Shaun of the Dead Year: 2004 Director: Edgar Wright Written by: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg Threat: zombies Weapon of Choice: rifle Based upon: none IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
None

Rish's Reviews
Sometimes living in Los Angeles is a drag. There's more traffic than you can possibly imagine, the people generally suck, EVERYONE gets their stereo stolen at least twice, and everything costs just a little more. But sometimes it pays off. Like tonight, when I got to go to a sneak preview of Shaun of the Dead, a gem of a film released in the United Kingdom some months ago. It was attended by the director, Edgar Wright, and its star Simon Pegg (who also co-wrote it), as well as a flock of Horror fans, including Greg Nicotero, David Carradine, and Quentin Tarantino (who I got to speak to after the screening, and is even less handsome in person than I am). A friend of mine all but dragged me there (since I had other plans for the night), but I'm sure glad he did.
Shaun (Simon Pegg) is your average young person with no direction in his life. He has a mediocre job, a mediocre lifestyle, mediocre living conditions, and barely keeps his relationship with his girlfriend above water. And then, the dead come. When a zombie plague hits London, he gets the opportunity to be the friend, son, and boyfriend he never managed when people simply died and didn't come back, hungry for the living.
It's only August (and indeed, this flick doesn't even open until September in the U.S.), but we've found ourselves the best horror film of 2004.
And here's something else: it may only be August, but Shaun of the Dead gets my vote for funniest movie of the year as well.
Be warned, this film does not feature an appearance by Dr. Dre, or any of the freshly-squeezed teen faces you've come to love on the WB. In fact, the only actor I recognised was Bill Nighy (from Underworld and Love, Actually), but my friend knew a couple cast members from "The Office." Pegg is great as Shaun, reminding me of people I know and a certain odd-looking bloke who greets me every morning in the bathroom mirror.
Also, people spoke with British accents. So run for the hills if you're turned off by that sort of thing.
This is primarily a Comedy, with dialogue and situations that are laugh-out-loud hilarious. But it takes place in a Horror setting (specifically, a George A. Romero Horror setting). And there are Dramatic moments too, that work better than they have any right to. Oddly, the film actually got quite moving at a couple of points as well (heck, I bawl during television emergency broadcast tests, but yeah, I cried). In short, I loved this movie.
It was not a perfect movie (a couple of lighter moments just plain didn't work), but the parts that did work so outweighed the ones that didn't that I immediately forgot them. In fact, I'll give this the highest praise I can give a film: I could never write something this good. There, I said it, now drive home safely.
As much as I loved Dog Soldiers I love Shaun of the Dead. I look forward to trying to spread the word. In fact, the first three people who email me telling me they went to this film based on my recommendation and didn't like it, I will mail you a picture of me giving you the finger. Deal?
Best Scare: A light comes on, revealing many zombies where we did not expect them to be.
I'd Recommend It To: Any fans of British Comedy or Horror.
Posted: August 18, 2004

The tyranist's thoughts
So I'd tell you that Rish had to drag me kicking and screaming to this one, but it would be a total lie. I read his review weeks before Shaun opened in any theatre I could get to and saw TV spots for it at least two weeks prior to the opening as well. You couldn't have kept me away if there was an outburst of the Red Death. My only sin is waiting nearly three weeks to write this review. I can only say I've atoned by recommending this to every single person who asked.
"Was it that good?" you ask. Yes, my friend, it was. Easily the best horror flick I've seen this year. Possibly the best I've seen for a couple years.
"But I thought it was a comedy. The TV spots make it look like a comedy." Yes, they do, and yes, it is terribly funny. But it's funny in the same way Grosse Pointe Blank is funny, you can't help but feel that laughing is wholly inappropriate when such wanton violence is on screen, and yet, you laugh anyway because you can't help it.
"I don't like zombie movies. Will I like this one anyway?" How the hell should I know. And what are you doing reading this site anyway?
"So is it really that good?" Yes, damnit, it is.
"I should see it then?" You should have seen it weeks ago, I have no idea why you've waited. "But Shaun of the Dead isn't showing in a theatre near me." Not my problem. I guess you'll have to wait for the DVD. And before you ask, no, you can't borrow mine.
Posted: October 19, 2004

Total Skulls: 12

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?