Dawn of the Dead meets Men Behaving Badly

Rating: 10/10 (20 November 2004)

If you understand that description, you'll understand just what makes this film so funny. I refer, of course, to the British TV series, not the watered down, unfunny American version that was aimed at Budweiser toting Jocks whose idea of a good read is the Enquirer or the Globe.
Essentially this is British humour at its best, and either you like it or you don't. It's crude, thin on plot, but hugely funny on comedic timing and farcical situations.
Reading the message boards, I see so many morons ranting about how the special effects were rubbish, or the film was boring, and they are the people that are really not going to get 99% of the humour in this film. They are the people that say "Eight Legged Freaks" was fantastic cinema.
Shaun of the dead is right there with Monty Python, Benny Hill, Ab Fab, Fawlty Towers, and heaven knows what that American TV has done its best to reproduce and consistently failed to do so in usually catastrophic fashion, albeit varyingly commercially successful on the networks.
American humour couldn't invent any of these programs, they always have to copy them; even The Office is going to get a workover for heaven's sake! It's like copying the Mona Lisa. It will always be second best.
It says it all when Friends is probably the most successful US comedy series in England (probably the world); American writers and actors can find the global funny bone, but that's ticklish laughter, not the roll over, tears in your eyes, stomach hurting laughter that's in this film.
If you're a fan of British humour you will laugh at this film like it's going out of fashion and you tear muscles.
If you are not, I'm afraid most of it will go over your head, but it's certainly worth a rental for trying.
I would say Pegg had his finger on the pulse of what direction Dawn of the Dead was going to take, because there certainly seem to be some broad similarities between the two.
Personally I know I'll be watching this film again and again with people who haven't seen it, if only for them to be so grateful as to buy me a pint.
Geddit?!
Cheers, Harry