US, UK, you'll enjoy it just the same

Rating: 10/10 (18 October 2005)

I'm not from the UK (live in NJ), and not a fan of horror movies, but I enjoyed Shaun of the Dead thoroughly. I first saw it on DVD, and watched it twice plus all the additional material, which is rare for me. I'm sure that a few jokes were missed on me (for example, I only found out about the original, Dawn of the Dead, a few weeks after I've watched it), but the greatness of the movie lies not in any one-liners or comedic material. Movies that rely on this are rarely enjoyable when viewed more than once. No, this movie belong to the same category as Spinal Tap: its appeal is in the off-the-wall characters and situations, and in the absurdity of it.
And this, in a nut-shell, is what this movie is: a theater of the absurd. You have people who desperately try to maintain a normal life-style while all around them is chaos; who try to patch up relationships while being attacked by flesh-eating zombies. In one of the best scenes, the main character, Shaun, has his first heart-to-heart talk with his stepfather of 20 years just as the old man turns into a Zombie. In another, Shaun tries to prevent his best friend Ed from throwing an AC/DC record at a zombie in self defense because it is a first edition. And not to mention the laid-back Ed himself, who decides to take a call on his cellphone just when it is imperative that he pretends to be a zombie to avoid being attacked by their kind.
But the movie isn't just a mindless comedy. There's good directing and acting, and the timing and pace are excellent throughout most of it. The plot is very strong and even the TV broadcasts which are intertwined with the movie are entertaining. One word of advice, though: don't show this to small kids. While less terrifying than your average horror movie, there are still some gory scenes.