New York Times

04/14/2008

2.5/5

It's clever, or at least clever enough to keep you going and interested from start to finish. It just isn't scary.

Go to Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Jun 22

2.5/4

The fifth film in George Romero’s zombie franchise finds him meeting not just the new youth culture that had overtaken the entertainment industry by that time but also the new technology used to relate its tales.

Go to Full Review

Dan Sallitt

Senses of Cinema

10/12/2018

George Romero's Diary of the Dead suffers from an excess of personality rather than a lack of it.

Go to Full Review

Mark Asch

Stop Smiling

09/30/2014

One needn't be a splatter junkie to miss Romero's marshalling of action across multiple theaters. But the maestro finds a way to slay intellectual and aesthetic antsiness with the same bullet.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Rich C.

@Cordu0702 Jan 26

Nice film. Hadn't seen it before. Really enjoyed it.

See more

Eloise Y.

@Ellie666 Oct 23

interesting take on the zombie genre. I liked how it shows society falling apart through the lens of found footage but that’s about all I liked.

See more

Daniel D

@DanielDuVall Oct 17

A bad actor can make good dialogue sound bad, and a good actor can make bad dialogue sound good. But a bad actor can’t do much with bad dialogue. The idea behind it feels noble, but the execution is not there at all.

See more

Robert W

@RT34973803 Oct 13

It started off alright, with a premise that seemed pretty funny. I was enjoying the overall silliness and thought it was going to be harmless. But then, things took a turn I wasn't expecting, and the humor started to feel off. Suddenly, there were these moments that felt racially charged, and it just didn't sit well with me. Honestly, I'm just so done with encountering that kind of stuff everywhere. It completely ruined the experience, and now I just feel disappointed with it. I wish they could have just kept it light and fun, without needing to bring that into the mix.

See more

George M

@Milkyway Oct 12

The only 'found footage' movie I've ever enjoyed. At least we know why the footage survived, unlike something like say, Blair Witch. So people are getting killed and the camera person keeps filming? Yeah, I don't think so. Anyhow, this one has a decent cast and story. Sadly, this is the last good film Romero made. The follow up, Survival of the Dead is a total loser. This is enjoyable from beginning to end.

See more

Sean R

@SeanR Sep 23

I am a fan of the Romero zombie movies and when it is done right, I like found footage films so the idea of mixing the two is very interesting. However, it did not turn out good in my opinion. Taking us back to the beginning of the zombie apocalypse and having film students documenting the outbreak sounds fun, but the scares are few and the constant narration and cuts to shots of other outbreak areas is too much and interrupts the flow of the film. The potential is there but it is like the movie never really finds its footing. It is not a bad movie, but it is not a very good one either.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

George A. Romero

Director

Michelle Morgan

Debra

Joshua Close

Jason

Shawn Roberts

Tony

Amy Lalonde

Tracy

Joe Dinicol

Eliot

View more videos

Paranormal Activity

82%

57%

Paranormal Activity

Watchlist

Wrong Turn 2

67%

48%

Wrong Turn 2

Watchlist

The Gravedancers

100%

45%

The Gravedancers

Watchlist

Planet Terror

76%

77%

Planet Terror

Watchlist

Turistas

19%

28%

Turistas

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

While on location filming a horror movie, a group of college students find themselves overrun by zombies, and ultimately end up capturing the epidemic on film.

Director: George A. Romero
Producer: Peter Grunwald, Art Spigel, Ara Katz, Sam Englebardt
Screenwriter: George A. Romero
Distributor: Weinstein Co.
Production Co: Artfire, Romero-Grunwald
Rating: R (Pervasive Language|Gore|Strong Horror Violence)
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 15, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $952.6K
Runtime: 1h 35m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings