It wouldn't be fair to say director George Romero has lost his touch - "Diary of the Dead" is an acceptable zombie movie.
It's just not a Romero zombie movie.
The problem is, by using the shaky-cam method of filming, he allowed the soul to be sucked out of the movie. Up close and personal is acceptable for a zombie flick, but it can't be the whole movie. These movies need the broad, epic scope, as well.
"Diary of the Dead" fails in this regard. There's an attempt to show the broad effect that a zombie apocalypse has, but it falls short - mostly because Romero uses a lot of stock footage from riots and other social disturbances. While these do give the feel of a chaotic situation, they don't give the feeling that zombies are involved. In the context of the overall movie, it becomes clear that these scenes are just what they are: stock footage.
The other problem with the film is it doesn't really have the effect that shaky-cam is meant to have. The excuse for giving the characters professional quality, high-definition cameras comes across as somewhat weak. The "actually there" feeling that the shaky-cam style is meant to give is lost due to the high-quality images that are being produced. It doesn't have the feeling of reality that it should. Worse still, because of this attempt at realism, the over-the-top fantasy style of a zombie flick is also lost. What remains after all of this is what, at first glimpse, looks like lazy filmmaking.
That probably isn't a fair assessment. The acting in the film was acceptable. In fact, it was a bit above par for the average zombie movie. Even Scott Wentworth's clichéd British-born professor was believable and amusing. No one really stood out that well, but zombie movies aren't really supposed to be about the characters, anyway. Romero had a cameo as a police chief that the characters see on television at one point. Romero got a few famous directors - and one writer - to play the off-screen newsreaders during the stock footage scenes and on the television bits. That was a nice touch, though perhaps a wasted one, because most of these people aren't recognizable by their voices.
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The zombies themselves were probably the most convincing part of the film. They're the one thing that the shaky-cam concept pulls off well.
The costuming and makeup used to create the zombies is spot-on. On this front, Romero is at the top of his game as usual.
"Diary of the Dead" was an entertaining foray into the zombie genre, but it certainly isn't one of the masterpieces. It's certainly no "Night of the Living Dead." It's not even "Shaun of the Dead," for that matter. Ultimately, it fails because it tries to be too many things at once. The overall feeling of dread that a "Dead" flick is supposed to have isn't here. On the other hand, while it's not a great film, it is a worthy way to waste a couple hours.
"Diary of the Dead"
C+
