AmateurMovieReviews.com

By Simon Woodhouse

If there's ever a sub-genre within horror movies that's ripe for a parody, it's zombie films. Even when they're trying to be serious, stories involving the un-dead provide plenty of laughs. And while I'm on the subject, what exactly are the un-dead? I'm not dead, so I guess that makes me one of them. Anyway, I'm being side tracked. Back to the matter in hand. Another thing that makes zombie films so perfect for a parody, is the lack of rational explanation needed to clarify the origins of said zombies. It doesn't seem to matter where the ghouls came from, which means there's no need for any pesky back-story, and so the laughs/frights can start straight away.

Shaun Of The Dead (SOTD) follows this same basic set up. Vague TV news reports establish that no one knows why people are turning into zombies, but in a film like this, plot isn't really important.

Shaun (Simon Pegg) is a bit of a dimwit. Ok, so perhaps that's a bit harsh. But he's not the sharpest tool in the box. He works in an electrical appliance store, has a girlfriend called Liz (Kate Ashfield) and shares a house with his best friend Ed (Nick Frost). Though he's in his late twenties, he's not done much with his life, and has no set plans for the future. If he can spend a couple of hours a day on the Playstation 2, and the rest of his time in the pub, he's a happy man. But heroes are often found in the most unlikely of places. Cometh the hour, cometh the man - and when the zombies start freaking out, Shaun steps into the fray.

Set in inner city London, the film starts off as just another normal day for Shaun. He receives no respect from the youngsters at work, argues with his step dad, and tries to persuade the out of work Ed to tidy up the house a bit. He's also promised Liz he'll book a table at a swanky restaurant, and thus stop her from moaning that all they ever do is spend their nights in the pub - but he forgets. She promptly dumps him, and to make up for this Ed takes him to the pub and they both get really drunk. Even though this is an ordinary day, Shaun keeps seeing odd things. A vagrant in the park attempts to eat a pigeon, there's a car crash outside his house for no apparent reason, and there's a weirdo outside the pub groaning and staggering about.

SOTD is one of those films where the laughs come so thick and fast, it's difficult to keep up with them. There's also a mixture of physical comedy and dialogue gags, which means it works on two different levels. What plot there is involves Shaun trying to rescue his girlfriend and his mum from the zombies, and take them somewhere safe - the local pub. He's aided in this task by Ed. Between them they make a brilliant double act, and it's the scenes where they're together that are easily the funniest. When Shaun and Ed tackle a zombie in the back garden, they try to stop it by throwing records at its head, but then get into an argument about which discs deserve to be hurled and which don't. In another scene they run a zombie over in a car, and then stop to ask it if it's all right. Being such a hapless pair, it's a surprise they manage to save themselves let alone anyone else. But they do, and eventually make it to the pub, where they barricade themselves inside.

Hysterical for the first hour, the film loses momentum a bit when our little band of heroes reach the pub. As well as Liz and Shaun's mum, they've also rescued Liz's flatmate Dianne (Lucy Davis) and her boyfriend Pete (Peter Serafinowicz). Seeing as this is a zombie film, it's only fitting that one of this lot die in a really gruesome way. Seeing someone being eaten alive by a group of the un-dead isn't a very pleasant thing to watch, even if it's in a comedy film. The rest of the gore in the movie is mostly there for laughs, like when Shaun and Ed impale a zombie on a piece of garden furniture. If you keep watching as the end credits are rolling, you'll see that the film makers have used the whole premise as a comment on modern urban life. This subtle message adds a nice touch, and pushes the idea of zombies in a new direction.

SOTD is a British film, and so contains mostly laddish humor written in a very English way. If you like the sorts of TV shows where there's (canned) audience laughter, SOTD might not be your cup of tea. I suppose enjoyment of the film really hinges on whether you can identify with Shaun and Ed. I can, and so rate SOTD as one of the funniest comedies of recent years. It's also the sort of film that stands up to repeat viewing, as each time you watch it you'll see something new. After SOTD, you'll never be able to take zombies seriously again, which is ok, because they've always been a bit daft anyway.