The British Add Something New to the Zombie Genre

Rating: 8/10 (30 October 2006)

A man (Simon Pegg) decides to turn his moribund life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend (Kate Ashfield), reconciling his relationship with his mother (Penelope Wilton), and dealing with an entire community that has returned from the dead to eat the living.
What makes this film atypical of most horror films is that it is not a horror film at all, but a romantic comedy... only it is a romantic comedy filled with zombies and head-crushing action. We follow Shaun, who fights to win his girlfriend Liz back... fights zombies, that is.
The humor is distinctly British, and some of the humor relies on a familiarity with the show "Spaced", which is probably not well known to the general audience. Much of the jokes are also obscure references to other horror films. But most of the humor is universal, as we all probably know what it is like to have a bad day, have a bad job, and have things go wrong with a great woman (or man, as the case may be). And all too many of us know what it is like to live with a deadbeat roommate.
The zombie effects are pretty decent, though not as gory as in many films. The humor outweighs the scary obviously. The scenery is great, and many of the scenes are so derivative of "Dawn of the Dead" that it is hard not to like this film. (Some scenes, some music and even some dialog is lifted directly from Romero... such as news broadcasts and the classic "We're coming to get you, Barbara.") I enjoyed the multiple times a character was told not to call the zombies "zombies"... because it calls to mind the great difference between horror movie characters and horror movie viewers. (Horror movie viewers know Romero made zombie films, but the word "zombie" is not used in those films... even the "Dawn" remake never once calls them "zombies".)
I do not know if I would make this a must-see movie, but it is one of those films that everyone has seen, so you probably would not be a true horror fan unless you have seen it, too. And the way it went on to influence zombie films and zombie comedies over the next decade is incredible, culminating in the nearly-as-good "Cockneys Vs. Zombies", that any "Shaun" fan should be sure to see. Stephen King proclaimed it was "destined to be a cult classic." He was right.