Heh...here's a review...
The title alone will quickly help you twig to the fact that Shaun of the Dead is tongue in cheek, but it also emerges that it’s something more than just a spoof of zombie horror flicks – notably, of course, George A Romero’s “Dead” series of which Dawn of the Dead was recently remade. Shaun is certainly funny –in a very British way - but it’s horrific, too – the bloody, gory and jump-out-of-your-seat kind of horrific. And more still. Amongst all the carnage and comic chaos, there are moments of quite moving drama, so trying to pigeonhole it is something of a losing battle – best to just sit back and enjoy.
Shaun of the Dead is billed as the first rom-zom-com – romantic zombie comedy – and that is as good a genre description as any. Its title character, Shaun (Simon Pegg) is an unmotivated 29-year-old who works in an electrical store and spends most of his time at the local pub, The Winchester, with his best friend and housemate, Ed (Nick Frost), a total slacker and slob. Also living with them is Pete (Peter Serafinowicz) who spends most of his time complaining about Ed’s slovenly habits.
Shaun’s girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield) has started to wise up to Shaun’s shiftless ways and is annoyed by the ever-hovering Ed. When Shaun promises Liz that he will make up by taking her out to dinner and then promptly forgets to book a table, Liz finally decides to dump him and Shaun’s world comes tumbling down. Drunk and feeling sorry for himself, he does what he usually does in most situations - gets drunk with Ed – and as they stumble through the streets, neither of them notices the odd behaviour of many of the shuffling, drooling folk around them.
They do sit up and take notice, however, when a strange looking girl in their backyard tries to attack them – even though she has a gaping hole through her middle following a gruesome garden mishap.
Most of the population has become zombie-fied and the only way to stop them is by beheading them or bashing in their brains. Uncharacteristically, Shaun leaps into action and decides that they need a safe place to stay until the crisis passes and the safest place he knows is the pub. His plan is to pick up Liz, his mother Barbara (Penelope Wilton) and take them with him. Before that he has to kill his stepfather, Philip (Bill Nighy) whom he has never liked and whom he now believes has become a zombie. His group also includes Liz’s flatmates, the bubble-headed Di (Lucy Davis) and her supercilious know-all boyfriend, David (Dylan Moran).
The journey to the local rubberdy is scary and hilarious – ending with aspiring actress Di giving them all a quick lesson in how to behave like zombies so that they can get into the pub unnoticed. Things get a little more bizarre – and serious - once they are inside and the zoms begin to attack in earnest, but, like the undead, the comedy keeps coming and for every grisly or serious moment, there’s a laugh to compensate. It all goes to prove that even disembowelments have their funny side.
Now, this sounds funny. Has anyone seen it?
Dubbed a rom-com-zom (Romantic Comedy...with Zombies), it looks great. I love the way that they have no friggin clue about the zombies (cause they're too drunk) until it's happened waaaaay ago.
They are also talking about producing sequels, with names such as "Dave of the Dead" and something else I forgot...funny, though.
