A romantic comedy with zombies

Rating: 8/10 (5 November 2014)

Edgar Wright's "Shaun of the Dead" is a British horror-comedy inspired in part by zombie movies like George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead". The story surrounds a pair of twenty-something underachievers who find themselves in the middle of a zombie crisis. For the titular Shaun the situation becomes a catalyst for getting his life back on track.
One of the things that I really appreciated about this movie in the early going was the deft juxtaposition of comedy and horror. The title character has an inkling that something odd is going on but things have already progressed quite a bit before he finally gets wise. The direction is particularly interesting during this stage because we see several stock horror shots recycled in a clever way.
Comedy is just one of the weapons in the film's arsenal, though. When things start getting horrific there are some tense moments, though still tempered with a sense of humour. The film also has some surprisingly heartfelt emotional content as well. Clearly the brains behind the script were much more thoughtful than most horror writers.
Speaking of which, Wright co-wrote the script with star Simon Pegg. Pegg's performance in the lead role propels the film and his pairing with Nick Frost provides many of the film's finest comedic moments. Meanwhile, Bill Nighy makes a welcome appearance in a small role and the remainder of the core group of supporting players complements the central pair nicely.
In the end, "Shaun of the Dead" is a film that should be essential viewing for both horror and comedy fans since it's not too scary to be funny and it's not too funny to be scary. And if you're wondering how gory the film is, it's not bad. Granted, there is one scene where a fellow gets ripped limb from limb but apart from that it's fairly tame.