Shaun of the Dead

Rating: 9/10 (22 May 2006)

This great comedy, amusingly described by the poster as "a romantic comedy. With zombies", comes courtesy of the crew who also gave us the excellent TV series Spaced. To be honest, the film can feel like a TV episode that has been stretched out, and this would probably be a problem if the film wasn't so damned funny! It may be low-budget, but this is a film which is to be watched for the gags, almost as if the zombies were mere coincidence in the story.
With the simple premise that Shaun is a loser who is virtually a zombie stumbling through his life and who has just been dumped by his girlfriend, suddenly finds himself the only one capable of saving his (few) friends when zombies take over. There's a fantastic scene where Shaun is walking to the local shop and back, whilst in the background you see the zombies taking over, all the while without Shaun noticing. It's simple, yet remarkably effective. The story is all in the writing, and it certainly shows. Shaun's first reaction to seeing a zombie is priceless ("Oh my god she's so drunk!"), and his best friend Ed (Nick Frost) is definitely worth a mention as the only person who is more of a loser in life than Shaun.
The film does begin to stall whenever they attempt a "serious" bit, but the jokes are flowing like the beer in the Winchester Pub they are trying to reach. It's not a particularly gory film, only in one scene towards the end does it get a bit bloody, but the film succeeds so well because it proves that it doesn't have to be gory to get attention. This one is definitely worth a few viewings  you will not be disappointed.
Rated: 8.5/10
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