He’s put into a position where if he doesn’t take charge and make decisions they might die (though there is a pitch dark comedic beat at the end that suggests if they had all stayed at home and locked their doors they might have all survived.)
This near zombie apocalypse is what revitalizes him and also takes away many of his ties to his past self. He’s mindlessly been making his way through his life with little to no investment. This is what jump starts the film as Shaun, much to the films benefit, has become a “zombie” himself but without the bite. His life is uncomplicated to the point of complacency, much to his girlfriends chagrin who wants him to put effort in some area of his life. All he wants to do is go down to the pub with his closest friend and girlfriend, enjoy a pint, and head on home for video games and music. He is very pointedly an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances.
The rapport between Frost and Simon Pegg is, unsurprisingly at this point, electric, conveying the intimacy of a long seated friendship and the trials and errors that come along with it.ĭylan Moran as the uptight and pining David is equally hilarious in the film as a character who easily could have been written off but it is Pegg’s Shaun that roots the film in reality despite the supernatural surrounding him. Nick Frost is a revelation, having impressed as the lovable by gun crazy Mike Watt but truly comes into his comic own as Ed, a permanent man child living on Shaun’s couch and mooching off of the benefits of being his friend.
From the bottom up Wright has an understanding of the craft behind film, of each and every level of production and Shaun was our first real proof of the excellence he was bringing to the cinematic playing field.Īt the crux of the film are the performances that manage to transcend their genre trappings.
It’s a funny movie about the evolution of friendship with some zombies peppered in and if this was how most horror movies were (opposed to the always popular slasher genre) then studios would have a much easier time convincing me to see these films.Įdgar Wright is one of the most talented and innovating directors of our age and while audiences bore witness to hints of this in his television series Spaced, it was really brought to the spotlight in Shaun of the Dead where his meticulous attention to detail, eye for visual comedy and understanding of just how integral a smart, tight script and kinetic camera motion is to the overall quality of a film. Edgar Wright’s definitive 2004 feature film Shaun of the Dead plays homages to many a classic zombie movie but it does so with a chuckle, a heaping amount of heart and just enough self-awareness that it doesn’t tip over into the labeling of satire. I have made sacrifices over the years for films that are either classics ( Psycho) or stressful rather than scary ( Green Room) but for the most part, the way to get to me as a horror film is to disguise yourself as something else. Rather, they scare the living shit out of me and considering I already hold a contemptuous relationship with a little thing called sleep, I tend to stray away from anything that might further interrupt that process. This isn’t because I turn my nose down on the genre or would label them all as bad films. To all who know me or who maybe have read any of my prior reviews will know that I am not a fan of horror films. To read our past lead up to Halloween coverage, click here. We’ll be counting down to Halloween with a new post each day about our personal favorite Halloween-inspired and horror movies.