Have you ever had one of those days where everything goes wrong? Your cat dies, you get pulled over for running a red light, and you’ve just failed your third history exam in a row. Well, Shaun is having one of those days too. His girlfriend has split up with him, he’s forgotten to bring his mother flowers for their bi-monthly visit, and the dead have risen.
That’s right. The dead have become the undead in “Shaun Of The Dead,” a movie that is being billed as, “A romantic comedy. With zombies.” It is, without a doubt, one of the funniest films of the year and hands down the least gory zombie film of 2004. And perhaps the lack of said gore is what makes this film, which easily could have run the gamut of zombie clichés (and gotten away with it) stand out, sallow skin, dead eyes and all.
The film follows sad sack hero Shaun (Simon Pegg) through his daily exploits, leading up until Z-Day: drinking at the Winchester, forgetting to make plans to take his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) out to a place other than the Winchester, bossing around a pack of gum-chewing brats at the electronics store, lounging around with long-time pal Ed (Nick Frost), and drinking at the Winchester. Just the average, everyday stuff a wannabe DJ does.
Then, it happens. Liz breaks it to Shaun that she can’t stand the thought of spending the rest of her life at the Winchester. Devastated, Shaun retires to the Winchester to regroup with Ed. The jukebox cues up Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now,” much to the dismay of the two. Ed asks who put the song on to which Shaun replies, “It’s on ‘random’,” while choking back the tears. Later, still at the Winchester, Ed drunkenly quips, “You know what we should do? Keep drinking.”
After stumbling home, throwing an impromptu party (of two), and eventually passing out. The next morning, the boys find that things are wrong. Dead wrong. One look out their window shows them there are masses of dead things wandering the streets. There are even zombies in their backyard, which they use for target practice. Armed with a cricket bat and other havoc-wreaking instruments, the two set out to save all that is near and dear to Shaun’s heart: his mom, Liz, and the Winchester. Of course, nothing is ever so simple in a zombie movie, especially a romantic comedy zombie movie.
Perhaps the film’s finest performance belongs to Bill Nighy, who plays Shaun’s step-father with such iciness that during his first appearance, he could be mistaken for a zombie. Nighy, who is known for his character roles in movies like “Love Actually,” and “Still Crazy,” seems to relish every dry line he speaks and even after death insists Shaun and company keep their hands off his precious Jaguar’s radio.
Aside from the witty dialogue, the sight gags, which are crucial to such a movie, are numerous and thoroughly enjoyable. One zombie meets his demise in the Winchester by being beaten to zombie-death with pool cues, to the tune of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” (thanks to the jukebox’s “random”). In one particularly hilarious scene, it becomes obvious why child safety locks are a bad thing…or at least obvious if you are trapped in the backseat of a car with a zombie. And then there is the nasty flatmate-cum-zombie Pete (Peter Serafinowicz) who wanders around naked. For those of you wondering, this is definitely not a self-conscious zombie.
The idea for “Shaun” spawned from the British TV show “Spaced,” which starred Pegg and was directed by the same director, Edgar Wright. On one episode of “Spaced,” Pegg’s character happened to be trapped in the video game “Resident Evil 2,” fighting off zombies. The two liked the idea so much that they decided to do a full-length feature based on the skit.
Indeed, the idea of a romantic comedy with zombies flows well, but near the end of the film, the ideas seem to run out and the movie wraps up quickly. Still, that’s the only problem in this gut-rippingly funny feature. So, if you’re having a bad day, this might work well as a pick-me-up. At least you don’t have to fight off your dead cat with a cricket bat.
