A good horror/comedy but somewhat overrated.

Rating: 6/10 (3 January 2007)

Shaun of the Dead is set in London where Shaun (co-writer Simon Pegg) has problems, his fat mate Ed (Nick Frost) is holding him back, his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) dumps him & then there's the small matter of hordes of flesh eating zombies that risen from the dead to feast on the living. However, Shaun has a plan to save himself, his mate, his ex-girlfriend & his mum & step-dad which involves barricading themselves into his local pub...
This British French co-production was co-written & directed by Edgar Wright & I have to say I was left a little disappointed by it & I can't quite see where all the glowing praise for it comes from. The script by star Pegg & Wright is obviously a nice homage to George A. Romero's 'Dead' films although to be honest I'd sooner watch Romero's splatter/gore films than this odd mixture of comedy, romance & horror. Shaun of the Dead is all very British & maybe the novelty of it wins people over especially those who don't live here in Britian, unfortunately I do live here & it just doesn't have quite the same affect on me. Apparently both Pegg & Wright were involved in the British comedy series 'Spaced' which to be honest I've never heard of & maybe that's where a lot of it's fans come from. Anyway, it's a moderately successful film & certainly a watchable one, it's amusing, it's pretty clever & well written, it has plenty of fun references to other films, it's a fairly fun film but I found it to be too spoofy, it goes to far into the direction of silliness & some of the things that happen just annoyed me. I'm in two minds really, I will openly admit it's a fun watch but I didn't think it was as brilliant as many seem to think, I doubt I'd watch it again anytime soon & I didn't have as much fun with it as I'd hoped, overall I'd say I was a little disappointed.
Director Wright does a good job, it's shot like a TV soap opera at times although he manages to juggle the comedy, romance & horror quite well. It's not scary & I didn't find it laugh out loud funny either but I'm sure many of you out there do/will. I like the laddish approach that the modern British male would barricade themselves in a pub & wait for it to blow over rather than head for the plush & sensible surroundings of a supermarket as seen in Dawn of the Dead (1978). There's some gore, someone is torn apart at the end, there are someone gunshot wounds to the head but little else worth mentioning.
With a supposed budget of about $4,000,000 Shaun of the Dead is well made although there isn't a great deal of style or flair to it. The acting is good & the cast make their character's pretty likable.
Shaun of the Dead is a decent fun homage to Romero's zombie films, to be brutally honest I'd rather see one of those again than this though. Worth a watch for sure but not as good as I'd hoped & I feel it's slightly overrated.