Shaun of the Dead

The great British sit-com has undergone something of a revival in recent years. Galvanised by the new wave of smart, sassy imports from the US, the Brits have girded their loins and produced a spate of quality comedies that have banished memories of the bland, identikit dross of the late eighties and early nineties.

One such series is Spaced, a wholly original and delightfully quirky comic bagatelle which has built up a small but dedicated following in the UK. Now writer/actor Simon Pegg and director Edgar Wright have teamed up once again to give us Shaun of the Dead which is, in a nutshell, a feature-length episode of Spaced (with added zombies). Happily timed to coincide with the Hollywood remake of the 1978 classic shocker Dawn of the Dead, Shaun is the perfect antidote: Irreverent, warm and very funny.

Shaun (Pegg) is your stereotypical sit-com loser: An ineffectual slob in a dead-end job, he is terminally afraid of commitment and spends all his time with his flat-mate Ed (Nick Frost, also from Spaced) who is an even bigger loser. After his girlfriend dumps him, Shaun and Ed seek solace in their local pub the Winchester - a good old-fashioned English hostelry with warm beer and pork scratchings which is infamous for its lock-ins. They stagger home in a state of advanced refreshment, unaware that the dead are now walking the earth. Indeed, it takes Shaun a little while to work it out the following morning despite interacting with a few of them (one of the recurring themes is that most of us go through the drudgery of our daily routines in a trance close to inertia).

When the penny drops, Shaun resolves to rescue his mother and his (ex) girlfriend and generally stand up for himself for the first time in his life. There is not much more of a plot than that. The film, like Spaced relies on a flawless script, observational humour and the theatre of the absurd. Pegg has perfected this in his writing but he is also a surprisingly good actor. It helps that he has surrounded himself with the pick of the British comedy fraternity who seem to have been lining up (literally in one scene) for a cameo. The stars of similarly acclaimed series' such as Black Books, The Office and Little Britain are all on show here as well as Jessica Stevenson, Pegg's Spaced co-writer, who plays a jolly-hockey-sticks human vigilante with a stiff-upper lip and can-do attitude ready to give those nasty zombie's what-for.

Veteran support comes from Penelope Wilton (a sit-com stalwart from a bygone age) as Shaun's curtain-twitching mother and Bill Nighy as her fearsome second husband who performs one of the most dignified and poignant descents into zombieness ever caught on camera.

Despite all the high praise, it must be acknowledged that Shaun of the Dead is still a spoof - a comic tool that you could argue is as low a form of wit as sarcasm. But where it scores highly is in its respect for the original material. Most spoofs (the Scary Movie franchise, for example) are vicious lampoons that unmercifully mock the films they are taking off. Shaun of the Dead gently pokes fun but doesn't lose sight of the fact that if something is worth parodying, it must have some merit. Pegg is also careful to ensure that his film can stand up on its own - there is barely a minute goes by without a very good joke and despite the light-heartedness, there are some satisfyingly scary moments and ample gore.

What is most encouraging is that us Brits have started playing to our strengths. It took a long time for comedy writers to realise that making an English version of Friends is doomed to failure (in the same way that The Office will not work with an American make-over). We should celebrate the Britishness of this film, laugh knowingly at the in gags, and be proud that it doesn't take a huge budget or movie stars to entertain people at the cinema.

8/10

Shaun's life is a dead end. Shaun (Simon Pegg) spends his life in the town tavern, the Winchester, with his close friend Ed (Nick Frost), arguing with his mother (Penelope Wilton) and he does not get on with his stepfather Philip (Bill Nighy); in addition, he neglects his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield). When Liz stands him up, Shaun decides to put his life in order: he has to win back the heart of his girlfriend, mend his relationship with his mother and face the responsibilities of being an adult. But Shaun's humdrum existence takes a turn for the interesting when the undead take over london. Unexpectedly, he has to face an army of zombies. Leaping into action, Shaun gathers his loved ones in the safest place he knows. Shaun, his mum and her boyfriend, his girlfriend, Liz, and his flatmates Ed and Pete fight off a fate worse than death from the local pub. It's just one of those days when you're feeling a little...dead. Buy Milk. Ring Mum. Dodge Zombies Shuffling into theaters September 24th. A romantic comedy. With zombies. Ever felt like you were surrounded by zombies?. In a time of crisis a hero must rise...from his sofa. Bought coffee. Called Mom. Dodged zombies. This September, aim for the head.

An amusing and funny film about a Zombie invasion including thrills , chills , violent events, lots of humor with tongue-in-cheek, guts and blood. This English film of Terror Zombie is a parody with some romanticism and large doses of black humor well directed by Edgar Wright who comes from the world of television and who wrote the script together with his friend, collaborator and protagonist of the film, Simon Pegg, with the one who would join forces in subsequent films.

