Shaun of the Dead (2004)


REVIEWER RATING: 
7/10


This movie came out of nowhere for me last year after reports about it surfaced and a trailer was released. The flick is brought to us by the comic duo (Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg) that brought the UK comedy Spaced to the small screen. I've never seen the series myself, but I hear it's funny. After viewing the hilarious trailer, I knew I had to see the movie. Lucky enough I was able to view a screener for it, since I'm not in the UK it's really the only way to see it. The film got a April theatrical release in the UK and since its been getting a lot of positive reviews, and I have to agree with the critics, it is a funny horror flick that successfully spoofs the zombie genre. Loaded with gore and humor, it's a fun ride from beginning to end.

The movie starts off setting up how much of a loser the main character Shaun is, and how his life is essentially going nowhere. With recent relationship troubles and dealing with his slacker roommate, fighting off zombies was the last thing on his mind. As the film progresses we see slight zombie action in the background as our hero walks around and continues his daily routine, totally ignoring the fact that something odd is going on around him. Since he's so caught up with his own problems, he has no time or attention span to sit and watch the news for more than 20 seconds.

Eventually he and his roommate discover something's up when a strange lady is seen in their backyard. With failed attempts to shoo her away, the hero Shaun accidentally knocks her into a pipe, which busts a hole through her gut. That doesn't seem to stop her, as she simply lifts herself off that thing and lunges towards the two. It doesn't take them long to realize they've got a zombie epidemic on their hands. Shaun gathers a plan to get his mom and ex-gf together and head to somewhere safe, but our heroes come to realize that it's a lot easier than it sounds, as they make their way through the swarms of zombies on the crowded London streets.

The movie has an excellent mix of humor and horror. It successfully spoofs the typical zombie movie, without forgetting to pay homage to all the classics along the way. I thought the beginning was very funny because of the fact that the signs we've seen to cry out zombies! is ignored totally by our lead to humorous proportions. Now just because the movie is a comedy doesn't mean it doesn't have its fair share of zombie action. Nope, we've got a lot of it in the second half, especially towards the end. Normally zombie movies don't wrap up, or end poorly, but I thought the ending to this film was both funny and creative. I was very satisfied. I believe the movie is getting released to the US by Warner Brothers, but so far there's no set release date. When viewing this movie, be sure to catch Coldplay's lead singer, Chris Martin's cameo appearance at the end.

A successfully funny UK zombie comedy. Filled with good zombie action, gore, and funny scenes, this is definitely worth a watch.
OVERALL: 
A successfully funny UK zombie comedy. Filled with good zombie action, gore, and funny scenes, this is definitely worth a watch.


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