Very good but not great

Rating: 8/10 (9 October 2004)

Romantic comedy/horror film (taking place in England) about Shaun and his friends trying to stay alive when the dead come alive and eat the flesh of the living.
Yep--it had to happen eventually--a comedy about flesh-eating zombies. Surprisingly it really does work. This is one of the few movies that successfully mixes horror, comedy and drama. The only other ones I can think of are "The Howling", "American Werewolf in London" and "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein". Not all the jokes work but about 95% of them do. And the dramatic moments actually are well-worked into the plot. And this movie has PLENTY of blood and gore (for an R rated film). If this had been done seriously the ratings board probably would have demanded cuts.
Now I DID like it (and was laughing out loud more than once) but it has some minor problems: most of the characters are extremely unlikable (especially Shaun's best friend); the film has its share of dead spots and some scenes are way too tragic for a film like this. Still, that aside, this is a very funny, gory movie. A must for horror fans. Try to see it with an audience--it really comes alive that way.