If you’ve seen any of the advertising for this film, then forget about it.

One of the worst things about The Zombie Diaries is that it’s been mis-promoted. The posters paint it as an all-out zombie war on the streets of London when in fact it’s not. It’s an intelligent, well thought-out film that pre-supposes the idea of an infection that could happen and shows the outcome of that problem in real-life situations.

The film doesn’t just deserve to be called ‘a great British zombie film’ but a great British film. Full stop. More lucid than a Romero induced nightmare, it plants real people like you and me in horrific situations and then strikes a blow, which knocks it up a level. What if the zombies weren’t the only thing you need to worry about?

Instead of being just another gun-happy kill-fest as most zombie movies turn out to be, this is more of a statement just as Dawn of the Dead was George’s way of lashing out corporate consumerism, showing his political stance. The people that watch may not have the power to say anything about it, but it’s a way of getting opinion to the masses, and the masses that watch will learn a little along the way.

The films plot starts with a camera crew going out to the countryside to discover local reactions to the possible spread of bird flu, as all information regarding the infections are kept hush hush until the moment when everything becomes silent.

As we know, this isn’t the first film to work solely on DV as Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later stole that title, but this is the first to put it in a context in which the situation maintains a believable scenario.

Those that make it through the initial infection are given visible labels to show that different people will react differently to rise to the occasion, although most - as you’d expect - aren’t so lucky.  We follow the triple storyline as they intertwine with one another as the outbreak occurs; the scavengers take to the streets to live off what they can find, whilst the survivors are willing to defend what they hold dearest.

You will typically find the naysayers; those that want the gore of all the typical box office fare such as Hostel, but won’t find it here. If anything, comparisons could be drawn more from The Blair Witch Project due to its amateur stance.

This is in regard to camera-work and the normality of the make-up, which makes you stand on edge, as it feels far too real at times. There is no necessity to over-show the true horror of what’s happening as the reaction of the actors/actresses tend to stress more the reality of the apocalyptic-like scenes they haplessly wander into.

Make sure you turn the lights out, lock your door and if you’re living in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, beware of unexpected visitors - and not just those of the undead variety.