Diary of the Dead

George Romero's zombie series, which began with Night of the Living Dead in 1968, runs out of brains and steam in this fifth installment that tries to recapture the realistic tone of the original as well as the sharp satire of the later entries, but disappoints on both counts. In narrative terms, it's not a continuation of the existing quartet, but rather transplants the initial zombie outbreak to the present era of ubiquitous camcorders, which are used to document the efforts of a bunch of Pittsburgh film students trying to escape the ravenous undead as they drive toward safety. Technically, the gruesome road trip seems little more than a bland reworking of The Blair Witch Project's visual clichés, while its critique of society's woes (taking particular aim at government mendacity) and commentary on the voyeuristic desire to record everything—even grisly deaths—for Internet exhibition aren't clever or insightful, but rather puerile and pretentious. Only diehard nostalgic Romero fans will find anything to appreciate in this one-sequel-too-many effort. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary (by director George A. Romero, cinematographer Adam Swica, and editor Michael Doherty), the 80-minute “For the Record” making-of documentary, “Character Confessionals” (21 min.), 14 minutes of “MySpace Contest Winners” featuring five shorts from fans, “The First Week” set featurette (5 min.), five minutes of “Familiar Voices” cameo outtakes, “The Roots” segment on the inspiration for the film (2 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (F. Swietek)