Shaun Of The Dead (2004)
Starring...Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Nick Frost, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Jessica Stevenson, Penelope Wilton, and Bill Nighy as Philip
Directed by...Edgar Wright
My Rating:
"Why can't we go up there?"~Ed "Because one; he might be one of them, and two; he might still be annoyed with us."~ Shaun
This is by far the FUNNIEST movie of this year! No lie...my sides are killing me right now for I laughed so hard...fucking hysterical! I haven't laughed this hard in years! Seriously, this is by far the best zombie, horror comedy of the year!!! Once the movie started in the sneak Peek showing, from opening lines to the final frame....Shaun of the Dead keeps you laughing, jumping and smiling from ear to ear! It's a great tribute to the classic Romero films and is a zombified treat for horror fans! So what is this movie about you ask?
Shaun is a man who lives in a flat with his friend Ed who does jack shit, doesn't work, doesn't do anything but bring Shaun down. Shaun is in a failing relationship with Lizzie who is getting sick and tired of him only taking her out to the local pub, The Wincestor. Shaun also works at a very basic job, like a Sears worker and does the same thing day in and day out. Shaun is turning into a zombie...but the thing is...Shaun isn't the only one...the town becomes infected with zombies and it is up to our brave hero (yeah right!) Shaun, his dimwitted lazy best friend Ed, and Shaun's now EX-girlfriend Lizzie, to rid the town of zombies or at least survive. Armed with a shovel, chain, and a paddle, these 3 venture on accompanied with there 2 friends and Shaun's mom, they go to take on the undead. God save us all!
This is the ONE movie to pull through this year, I have been hyped up on so many damned movies and I feared this would follow in the track record of disappointments but it doesn't. It was one funny as film and it managed to make me jump like 2 times. This is THE horror movie to see for zombie fans, or anyone who wants to get a nice gory flick with some hilarious scenes. Actually I laugh harder at the trailer now having seen the movie then I did before. Pure genius!
The man who wrote this is also the man who stars, Simon Pegg is the man behind "Shaun" and he had me rolling in my seat laughing. He does one hell of a job and just wow...Great! Kate Ashfield plays Liz, Shaun's girlfriend, and aside from her being really cute, she was solid as Kate. Nice job! Nick Frost plays Ed, Shaun's best friend who is dumb as a door knob and to be quite honest, he is probably one of the FUNNIEST people in the movie. He had me laughing at many a scene and is 60% of the reason my sides hurt so much. Lucy Davis was solid as the failing actress Dianne, in the movie she is usually the cvharacter that annoys me but in this film, it was the opposite. Dylan Moran, who I swear looks JUST like Harry Potter in this but he plays David and he does good. Despite the fact he looks like Harry Potter...he still was great in this movie. Jessica Stevenson plays Yvonne, an ex-girlfriend (i believe) of Shaun's and she was pretty solid in this. I loved her "GOOD LUCK" quote and the scene of the dopplegangers (you will know what I mean) was hysterical!!! Penelope Wilton played Barbara, Shaun's Mom and at first, she was kind of bland, but as the movie went on, she became more and more of a character and funnier at each time. Bill Nighy plays Shaun's step dad Philip and he does one hell of a job, I couldn't place where I had seen him before but I just looked it up and saw that he played VIKTOR in UNDERWORLD. This guy is awesome! Now to the directing, Edgar Wright does it right making every scene awesome. His directing makes you pay attention and stay glued for he makes every character on the screen noticed. It's hard to explain it but he does it good. The way he filmed this was just awesome, I was smiling during every frame of this movie and Edgar does one fuck of a great job! I can't wait to see what he does next.
To gore, this movie doesn't hide the gore like some other horror zombie movies did this year...yeah Resident Evil 2 I am looking at you!!! Let's see, we get head snapping off, zombie wounds, record in the head, dart in the head, man ripped apart, juicy zombie bites, limbs everywhere, poles through stomachs, blood everywhere and more...lot's more. As for sex and nudity, you get zilch in that department.
~The DVD has come out and let me tell you, you would be a fucking idiot NOT to buy this DVD. Let's begin with the picture and sound quality, the picture in WIDESCREEN looks like Mr. Clean did his job and make it look perfect. The sound is in 5.1 Dolby Digital and man does it ever sound sweet and totally kicks ass when blasted on the sound system. The features on this puppy are plentyful and none are a waste. I loved the storyboard shots that explain what happens to Shaun, Ed, and Diane during a couple of scenes. There is even a video documentary about the making of Shaun where Simon Pegg holds the camera and takes you around the set and everything. You even see Nick Frost get a shot in the ass...there are about 20 deleted/extended scenes of which are interesting to watch but at the end of the day, I am glad they cut them out. We get interviews with the cast about Shaun, a video taping of TRISHA filmed for Shaun of the Dead, ZOMBAID filmed for Shaun of the Dead, screen tests, a trailer, and there is tons more. We also get commentaries from director Edgar Wright and star Simon Pegg which was rather informative, funny how many lawns they destroyed to make this movie possible. Also there is the cast commentary which you find out many things, some of which you may not have wanted to know such as Nick's pubes making there sound debut. Also the subtitles are not just subtitles for you can either choose to have storyboards on the side or, my personal favorite, ZOMBIE-O-METER which is interesting tidbits and trivia about the movie. All in all, Shaun of the Dead DVD is beyond worth the 19.99 that it is selling for. You would be a complete idiot to NOT buy it right now!~
I say, Shaun of the Dead is just what is being said, it is THE zombie comedy of the year and to be honest, I feel this could be the best movie of the year. It's definetly a tough call this year now...I have said it before and I will say it again...Britian is single handedly SAVING this genre. God bless them! This movie hits theatres September 24th, so be there "ya stupid twat!"
Special Guest Reviewers:
George Newman
"Gotta love it when they have so much respect and so many homages to other horror films. CHeck out the credits for the song that was played during DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)! Damn thing is stuck in my head!!!!"