Shaun of the Dead

Sometimes, there are movies out there that are so brilliant that they hurt. The idea of crossing a romantic comedy with a zombie movie is an admittedly appealing one to me so it is no surprise that I find this film as spectacular as it is. The British come through again in the world of horror with this gem of a movie that is as touching and funny as it is gory.

The plot revolves around a man in his mid-twenties named Shaun. He has a girl that he takes out to the pub every night and they hang out with his slob of a friend Ed. While it’s a fun time for him, she is less than enthused and decides to break it off. Shaun is devastated and promptly gets hammered with Ed and in his hungover state the next day completely misses the fact that a zombie plague has taken the country by storm. Soon enough, Shaun and Ed come to grips with their first zombies and embark on a quest to save Shaun’s girlfriend and his family and to hopefully survive until help arrives.

It’s been awhile since I laughed so hard at a zombie movie that was intentionally going for laughs. Usually the humor is more incidental and darker to fit with the mood of a horror movie. Not in Shaun of the Dead. Here, writers Simon Pegg (Shaun) and Edgar Wright (director) lace the script with enough laughs to keep even the casual zombie fan happy, and much more for those in the know. They bring us close to Shaun and Ed and Liz and make us care so we’re rooting for them all the way as they fight to survive, often with hilarious results.

Indeed, there is shovel fun, a pool cue beating, disembowelment and more to chuckle at. The whole thing feels like a sitcom where the interaction between the characters is often broken up by zombies as if they were simply a nuisance.

It’s well worth the price of admission and I look forward to seeing more from director Wright and the cast. A marvelous achievement in the field of the zombie movie. Check it out.