Enjoyable British twist on zombie movies

Rating: 7/10 (2 April 2005)

Shaun of the Dead (2004) Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Nick Frost, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Penelope Wilton, Bill Nighy, D: Edgar Wright. A 29-year-old British slacker, who has just been dumped by his girlfriend, slowly realizes that London is crawling with zombies one morning, and with his slovenly flat mate they round up a band of survivors (including Shaun's ex, her roommates, and his mother) to hide out in the local pub. Mildly funny, genre-bending spoof nicely balances social satire, romance, and horror, though the final third (not without lots of blood and gore) goes on auto-pilot instead of being as original as its first two thirds. Written by Pegg and the director. 100 min., rated PG-13. ** ½