Funny, witty and enjoyable zombie comedy!

Rating: 10/10 (22 December 2006)

Shaun of the Dead is probably one of the best zombie movies ever made. Dawn of the Dead was very gory but not at all funny, whereas Slither was just silly and not that funny - but Shaun of the Dead has everything. It is gory and very witty - a real cult classic. People will enjoy watching thick Ed, troubled Shaun and all the other characters in their crazy scenarios that take them across London. But Shaun of the Dead is also quite a realistic and troubling depiction of an apocalyptic world - made even more realistic by the fact that it builds up fear and chaos as it continues and starts on generally quite a small scale (chronicling the happenings at Shaun and Ed's house), rather than throwing us straight into the action right at the start like on Dawn of the Dead. The first 25 minutes are mainly concentrated on Shaun's social life - but hints are dropped on the zombie plague as the film continues, and despite the fact that Shaun of the Dead wouldn't be Shaun of the Dead if it wasn't for the zombies, the film is really about Shaun's life and how quickly your life can change in one day. Instead of zombies getting blasted with shotguns and escaped from with cars, Shaun of the Dead follows the adventures of Shaun's ragtag group through the streets - in a way that probably would happen if something like this were ever to happen. Shaun and his friends didn't have guns or huge malls to defend them - they only had each other, their brains, and cunning plans. The bit where they all pretended to be zombies to get through a zombie crowd was genius and a plan that could be used in real life. Though the end is somewhat very action-packed, Shaun of the Dead is generally a very gritty and shocking film made on a small scale to capture the essence of real suburban life and the emotions and feelings of a couple of people trying to live through something they did not understand or could escape from. What I've been trying to say is - if a zombie plague were to happen in real life, Shaun of the Dead would be the closest thing to a proper survival guide you could get your hands on. I've spent most of my comment trying to be serious about this film when it is actually light-hearted, but I personally believe this is what every horror-comedy (or comedy in general) film should aspire to. With a packed-with-extras DVD release (complete with an interesting trivia track, commentaries, and tons more stuff), Shaun of the Dead is definitely one to get if you see it cheap. Spiffing! 10/10