Pegg-cellent! Not just all Wright!

Rating: 10/10 (13 April 2005)

Apologies for the awful summary above...
Shaun is a 29-year-old electrical salesman living in London. He shares a house with two friends and has a steady girlfriend, Liz. Shaun shuffles through life oblivious to events and situations surrounding him, such as his failing relationship and the sudden outbreak of zombies. Liz is tired of Shaun's insistence on spending every opportunity that he can in the Winchester pub. Shaun promises to take her to a restaurant but, due to interference from his overpowering step-dad, forgets to book. Shaun reluctantly suggests going to the Winchester and is promptly dumped.
It would all be a pretty straightforward, uncomplicated story if it were not for the continuous news coverage played out in the background (Shaun and his friends remain oblivious to this, however) detailing the recent dead-returning-to-life-and-eating-people phenomenon. Soon the zombies are attacking and increasing in numbers, and Shaun has to shake his ineptitude to lead his friends to safety, rescue his mum and get Liz back.
The film opens with the (original) Dawn of the Dead soundtrack playing over the Universal logo, which gradually merges into The Specials 'Ghost Town. This sets the tone for the film, as this is as much homage to Romero's Living Dead trilogy as it is to British culture and comedy. It's not an easy mix, but somehow Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright strike an easy balance between them in a brilliant screenplay. The first act is played mainly for laughs and as a set up for the characters, who are particularly well-rounded for a genre film, and to also slowly build the zombie epidemic up around them. The use of radio and television to portray the arrival and eventual epidemic of the zombies is a nice touch and harks back to Romero's Dawn only here the news reports go unnoticed in the background, as people go about their business with little regard for the events surrounding them. So, we're surrounded by zombies anyway; on the bus, in the street, at work  shuffling around oblivious to each other and our problems. This is a point made bluntly, but to good effect in Shaun, again harking back to Romero's film, where the dead represent a nation of zombie-like consumers.
The mannerisms of the dead are similar too; Shaun opts for the slow, shuffling zombies as opposed to the new, fast ones that seem to have replaced them in modern cinema. In fact, this is a film that uses Romero as a law. A zombie law. This is Romero's universe, only the events are happening in London instead of Pittsburgh. The comedy works on two levels within Shaun, obviously one level is for humour, but the other level is an increased realism. How many zombie films are there when, having dispatched their first zombie by bludgeoning them with a cricket bat, our hero has to sit down and have a cup of tea? Through the second act and into the third, the tone of Shaun of the Dead changes. The comedy purposely thins out a little as the zombies lay siege on our heroes. In fact the final act of Shaun is downright terrifying, touching, and gory as hell, including a death scene that ranks up there alongside the best. Not to give too much away, but all that's missing is the line 'Choke on 'em!' Shaun of the Dead should appeal to a wide audience. The self titled 'romzomcom' has just that; a romantic story involving Shaun and his ex, whom he strives to win back. Lots and lots of zombies, and enough laugh out loud visual and verbal comedy moments than you can shake a disembodied leg at. So shuffle on down to your local and see this truly unique British film.