Ridiculously funny

Rating: 9/10 (27 December 2004)

I nearly wet myself laughing when I watched this film. It already starts off promising, in a very oddly British kind of way, completely different from what I imagined. Shaun is this sad geezer, on the verge of losing his girlfriend who is stuck in a dead-end sales job and gets wound up by his 17 year-old colleagues. His best friend is even more of a loser than he is and doesn't do much apart from sitting around with his Playstation or downing pints at the local with Shaun etc. As the plot builds up we are gradually introduced to Shaun's cozy, yet boring world as well as realise way before he does that something very obviously "iffy" is going on and the scene where Shaun & Ed finally realise that they are dealing with zombies has got to be one of the most hilarious in the film. From that point on, Shaun the anti-hero and Ed, his side-kick become humanity's last hope, wellfor his loved ones anyway and both set off on a mission to save Shaun's ex-girlfriend and mother. What follows is a mixture of action, gore, a little romantic subplot and plenty of British humour. This is not really a film for those expecting homage to the original, but it does have references even in the way it's filmed. But it is mainly a "comedy" (not a spoof) and very good one at that with a brilliant set of characters, including Lucy Davis from the Office who plays Dianne. I also think that it's funny that they released at the same time as the remake of Dawn of the Dead because it shows that a little clever marketing, good actors and a good script can take on a big budget remake any day.