World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2 review (DVD) ★

Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
Stars Alix Wilton Regan, Josh Myers, Phillip Brodie, Rob Oldfield, Vicky Araico, Toby Bowman, Okorie Chukwu,
Russell Jones, Hiram Bleetman, Marshall Griffin, Craig Stovin, Criselda Cabitac | Written by Kevin Gates
UK Certification 18 | UK RRP £12.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 88 minutes | Directed by Michael Bartlett & Kevin Gates

“The best horror movie of the year”? Really Fangoria? Are you actually serious? I've come away from this film thinking quite the opposite and begging the question as to why the co-directors of the original (which I haven't seen) ended up returning to churn this drivel out. Was it really that creative, interesting and enjoyable to warrant a follow-up that is just so terribly bland and impotent?

The Zombie Diaries 2 follows a group of soldiers in the TA who are some of the last known survivors of the zombie apocalypse. Their mission is to find their way out of England in search of a safe haven, but of course the living dead stand – and hobble – in their way, as well as a ruthless gang of gunned-up rapists. And being that it's 2011 and this is a horror movie (ostensibly), one of the troops is obviously equipped with a camera and decides to film the bloody carnage as it happens, even when any sane person would turn it the fuck off and run screaming for their lives.

I'm all for zombie-based films and those done “documentary-style” with a verite sensibility, but given how many of the buggers there are out there these days, the ratio of good to mind-numbingly bad is quite simply depressing. Give me another Dawn of the Dead, give me another Paranormal Activity, not this dross.

The camera technique is actually one of the film's biggest flaws. If you want to make such a movie look in any way, shape or form convincing, do not use a top of the range camera, and especially do not try and do your best to make the footage look “authentic” by compositing cheap and nasty static effects in post-production.

I've never seen a zombie raped by a human being before, so at least The Zombie Diaries 2 brought something new to the table, as bizarre as that may seem. Other than that, it has been severely mishandled and is both incredibly dull and unbelievable.

EXTRAS ?? A behind the scenes feature and directors' commentary.

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