Diary of the Dead (1976)

Directed by Arvin Brown
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(VHS, Vista Home Video)

Stan is a middle-aged, balding, unemployed, childless man living with his wife and mother-in-law. He fights with his neighbor and hangs out at the local bar, whose bartender seems to be the only one who understands him. He is tempted to murder his mother-in-law to get her money, but resists. One day her friend dies a natural death in his living room and he decides to switch identities and murder her. Only problem is the mother-in-law accidentally dies. Here in lies the main problem with the movie: he never commits murder. The only thing he is really guilty of is hiding a corpse and switching identities, and he has nothing to gain from either act. So without motivation the film has to rely on tension and suspense, of which there is little of either. It's dull and depressing, even a mildly shocking ending can't save it.