Packed with film references , the picture mines most of its laughs from the collision of the naughty bunch of friends and the village inhabitants ways , a backwater of English naffness that suddenly experiencing in crescendo of Zombie attacks, disarmingly incredible chase secenes and violent fights . Forming a trilogy: ¨Shaun of the dead¨,¨Hot Fuzz¨, ¨The World's End , director Edgar Wright and actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost teamed up to parody classic film genres . If the first combined romantic comedy with terror and the second was a parody of police genre , this last of the stupendous trilogy is an acid apocalyptic comedy . With a script like the two previous ones by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg , the film is magnificently performed by an ensemble cast in which the actors who give life to the unfortunate roles stand out. Simon Pegg's straight-faced acting -amid high-calibre cast comedy stalwarts and legit luminaries- holds the plot together while reflecting the movie's essentially respectful attitude towards the action movie . Joining them are great actors , such as: Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Penelope Wilton, Bill Nighy, Matt Lucas, Rafe Spall and brief appearance by Martin Freeman

The editing is sincerely frenetic and the violence , though sometimes ridiculous , strong and bloody . Evocative ambiance and appropriate settings , excellent special effects , enhanced by the brilliant and colorful photography carried out by a good cameraman: David Dunlap. Being shot in The Gardener's Arms Public House, Letchworth , The Cork Public House, Welwyn Garden City, The Peartree Public House, and Parkway Bar, Welwyn . As well as exciting and nail-biting musical score from Dan Mudford and Pete Woodhead . This is an acclaimed and notorious film from director Edgar Wright who delivers the goods with skillness and aplomb enough . Edgar is an English filmmaker , screenwriter, producer, and actor . He is best known for his comedic Three Flavours Cornetto film trilogy consisting of Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World's End (2013), made with recurrent collaborators Simon Pegg, Nira Park and Nick Frost. He also collaborated with them as the director of the television series Spaced and his last hit was : Last Night in Soho (2023). Rating Zombies party: 7/10 . Better than average . Worthwhile watching.

Shaun of the Dead (2004) is an extremely creative and entertaining film created by famed director Edgar Wright. Showcasing some of the snap-zooms and whip-pans that would later serve as his trademarks, as well as his use of dark humor and gags, this is a film that shows a master of cinema in the making while paying tribute to a genre that has long been rehashed. Hilarious (and even, at times, touching) performances from Pegg and Frost to boot - just good ol' bloody fun!

Some 5 years before the making of this film the same team behind it wrote and directed series (season) 1 and 2 of an offbeat UK sitcom named "Spaced". Massively overlooked at the time of broadcast yet with a hardcore fan base of loyal devotees a third series was long overdue but never did materialise.

Shaun of the Dead is the continuation of what went before; of a similar format yet in a completely new setting, with new characters, plus new cast members and for the first time a feature-length run time for the big screen. So how does it play out? Even with such a departure from the original setting, the history of TV to cinema adaptations is a dodgy one to say the least. Fortunately for those of us who already fans or (more likely) if you've never seen the series before prepare to be impressed.

The style is all it's own. With inventive direction and editing making the visual impact which fans will instantly recognise, to the writing which importantly is firstly genuinely funny, interspersed with references to popular culture of the past two decades, always with a self-knowing grin, a wink to the viewer rather than a pretentious nod. And of course several self-references and in-jokes of the TV series all fill in the gaps between the tastefully presented killings. There is blood, after all this is a "rom-zom-com" or "romantic zombie comedy" - a self-proclaimed new genre and rightly so. This is as about as original as it gets. They actually manage to pull off humour, violence, decapitations, action, romance, suspense, sadness and joy all within the space of 90 minutes!

This is the best film I've seen in ages, and a real credit to British film, we already knew about "Fried Gold", now the rest of the World can see it too. An instant classic.

Shaun's nearing 30, stuck in a crappy sales job, and his girlfriend Liz is unhappy with the amount of time he spends with his ultra-slacker B-class drug dealer friend, Ed, at their local pub, the Winchester. When Liz dumps him, Shaun's so glum he doesn't even realise that London's been overrun with flesh-eating zombies. But somewhere within his console-happy lazy self, a hero is born.

I can't even begin to emphasise how cool this quintessentially British film is. The amount of time it takes for Shaun (Simon Pegg) and Ed (Nick Frost) to realise anything's wrong is priceless. Director Edgar Wright, who co-wrote the film with Pegg, also demonstrates that there's little difference between glassy eyed commuters and their undead brethren.

The plot rips along beautifully and parodies both the romantic comedy and zombie genres, while at the same time remaining true to them. Hopefully a new genre, the romzom com, has been born – incidentally, that's where you can go to find out more about the movie – romzom.com. The fabulous supporting cast includes Bill Nighy (Love Actually) as Shaun's supercilious stepfather, Penelope Wilton (Calendar Girls) as Shaun's absent-minded mum, Dylan Moran (Black Books) as Liz's snooty housemate David and Lucy Davis (The Office) as wannabe actress Diane.

Shaun of the Dead was partially inspired by the classic zombie flick, Dawn of the Dead. Its creator George Romero was reportedly so impressed with Shaun of the Dead that Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright are taking on cameo roles in Romero's latest instalment, Land of the Dead.

Shaun of the Dead is one of the best comedy of 2004 and a must-see for all rom zom com (romantic comedy with zombies) afficionados. ****½/***** stars.