Review of Shaun of the Dead (2004) by Rob S — 05 Jan 2016

Blending the genres of horror and comedy together is done well on occasion, but more often it is done poorly, especially when you look at the "Scary Movie" franchise which parodies contemporary horror films by referencing them directly and making surface level jokes out of the situations. Luckily, with Shaun of the Dead, we get an intelligent comedy which is original in style and clever with its treatment of a zombie outbreak.

We all know the concept of the zombie movie. A curse, or a sickness, or radioactivity etc. causes the dead to "live again" to feed on the flesh and brains of living human beings. Most of the time they are slow walkers which is the case of Shaun of the Dead. Wright takes this concept and makes comparisons between the outbreak and normal life for Shaun. A motif shot used in the film focuses on Shaun slowly getting out of bed in the morning, walking in a zombie-like fashion towards the door while yawning in a way very similar to the noise zombies tend to make. The average working-class man is like a zombie in a swarm: lazy, conforming to and blending in with the rest of the swarm, and insignificant compared to the swarm as a whole.

2 long takes that are done early in the film also compare society in a normal universe to one filled with zombies. Shaun is nonchalant in both of these sequences when he walks to a convenience store to buy a few items - he does not notice the difference, but in the first sequence he interacts with people a little more than in the second, but it seems that he really does not care about his surroundings too much, even though they change drastically in the second sequence when the zombie outbreak has already begun.

While this is a zombie movie and is gruesome at some moments with guts and blood, the zombie violence seems more cartoonish than disturbing. The comedy in this movie outweighs the horror in this film in every fashion, including the violence.

This film is solid on pacing and editing. While it seems to have an average pace at first, it really picks up once the zombies become a problem in the film. The editing is really interesting, making simple actions feel intense by using quick cuts between closeups which force us into the "action." Wright also has an interesting way of putting action scenes in sync exactly to the music in the background. In fact, a scene involving action to the rhythm of a song by Queen proves to be on of the best in the film.

The story itself could be a little more interesting to be honest. We never get a thorough explanation of what causes the zombie outbreak, though this film does not feel like it needs one. The story revolving around Shaun and his friends and family is very straightforward - Shaun goes through a breakup early on, but tries to become a hero for his ex and for his family once he realizes the scale of the situation.

Good comedy and a few unexpectedly well-done dramatic moments make this film enjoyable to watch.

3.0/4.0.