Who would've thought that a movie could be so funny while, at the same time, making you cower in fear?

Rating: 9/10 (29 December 2004)

Every morning, with our lives in a rut, we all wake up and go about some sort of an interminable daily routine. Showering, eating breakfast, going to work; it's all part of some chronic, tedious spiel. Eventually, we all become mindless zombies; following our habitual lives without even the slightest thought. The question is, what exactly would we do if our incessant worlds were turned upside-down? If for once, something different occurred? Well, according to Edgar Wright's Shaun Of The Dead, the answer to that question is simple; we'd laugh about it.
While poking fun at the British culture, and the faults of many perfunctory societies, Shaun Of The Dead acts as a campy English take on the recently stupefied horror genre. It starts out slow; setting the grounds for it's multi-layered characters and plot, then jests its way into an elongated, and quite riveting climax.
The movie follows the story of an oblivious slacker named Shaun {Simon Pegg} who's life falls apart when his girlfriend, Liz {Kate Ashfield}, dumps him due to his indolent nature. The next day, Shaun, and his half-witted best friend, Ed {Nick Frost}, awaken to find the world overrun by the cannibalistic undead. From here on out, the plot becomes an amusing, and largely witty piece of comedic satire as our heroes struggle to save Liz, her uptight roommates, and Shaun's mother, then reach a nearby pub where they plan to take refuge, and hopefully survive the night.
Unlike in most horror films where cardboard cutout characters run around getting chopped to pieces, survival and suspense in Shaun Of The Dead actually takes a backseat to character development, and, well, romance as Shaun uses the apocalypse to his advantage, and tries to win back Liz's heart. Heck, the movie's tag-line is even "a romantic comedy, with zombies."
Don't get me wrong though; even with its many affectionate, and comedic moments, Shaun Of The Dead also packs enough scares to get any horror fan excited. The balance between comedy and horror in this film is virtually flawless, acting largely as the movie's greatest achievement.
For example, during the last half-hour of this film, in which hoards of the undead finally invade our heroes' sanctuary {a pub}, initiating an action packed end-all battle for survival, people are impaled, ripped apart, and eaten as a jukebox plays quirky pop music, and ironically important fart jokes pop up into the atmosphere. One second you'll be smiling, and the next; your eyes will be scrunched closed in fear and disgust.
Shaun Of The Dead is also very successful in it's constant mocking of the drudgingly humdrum aspects of society. Initially taunting only the British culture {it is a British film after all}, the movie ends up making fun of anyone, and everyone who can connect with the idea of being in a rut.
One scene in particular that emphasizes this point, and actually defines the tone of the movie as a whole, would be one in which Shaun wakes up, goes outside, walks to a local convenient store for breakfast, and goes back to his house, all without realizing that the city of London is up in chaos as hundreds of corpses and moaning, flesh-hungry zombies line the bloody streets. Obliviousness and laziness; these two things make society as a whole almost indistinguishable from the living dead.
All in all, Shaun Of The Dead is a smart, scary, hilarious, and horrifyingly witty satire that constantly teases the everyday lives of people across the globe. After reading this review, I suggest that you go out, find a cricket bat {or any blunt object for that matter}, get to a theater, and see this movie. Oh yeah, and one more thingAim for their heads.
Rating: 4.5/5