Diary of the Dead
Third Rail Releasing | Release Date: February 15, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
11
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
The body has its needs, and one of the problems with Diary of the Dead is that it doesn’t get into your body; it doesn’t shake you up, jolt you, make you shiver and squeak. It’s clever, or at least clever enough to keep you going and interested from start to finish. It just isn’t scary. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
As in the more successful "Land Of The Dead," Romero makes an admirable attempt to update his beloved franchise for contemporary audiences. But this time out, his heavy-handed intellectual concerns get in the way of a perfectly good fright flick. Read full review
58
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
With Diary of the Dead, Romero goes back to the beginning, only this time the amateurish look is calculated and the resulting film far less effective - if only because a handful of filmmakers have beaten him to the punch. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
This "Living Dead" exercise delivers far less monstrosity and a great deal of pomposity, not to mention dull characters who aren't nearly as lively as those dead guys. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Diary of the Dead features some of the most hilariously gross images since "Dawn of the Dead." In one online video the filmmakers find, a father playfully pulls off a birthday clown’s red rubber nose and the guy’s real nose comes off with it. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle Smith
Romero's we're-all-doomed-and-maybe-we-deserve-it pessimism is so extreme he would fit right in with a real group of brain-eaters: the French. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
There are a few clever moments, as when an Amish farmer saves the tech-savvy students. But mostly, we're in it for the gore. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Moderately scary, moderately amusing, intermittently dull and obvious, Diary of the Dead is not groundbreaking, nor even ground-quaking. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Diary of the Dead is at its best when Romero is just goofing off, like when he shows us home video footage of a children's birthday party. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
The movie suffers from the same malaise Romero diagnoses in society. It's just too mediated to be scary, despite its zeal for gore. You can't feel the characters' fear, and they don't seem to feel it either. Read full review
40
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
A limp and dreary experience, at least after you get past its intriguing premise. It's poorly written and woodenly acted, completely formulaic and hopelessly imprisoned by both its genre and finally its form. Read full review
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