3 June 2008

Having made the three most respected zombie movies of all time, this year George Romero returned to the sub-genre he effectively rules with Diary of the Dead, a rethink of the form for the digital camcorder age.

When a group of film students making a horror movie in the woods discovers that the dead have begun to revive, they turn their cameras on the real-life horrors that suddenly confront them, creating a first person diary of their bloody encounters and the disintegration of everything they hold dear.

Told with Romero's pitch-black humour and an unflinching eye on our post-Katrina world, George A. Romero's Diary Of The Dead marks the father of the modern horror's return to his roots in a film that both delivers on the genre's promise and deconstructs our modern, media-saturated culture.

Optimum have announced Diary of the Dead for a 30th June UK release on 2-disc DVD and blu-ray at the RRP of £22.99 (DVD) and £24.99 (blu-ray) with the following extra features:

• Commentary with director George A Romero, editor Michael Doherty and DOP Adam Swica;
• Making Of: Into the Camera interview with actors;
• Master of the Dead: Interview with George A Romero with foreword by producers;
• Filmed character profiles;
• You Look Dead: Make up featurette;
• A New Spin On Death: Spin VFX  featurette;
• A World Gone Mad: Photography & Design featurette;
• The Lead Up To Diary: UK Exclusive Interview from Frightfest 08;
• Speak of the Dead: featurette about the celebrity voice-overs;
• Shorts: The First Week & The Roots;
• George A Romero Documentary: Behind the Scenes of the cult classic Night of the Living Dead, Interview with George A. Romero, last interview with actor Carl Hardeman, Tour of Night's cemetery in Pittsburg and much more... (90 mins).

The extras on the blu-ray edition are identical to the DVD except for the 90 minute documentary. Aw man...