Review of World of the Dead: Zombie Diaries 2

Title: World of the Dead: Zombie Diaries 2

Date: 2011

Blurb:

The insatiable dead run amok in this gore-filled horror flick, which follows a bad of humans who've survived a virus that has turned the rest of the world into zombies.  Our heroes hear about a sanctuary near the sea -- but is it true, or a trap?

One of the great things about Netflix is that, given the number of movies I watch a month, each one costs me only a few bucks to rent.  For that reason, I check out stuff that I normally wouldn’t watch because I’m willing to take a chance on any movie for $2.  Sometimes I find a treasure, and sometimes I hit a septic tank.  More often than not, though, I just dig up an average DVD.  

That’s the best that can be said for World of the Dead: Zombie Diaries 2.  It’s average.

The plot has been rehashed a dozen times.  In a Great Britain that is collapsing under the onslaught of a zombie virus, a small military unit abandons the fight against the living dead and struggles to make its way north.  From there, according to their commander (played by Philip Brodie), a naval convoy will rescue the survivors and take them to the Netherlands, the only spot in Europe not affected by the outbreak.  However, they only have forty-eight hours to reach the coast and join the evacuation before a massive air strike is launched that will burn away the English countryside and the zombie hordes along with it.  Along the way, the survivors stumble across overrun military camps, rape gangs, zombie-ravaged towns, and almost every other standard fare typical for a zombie film.  To bog down the plot even further, the entire story is told as a video diary.

Despite the numerous drawbacks, Zombie Diaries 2 does have some redeeming qualities that make the movie worth watching.  The cinematography and acting is much better than in your average independent production, so the movie is entertaining (however, despite the acting, I still didn’t really care much for any of the characters).  In addition, the video diary format does provide a unique and vital subplot to the movie.  The cameraman, a character named Jones, records his diary over a previously-recorded videotape, inadvertently leaving some of the old material intact; these snippets provide a chilling back story to the outbreak.  Finally, the last few minutes of the movie have a macabre ending that perfectly embodies the futility and frustration inherent in a zombie apocalypse.  

World of the Dead: Zombie Diaries 2 won’t be the best zombie movie you can watch in 2012, but it sure won’t be the worst.  The movie is worth a shot as long as you go into it with average expectations.  I give this movie two out of five rotting zombie heads.