Hilarious cult classic

Rating: 9/10 (22 December 2018)

This review contains spoilers.
Shaun of the Dead is a horror comedy movie directed by Edgar Wright and written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. The movie stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The movie premiered in 2004 and is about a zombie apocalypse in London from the perspective of a TV salesman without much direction in his life. The movie primarily follows Shaun, played by Simon Pegg, and Ed played by Nick Frost as they navigate the zombie apocalypse.
This movie is a cult classic. There are countless hilarious scenes that this movie has. There is a wide array of humor here as there are funny dumb moments and funny moments with a long pay off. The humor in the movie does die down in the later parts of the movie with character deaths. This is luckily helped by the good direction in the latter half of the movie. The movie also paces its humor out well as the movie's scenes have many fun small touches that might only be seen by the audience on a second watch. One of the scenes that had me in tears was Shaun walking through the neighborhood after the zombie apocalypse in a mirror of an earlier scene. The movie is filled with these moments that make the movie incredibly enjoyable.
Edgar Wright's direction is certainly helpful in this movie. The film moves at an electric pace matched by the electric direction and editing. It was even a joy watching the more mundane parts of Shaun and Ed's lives. The cutting style in this movie helped a lot with making every moment seem fun. I do not think I was ever bored throughout the 99 minutes of running time in the movie. There is not a scene or dialogue wasted in this movie.
The main leads of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Kate Ashfield work incredibly well. These actors have great comedic timing and delivery. It is definitely easy to root for Shaun to prevail as he is this lovable buffoon.
The plot of the movie is basic. Anyone that has watched Dawn of the Dead or any mainstream zombie movie can predict the story. Shaun of the Dead does not do anything new to the zombie genre story wise. The newness comes from the comedy in the movie.
Shaun of the Dead is an incredibly well done movie, I highly recommend the movie to both audiences that do not like the zombie genre and existing fans. The movie is one of 2004's highlights.
Grade: A