Do you believe everything you hear on TV?

Rating: 9/10 (18 October 2009)

Shaun's life is in a rut, in danger of losing his girlfriend, a let down to his family and his best friend is a total loser. Then flesh-chomping zombies suddenly start to take over the city and Shaun is thrust into the mix as a potential saviour of his family and friends.
In 1999 a Channel 4 sitcom called Spaced, written by Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright, become a massive cult hit because of its pop-culture references, sharp music, movie geekery and jokes, lots of jokes. Shaun Of The Dead is born out of an episode of that show called "Art," where a sketch had a drug induced Pegg fighting off a Resident Evil inspired zombie invasion. For the big screen outing Wright again directs with Pegg and many of the Spaced cast also turning up for the fun and horror frolics.
Shaun Of The Dead is of course a play on George Romero's Dawn of the Dead, something that straight away sets the marker for exactly what type of film to expect. With "Shaun" the makers are proudly homaging and parodying a genre of film they so obviously love. In fact one can have enough of a good time just spotting the horror reference's and links that dot themselves throughout the picture. However, in amongst the frivolity, and there is much of that, is the point that zombies amble thru real life frequently. There is a chance that as you laugh here, you will also be faced with a horrified recognition of every day life. So with that, Shaun Of The Dead comes close to being a dark comedy masterpiece. It's not for nothing that our main protagonists and hero's in waiting are slackers extrordinair, life struggler's who's only solace is beer and video games. Think about it!.
Falling down just a touch with its eagerness to contain some serious moments, "Shaun" does however deserve its place on any list containing great horror comedies, and not just British ones either. Perhaps surprisingly, because of its very British sensibility, it has proved very popular with American audiences, more so thru its various disc releases. Notable fans such as Romero himself and horror writing tsar Stephen King have stepped forward to voice approval. If it at times it feels like it's a bunch of mates making a horror comedy, that's because it is. And hooray to that because cinema, and the sub-genre the film belongs too, is all the better for it. The team from here went on to make the brilliant action cop homage Hot Fuzz, and at some point we will see the completion of their "ice-cream" trilogy with the release of The World's End. I and many others simply can't wait for the latest instalment from a team of movie lovers making movies for movie lovers. 8.5/10