What will you do when the zombies attack?
Our team meeting went well today - Andrew didn't show up, so we took off and headed to my place. At that point, I didn't much feel like diving into work, so we watched Diary of the Dead, the latest film in the George A. Romero canon of zombie films. Torbox saw this one a while back and gave it his thumbs up, so I thought I'd give it a spin.
Without giving away too much, here's the crux of the plot: a group of film students are filming a horror movie for their final project. They are out in the middle of nowhere, shooting some scenes in a forest, when they first hear the news that people are starting to rise from the dead. They head back into town, unsure at first of what to believe, until a series of events unfolds that confront them with the harrowing truth: the dead walk among the living, and they hunger. One of the film students, Jason Creed, decides to record everything that is happening tot them, in order to create a film that they can share with other survivors around the world.
I liked Diary quite a bit, truth be told. There are points were the story's plausibility is stretched pretty thin (God, would it kill you to put the damn camera down and help that girl? Geez...) but it's way better than that atrocity that was Land of the Dead (Zombies should never be able to think and learn stuff. EVER. It's okay if they run sometimes, but that's it). The acting is actually pretty good - I liked the ensemble cast - and I enjoyed how Diary was a return to zombie fundamentals. It reminded me of Night of the Living Dead in the sense that the story happens at the beginning of the zombie uprising, whereas Dawn and Day of the Dead occur in settings were the zombies are well entrenched and taking over the cities. If you're a zombie fan, you'll enjoy this movie.
I also downloaded a game called Zombie Panic! this afternoon. It's a third-party mod for the Source engine, that which runs Half-Life 2 and the other Valve games. I can't really rate this game yet, as its strictly multiplayer, and the one server I got on was horrible (15 year-old gamers = idiots, for the most part). I won't pass judgment on this game yet, but I did not have a favorable first impression.
One final thought: do you have a contingency plan for when the zombies come? (Notice how I didn't say if.) It's something you should think about. You don't want to be caught unprepared when these guys come ambling up your driveway. If you haven't read it yet, I'd highly recommend The Zombie Survival Guide, by Max Brooks. Definitely purchase this before the year is out - it may just save your life.
Remember: stay sharp, keep to your group, and save the last bullet for yourself.....just in case.
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