stilted British horror-comedy

Rating: 5/10 (25 August 2005)

The critical phenomenon "Shaun of the Dead" inspired is baffling. I saw it in the theater, found it a lightly diverting item with a touch of humor amid the horror (the romantic and domestic drama isn't nearly as successful), but nowhere near the brilliant masterpiece horror fans and mainstream critics were hailing it as. Maybe I have a bit of resiliency towards thick-accented English romps, but "Shaun of the Dead" feels dramatically awkward and stilted in its humor (it plays out with a hand that's more heavy than incendiary); even the zombies and their ensuing carnage lack grit and terror. That being said, this homage to George Romero's "Dead" trilogy has its moments, as we follow thankless twentysomething Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his deadbeat roommate Ed (Nick Frost), as they navigate through an unexplained zombie plague...so that Shaun can reconcile with his estranged girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield). In the end, its pervasive sincere charm and some clever in-jokes (Shaun works at "Foree Electronics," for instance) keep "Shaun" watchable, but the premise is ultimately funnier than the movie itself.