A zombie movie you should see, Shaun of the Dead is a brilliantly dead-on satire of zombie films that manages to be equally affectionate and touching.
There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of zombie movies in existence. Here's a must-see movie if you're interested in the genre, or just looking for a great movie to rent this weekend.
Shaun Of the Dead
It’s gory, it’s funny and it’s sweet. This isn’t just a zombie movie; it’s a “zom-rom-com” (zombie romantic comedy).
While most zombie movies go for the out-and-out gore and gross-out factor and little else, Shaun of the Dead (2004) manages to relish enough in the gore that comes with zombie territory to satisfy the most avid horror movie fans yet balances it with romantic comedy and a heavy dose of affectionate satire. It was made by the same team behind British comedy series Spaced, director Edgar Wright and star Simon Pegg who plays Shaun, and co-starring Nick Frost as Ed who would all go on to make another very funny, affectionate satire in Hot Fuzz (2007).
Our hero Shaun is a likeable slacker whose life is starting to outgrow his lifestyle. His girlfriend, Liz, is tired of their routine, which only involves nights out at Shaun’s favourite pub, The Winchester, and dumps him after his well-intentioned but ultimately broken promise of taking her out for their anniversary. Shaun adores his mum but puts off visiting her because of his hated stepfather. He gets little respect from the younger employees at work and gets grief from his flatmate, Pete. The only person who doesn’t have a problem with Shaun is Ed, his slacker cohort. But after being dumped and a drunken night out with Ed, Shaun resolves to change his life. Coincidentally this epiphany comes at the same time that the population of London is overtaken by zombies. After he and Ed manage to fend off two zombies in their backyard, Shaun decides to gather his mum and Liz and hole up at the Winchester. Of course, Shaun’s stepfather (who has been bitten by a zombie) and Liz’s flatmates have to come along, and eventually they get to The Winchester which turns out to be not as secure as it had first seemed.
Most of Shaun Of the Dead differs dramatically from the simple plot of Night Of the Living Dead, the original zombie classic, but the classic zombie movie plotline are still there – a group of people hole up in the safest place they can find while zombies try to break in. Conflicts within the group threaten their safety from within and some of them are suffering from bites that eventually turn them into zombies. There are few zombie movies that successfully manage to be really funny as well as scary, and Shaun Of the Dead without great ceremony trumps all attempts at zom-com that came before it.
In fact the humour does not lighten up until the very end when things are looking the most dire for the dwindling band of survivors. But it swiftly returns in the hilarious closing scenes where we see what happens when zombies are tamed. There are many side-splittingly funny moments in Shaun Of the Dead, for example, when Ed and Shaun discover that vinyl records work well for battling zombies and they bicker over which albums should be sacrificed. There are also the very funny scenes of the morning after a drunken night out when Shaun goes about his morning routine oblivious to the fact that his neighbourhood has been taken over by zombies. It seems it is his hung over slacker oblivion that saves him from being bitten!
The film is chock full of sly satire, the most prevalent being the opening scenes where non-zombies appear to be just as good as bitten as they go about their jobs, commutes and otherwise uninspiring routines. Clearly the title is a parody of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, and there are references to both Night Of the Living Dead and 28 Days Later. It’s the affection satire with which Shaun Of the Dead is made that makes it such a successful comedy, zombie film and romantic comedy.
