Movie Review: Zombie Diaries 2: World of the Dead

Zombie Diaries 2: World of the Dead a.k.a World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2 a.k.a Zombie Chronicle
Dimension Extreme Films, Bleeding Edge Films, Metrodome Distribution, Off World Films, Straightwire Films, The Weinstein Company, UK, 2011.

Zombie epidemic is spreading in the UK. After 4 months the society has collapsed. A group of soldiers are still struggling. Someone leaves the gate open and the zombies take over the base. Only a few soldiers (Philip Brodie, Rob Oldfield, Vicky Araico and Okorie Chukwu) and a catatonic girl Leeann (Alix Wilton Regan) escape. Maybe it would be safer to go abroad but a bunch of vile bandits makes the trip difficult. Near the end the story takes an unnecessary "I Spit on Your Grave" style rape-revenge turn. 

JOnes (Rob Oldfield)

Leeann

Carter (Okorie Chukwu)

The film is shot using "Blair Witch Project" or "Cloverfield" found footage style. It is not the worst of the genre but not the best either. The fake cinema verite style guarantees again that the camera is shaking like mad. However the first-person view makes the zombie apocalypse seem more gloomy and bleak so some points for the atmosphere. Only Leeann's flashbacks and the ending break the immersion and feeling that the film has been filmed by someone middle in the events. Also it is strange that someone would be just peeking through the camera in the middle of a zombie attack. Shoot some zombies, man! For a change the zombies are of the slow Romero-variant. The zombies feel surprisingly nonthreatening, mostly standing still or slowly shambling around and it is a wonder they can kill someone. The acting is quite good but the characters are left undeveloped and the plot wastes some of the potentially interesting ideas. The ending is disappointing and makes no sense if you think about it. Also the timeline is strange, sometimes it is winter and on the next day it is not. Partially it is a good effort but otherwise there is nothing new here.

Slow shambler

Maddox (Philip Brodie)

Rating: Average

Starring: Philip Brodie, Alix Wilton Regan, Rob Oldfield, Vicky Araico, Toby Bowman, Okorie Chukwu, Russell Jones, Hiram Bleetman, Toby Nicholas, Marshall Griffin, Rufus Graham, Josh Myers, Aj Williams, Matt Nickolay, Andy Jones, Craig Ramos-Stovin, Criselda Ramos-Stovin, Caitlyn Ramos-Stovin, Jonnie Hurn, Amanda Sterkenburg, Chris Vincent, Jody Neil Ruth, Joshua Dunlop, Adam Fellows, Chris Martin Hill, Doris Knight, Mike Ray, Ian Smale 

Director: Michael G. Bartlett, Kevin Gates