- The Zombie Diaries
Infobox Film
name = The Zombie Diaries
caption = original film poster
rated =18
director = Kevin Gates Michael Bartlett
producer = Kevin Gates Michael Bartlett
writer = Kevin Gates Michael Bartlett
starring = Russell JonesCraig Stovin Jonnie Hum James FisherAnna Blades Imogen Church
music =Stephen Hoper
cinematography = George Carpenter
editing = Kevin Gates Michael Bartlett
distributor =Revolver Entertainment
released =August 27 , 2007
runtime = 81 min.
country = UK
language = English
budget =
imdb_id = 0876294
amg_id =
preceded_by =
followed_by ="The Zombie Diaries" is a 2006 British independent horror
film written, produced and directed by Kevin Gates and first-time feature film maker Michael Bartlett.The film was shot in a hand-held documentary format on
DV and split into three separate parts. Its plot has been described cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848557/faq#.2.1.8|title=IMDb FAQ for The Zombie Diaries|publisher=Internet Movie Database|accessdate=2007-09-17] as a cross between "The Blair Witch Project " and "Night of the Living Dead ".Plot synopsis
The introduction to the film shows a platoon of the British army clearing a small collection of farmhouses, with them are two scientists who take a tissue sample from a deceased civilian who appears to have reanimated, then shot. Then the titles roll.
The film's first chapter, "The Outbreak," begins in the city of London, emphasizing both the dismissive and paranoid reactions of the population to an unspecified disease outbreak that is gradually making its way to Britain. The film then moves to footage of a documentary crew's travel to the countryside, where, in the process of filming material related to the virus, the characters encounter the zombie outbreak firsthand. The story of these four individuals is revisited in the second half of the movie.
The second chapter, "The Scavengers," takes place one month later. Two men (one of whom is American) and one woman travel around in small car armed only with a rifle, in search of food and radio parts.
The final chapter, "The Survivors," tells the story of a larger group of uninfected people who have set up camp on a farm. They divide their time doing reconnaissance of surrounding areas, holding off the endless stream of incoming zombies, and bickering amongst themselves. In the opening scene of the chapter, the audience watches as "the survivors" calmly execute the approaching infected. By the conclusion, however (by which time viewers have been jolted back in time to the first nights of the documentary crew at the beginning of the film), the word "survivors" becomes a distinctly ironic title, as everyone thought to be so enduring ultimately very much isn't.
Production
The idea for the film was proposed by Michael Bartlett to Kevin Gates in Autumn 2004. Bartlett originally envisaged it as a short film, but Gates felt it was better suited to feature film length. cite web|url=http://www.zombiediaries.com/PressKitZombieDiaries.pdf|title=The Zombie Diaries press kit|publisher=ZombieDiaries.com|accessdate=2007-09-17]
Casting involved asking actors to improvise entire sequences from the film. Gates and Bartlett picked the largely unknown cast as a result of this process. Shooting took place at weekends between July and
November 2005 and post-production was completed during 2006. cite web|url=http://www.zombiediaries.com/PressKitZombieDiaries.pdf|title=The Zombie Diaries press kit|publisher=ZombieDiaries.com|accessdate=2007-09-17]The film was completed prior to the announcement of the upcoming
George A. Romero film "Diary of the Dead ", which shares a similar plot device. cite web|url=http://www.zombiediaries.com/PressKitZombieDiaries.pdf|title=The Zombie Diaries press kit|publisher=ZombieDiaries.com|accessdate=2007-09-17]Principal cast
Whilst the cast was made up of professional actors, few were well-known other than a brief appearance from
Leonard Fenton , best-known for playing Dr. Harold Legg in "EastEnders ".The principal cast consisted of:
* Russell Jones - Goke
*Craig Stovin - Andy
*Jonnie Hurn - John
* James Fisher - Geoff
*Anna Blades - Vanessa
*Imogen Church - SueActor Ian McCulloch, noted star of the
BBC 's post-apocalyptic drama "Survivors " was interested in a role in the film at one stage, but declined as the writers were unable to expand his role. cite web|url=http://www.zombiediaries.com/PressKitZombieDiaries.pdf|title=The Zombie Diaries press kit|publisher=ZombieDiaries.com|accessdate=2007-09-17]Release
The film made a small-scale cinema debut on
October 29 2006 at Letchworth Garden City's Broadway Cinema, where on the opening night it became the first film in the cinema's 75 year history to sell out in advance. Followed by a debut inLeicester Square onAugust 27 2007 as part of the UK's biggest horror film festivalLondon FrightFest Film Festival (this showing was preceded by an attempt to break theworld record for competitors in azombie walk ). The film was also released on DVD on the same day.The US DVD release has been scheduled for November 18th, 2008 by Dimension Extreme.
References
External links
* [http://www.zombiediaries.com Official site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/thezombiediaries Official MySpace page]
* [http://www.zombiediaries.com/PressKitZombieDiaries.pdf Press kit]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2006/10/26/michael_barlett_zombie_diaries_feature.shtml BBC News article]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/news/arts/articulate/200611/s1795742.htm ABC News article]
* [http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=interviews&Id=1137 FilmThreat.com interview]
* [http://www.dreadcentral.com/index.php?name=Interviews&req=showcontent&id=4773 DreadCentral.com interview]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/realmedia/2006/10/zombie_diaries.ram BBC Radio interview]
* [http://mattstaggs.blogspot.com/2006/10/interview-with-kevin-gates-director-of.html SkullRing.org interview]
* [http://d3rang3d.com/issue2/michaelbartlett.html d3rang3d.com interview]
*imdb title|id=0876294
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