The best zombie movie ever - because it's more than just a zombie movie.

Rating: 10/10 (5 July 2006)

Zombies are boring. They're not scary, they're not intimidating. They move slower than a snail, and all they can do is eat you. I suppose in the early days there was more of a thrill to them, but that was lost as the years progressed. George A. Romero captured the fear in his original "Night of the Living Dead," and used the zombies as satire of American commercialism in his overrated sequel, "Dawn of the Dead," but by the time his third film came around  the forgettable "Day of the Dead"  the zombie genre had been ruined by the outpour of Romero rip-offs, all of which lacked the brains of his first two movies.
"Shaun of the Dead" understands how lame zombies are. No one responds to the monsters. People carry on as if it's just a bad day or something, and tomorrow everything will be back to normal. When Shaun (Simon Pegg) runs through a crowd of the undead and swings a cricket bat at them, totally unfazed by their presence, it's one of the film's cleverer scenes. Because director Edgar Wright and writer Pegg know zombies and zombie movies suck.
"Shaun of the Dead" is the best modern zombie movie ever. It's the funniest, most entertaining, most emotionally captivating and, surprisingly, one of the darkest, too (lots of blood was used here).
Pegg plays Shaun, a down-on-his-luck Brit who lives with his friend Ed (Nick Frost) and is about to be dumped by his girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield). When the zombies begin to attack, Shaun immediately uses their presence as a way to scheme his way back into his girlfriend's heart. It's the perfect excuse for him to go over to her apartment.
There's more heart and understanding of the human condition in this movie than most dramas. It carefully balances the physical pain with the heartache  Shaun's cruel stepdad (the always reliable Bill Nighy) gets bitten by a zombie, and as he bleeds to death, he apologizes to Shaun for his behavior over the years and explains that all he ever wanted was to be accepted as a father figure. It's a touching scene at a totally unexpected place in the movie, and makes the zombie attacks more than just random acts of comedy punctuated by blood-letting  it makes them human.
This is a romantic comedy about forgiveness, broken relationships, estranged parents, accepting your best friend's flaws, recognizing your own, andzombies. What a concept.