The Zombie Diaries (2006)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

If you're going to make a film that doesn't have much in the way of a clear, evident story or plot-progression, then you better make a story that has some vividly drawn characters. Unfortunately, Kevin Gates and Michael Bartlett's Zombie Diaries has neither, and only serves as an exhaustive retread through lackluster horror filmmaking, peddled by the Dimension Extreme, the direct-to-DVD label mostly comprised of low-budget horror titles that fail to bring anything new or interesting to the game. As much as that seems to be an oversimplification, it's worth noting that the several films I've sought out from this label have all been met with some sort of butting disappointment.The film bears a triptych structure, focusing on three different groups of people during an impending epidemic/viral outbreak and shows it all come together at the conclusion of the film. The film's first chapter, "The Outbreak," starts in London and details the paranoia and the fear circulating about the Asian countries experiencing a far-reaching and lethal virus outbreak. While it hasn't reached the Western Europe or United States areas at this time, the lax response from Asia's government suggests that it could in the near future, making the residents of London admittedly jumpy and unsettled. In this chapter, we follow a documentary crew's research and documentation of the viral outbreak in the countryside, unbeknownst to them they'll experience the hell first hand and won't just to be talking about the epidemic while filming themselves.The second chapter, titled "The Scavengers," follows a young couple, an American man and a foreign woman, who are traveling in their car, equipped with a rifle, looking for food to ration and radio parts in order to send communication signal with the optimism they'll get rescued during this time. This chapter should logically be the most suspenseful, given the immediate idea, the circumstance, and the fact that, by this point, we're already in the second act of the film. Sadly, little occurs here that makes for an interesting setup, and by this time, the monotony and ugliness of the hand-held-camera really begins to takes a toll, and as somebody who scarcely complains about such a thing, this is when you know things aren't going very well for this film, aesthetically speaking.Finally, the final chapter, titled "The Survivors," details a large group of uninfected souls who have found solace on a farm. They spend much of their time strategizing their next move and checking out surrounding areas to assure their safety is long-term and not a short-term illusion. In addition, their time is spending warding off large bouts of zombies along with fighting about how to assure their own safety. Again, this is another potentially riveting portion of the film brought down by the filming techniques of Gates and Bartlett and the overall repetition of the film and the lack of character investment.The Zombie Diaries has an intriguing structure, but little to back it up in terms of achieving any kind of narrative success. Despite having three stories, its story and story-progression isn't the least bit evident, the characters remain flat and vague, almost as if they're mannequins given the ability to talk and move, and the entire aesthetic that Gates and Bartlett hope will achieve success only results in mounting tedium for the film's already short runtime.Starring: Russell Jones, Sophia Ellis, and James Fisher. Directed by: Kevin Gates and Michael Bartlett.

This did the one thing I never forgive a movie for doing: it bored me. Slow, bad acting and a complete waste of time. I don't know why this was even released and what the writer, director and producers were thinking. Did they watch it before they released it? And if they did, what about this crap-fest made them think it was ready to be released? Heck, I love bad movies but not this one. I can't even say it's so bad it's good - it's just bad.The only good reviews on here must be cast and crew members and perhaps their friends and family. Oh... And I see they made a sequel. Well, cased on this crappy movie, I know I won't watch it.

This is a movie so irredeemably lousy, the only reason I feel inspired to put up a review is to try and save somebody else the time and cash which could be better spent on something more worthy.Feeble acting, weak "plot" and scene after scene of watching unsympathetic characters doing things which make you shout, "you just wouldn't do that"! at the screen - it's an endless, joyless piece of junk.As a student film done by teenagers, this would be fine. As something made by adults, it is an insult to its audience. I won't repeat all the points made by the other reviews - but simply add another voice to the chorus saying:DON'T BOTHER WATCHING THIS RUBBISH

I am a great fan of zombies' films and I usually like most of them. Unfortunately, "The Zombies Diaries" is another garbage made with hand- held camera.The film is divided in three chapters and the first one (Diary 1 – The Outbreak) is promising. When a virus originating from Asia threatens England, four Londoners independent journalists make a documentary. When they drive to the countryside to interview Mr. West that owns a farm, there is an outbreak in London and they discover that they are under siege of zombies. The story is interrupted and jumps to Diary 2 – The Scavengers and Diary 3 – The Survivors, with people searching supplies and shooting zombies to survive. None of the segments has conclusion and they are boring and confused. The worst is that it is filmed with hand held camera. This film has just been released in Brazil on DVD and my suggestion is if you want to see a zombie film, see "The Night of the Living Dead" or any other film that will be better than watching this terrible film. My vote is two.Title (Brazil): "Zumbis – Os Mensageiros do Apocalipse" ("Zombies – The Messengers of the Apocalypse")