Shaun of the Dead (2004) review

This 'zombiefest' is a seriously funny, cleverly-written, and well-acted love letter to movies in general, horror movies in particular, and zombie movies in the extreme. You'll find plenty of directorial flourishes referencing the likes of Guy Ritchie, Quentin Tarantino, Sam Raimi, and of course, George A. Romero. It's only shortcomings are the occasional tendency to over-extend a joke (breaking the pace by doing so), and in having so much of its comedic potency dependent on how well the audience knows the genre which inspired it.

The titular Shaun (Simon Pegg, who co-wrote the script with director Edgar Wright) is already well-accustomed to the life of a zombie. Every day, he staggers out of bed with even less enthusiasm than a typical reanimated corpse, and drags himself off to his hateful job as the assistant manager of an electronics store. While he's sleepwalking through work, his slobby best friend and flatmate Ed (Nick Frost) plays video games all day and deals a little weed on the side. After work, they habitually meet up at a pub called "The Winchester" with Shaun's too-cute-for-him girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) and her annoying flatmates. Despite the fact that she loves Shaun, Liz is just a little fed up with the numbing grind that their lives have become, and his apparent lack of ambition to do anything about it.

When Liz dumps him, Shaun and Ed go on an all night drinking binge that turns into a next-day hangover from hell. They stagger about the debris-strewn and zombie-infested landscape completely oblivious to what's going on at first, until they are finally attacked by one that has wandered into their back yard (a girl who they at first mistakenly diagnose as being merely drunk). Once they realize the gravity of the situation, and make several laughable attempts to kill a couple of zombies with common household items, they find a spade and a cricket bat in the woodshed and starts whacking his cricket bat through the hungry herds to win back Liz and save his sweetly dotty mum (Penelope Wilton) from becoming lunch.

Shaun's idea of sanctuary, naturally, is the local pub. "You got your pints, you got your pig snacks. What more do you need?" Part deadpan farce -- the survivors are downright unfazed at the sight of the shuffling undead -- and part bloody slapstick spectacle, "Shaun of the Dead" playfully references its inspirations, from "Night of the Living Dead" to "28 Days Later." But it isn't a spoof so much as an ingenious twist on a familiar genre, right down to an inspired coda that answers all the questions left open in every previous zombie apocalypse: What happens next? The priceless solution is as inevitable as it is hilarious.

Wright directs with an eye for understatement, mining deadpan comedy from a dwindling band of survivors constantly on the verge of hysteria, but also registering every loss with genuine empathy and gravity. He gives you reason to care through the laughs. In the argot of the film, it's bloody brilliant. There are moments when the story is gently poking fun of Zombie movies, but always in a way that fans of those movies will enjoy. Sprinkled throughout the story are also sly references to earlier zombie films. "They're coming to get you Barbara," is said by one character in an obvious reference to Night of the Living Dead, and later a radio commentator can be heard saying, "Rumors that it was all started by rage infected monkeys, have not been proven," an obvious nod to 2003 zombie flick; 28 Days Later.

Well-paced, very funny, and featuring a likeably dopey cast that you can root for, Shaun of the Dead is one of the best comedies of 2004.