Tacky but entertaining English comedy horror

Rating: 6/10 (14 April 2004)

Described as a 'British' comedy-horror, this is a very 'English' film, complete with English-style pubs, English silly humour, a generous splattering of gore, and the sort of fish-and-chips romance that goes with English sitcoms. Shaun is caught amidst a growing epidemic of zombies - presumably sparked of by genetically modified crops. Attempts to save his girlfriend and mum (and various others) result in an ill-conceived plan to hole up in the local pub. Humorous references to people with 'dead-end jobs' abound, and also to the attempts by Shaun's girlfriend to get him to 'live a little' rather than hanging out down the pub with his dead-loss mates. The joke is carried even further when the group have to impersonate zombies so as not to be noticed, even to the point of practice auditions. Cerebral stuff it ain't, but Shaun of the Dead, although its joke goes on for a little too long, makes a reasonable stab at breathing new life into a dying brand of horror movie.