Diary Of The Dead

Return of the Living Legend

George Romero has been making zombie movies since his 1968 release of "Night Of The Living Dead." I can remember watching NotLD when I was around twelve years old. The experience made a lasting impression on me; I was horrified and had to turn it off right at the scene in which the zombies were munching on Tom and Judy's toasty carcasses.

Now that I am at the ripe old age of 24, and I have seen lots of onscreen munching, the scares are not as effective on me. However, the new George Romero film,"Diary Of The Dead," was more than just scares and setups for scares. The social commentary contained in "Diary Of The Dead" was obviously just as important to Romero as the gore.

Just as Romero saw racism and violence as a problem in the sixties when he made "Night", he now sees the importance of technology and the media as a problem and has infused that message into "Diary." One of the most powerful moments in the movie is a scene in which a young woman pleaded for a man with a video camera to put down the camera and come save her from the undead, and, of course, he just keeps on shooting instead of helping.

One of the main problems I have with "Diary Of The Dead" is the use of computer graphics. Call me old fashioned, but I consider squibs and other practical effects to be much more visually believable than cgi. Computer graphics, to me, are only believable if they are used minimally and professionally. "Diary" had too low of a budget to pull off the big gory computer graphics.

Legendary George Romero may still be putting powerful social commentary in his zombie movies, but, for me, the scares and the effects fall flat.

--Average

Tarantula

Thar she grows


When my family first got cable, when I was 13 or 14, I used to watch animal documentaries on the Discovery Channel. The documentaries that featured spiders and scorpions especially intrigued me because the footage creeped me out. Those arachnids moved in a way that was so alien to me, it put chills down my spine.

"Tarantula" (1955) creeps me out in the same way that those Discovery Channel documentaries creeped me out, except on a larger scale. The film used actual footage of a tarantula and blue-screened it into the movie. The effects were so well done, it was easy to imagine that there actually was a 100 foot tarantula walking across the desert plain.

Near the beginning of the film, we learned that scientific experimentation and the destruction of the laboratory cages let loose a giant tarantula. A doctor, a sheriff, and a local journalist tried to discover what was causing mysterious cattle deaths, only to find that it was, of course, a giant tarantula.

I was surprised at how quick the pace of "Tarantula" was, considering most movies from the 1950's drag a bit. The swift pace and excellent effects made for an enjoyable viewing experience, though the version I saw was pan and scan.


Above Average