Review of Shaun of the Dead (2004) by Andrewburge — 13 Apr 2018

Edgar Wright's 'Shaun of the Dead' is branded as a comedy-horror but, mind you, despite being made by the funnymen Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, I dare to say it is more horror that comedy. Not that it isn't funny, of course, but the humor is slightly tame.

Arguably described as probably the worst day of a working class man going nowhere and his lazy friend which occasionally sells drugs, by occasionally I mean once... in college... to his aforementioned friend, 'Shaun of the Dead' is a social satire more or less in which the flesh eating zombies are more of a nuisance to the characters' daily problems than a proper threat.

And this is, apart from the great directing, what makes this film so engaging to watch. As much as the mindless walking dead are a life-threatening problem, the characters' societal norms and personal issues of love and friendship seem to be on their forefront as while they struggle to survive in the now zombie-infested town they do not miss any opportunity to bark at each other. This is made even more funnier as the zombies move at a really slow pace, so even though they are close instead of running away from them, Shaun and his entourage would rather stand and bicker, maybe occasionally glancing at the distance of the undead.

But despite this great writing, is the directing which sets the film apart as the news of the zombie outbreak is constantly delayed, and as you stand there paranoid just waiting for the inevitable to happen, the apocalyptic moment is so much set aside that by the time it actually happens, you do not even expect it anymore... you got used to it. But when the zombies finally 'come to life', the few fights against them are filmed through beautiful tracking shots, barely cutting, almost as a transition from the every day arguments to the proper action-comedy zombie killing scenes.

Still, as I said, while this film is funny, unlike many other comedy films, it does not depreciate the danger of such an event, as characters die, and friends and even family members are sacrificed and it can be a bit emotional.

Therefore, 'Shaun of the Dead' is a near-perfect mix of comedy, tragedy and horror and a social satire to the routine of the modern class working man.