Local Zombies for Local People

Local Zombies for Local People

I love zombie movies. My brother loves zombie movies. My friends love zombie movies. So watching the Zombie Diaries, which is set in and around very near to where I live was quite an intriguing proposition. The idea is pretty sound, take your standard zombie stuff and have it filmed in a Blair Witch fashion so that you feel more in the action. It didn't quite work for me though. Credit goes to the folks who did a lot of good with what I can only guess was a small budget, but the film just falls a bit flat. The acting in some places is good, but is really forced and unnatural in others. The zombie also never really feel like a threat in this film, which is wierd seeing as some of the cast are killed by them. Anyone who dies to a zombie in this film just seems like so much more of an idiot than in other zombie films I've seen. Another problem is the characters, I didn't really give a monkeys about any of them. None of them apealed to me on any level, which didn't really help me bond with the film sadly.

The really offputting though has to be the setting. At first glance having the zombie film set locally opens it up to the posibility of exploring all the "what if" scenarios zombie movie fans run through their heads. Sadly though, this didn't work for me thanks to them ignoring what I KNEW was local. At one point the cast stop off at a picnic site (Windmill Hill) so that they can overlook a nearby town before heading into it. Problem is that I know for a fact that there is another town mere metres behind them (It's the town they film in later on), and a pub only just out of shot. It's annoying as it had me yelling at the screen for them to be sensible. The same can be said for the small food store they go to, just down the road is are a Morrisons, an Iceland, Argos, all sorts of useful places! And just out of town a little way you've got a Halfords, a Sainsburys and a little further a Tesco!

It's a shame, as the idea of a local zombie film is a pretty interesting one, and could be a lot of fun for local zombie fans to watch, but the way the film ignors the local layout just ruined things for me.