Shaun Of The Dead (DVD)
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost
Directed by: Edgar Wright

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Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)

Of all the movies I saw in 2004, I have to say that this was the ONE movie that the most people emailed, IM'ed, and phoned me about. A few told me about it in person, too, but since I never leave my apartment, their contributions are, at best, negligible.

"Have you seen Shaun Of The Dead yet?" "Are you going to review Shaun Of The Dead?" "Why haven't you seen Shaun Of The Dead yet?" "Dude, you've GOT to see Shaun Of The Dead!" "So where's your Shaun Of The Dead review?" "Look, I'm telling you for the last fucking time to see Shaun Of The Dead!" "If you don't see Shaun Of The Dead, then the terrorists have already won." "What kind of fat, impotent loser hasn't seen Shaun Of The Dead yet?" "Listen, fucko, either you go see Shaun Of The Dead, or I'm going to kill this adorable kitten!"

So fine, I've seen it, and I loved it. Everyone was right, and I missed out on one of the best movies of the year because I was too busy getting paid to go see crap like Christmas With The Kranks and Alien Vs. Predator. The next time someone asks why I'm always in such a bad mood, THAT'S why.

The UK remake of Reservoir Dogs started off a little differently.

Shaun Of The Dead, if you haven't seen it, is a comedy. It's also a horror movie. They've managed to do something pretty damn special here though, and they've made a movie that succeeds as both at the same time. No mean feat.

It's also from the UK, which means a lot of people will pre-judge it before even watching the first frame. I know people who hate everything British just because it's British and therefore "Not funny." I personally blame Mr. Bean for that. There are also people I know (H, I'm looking in your direction) who think that the UK is the center of all that is good and cultural in the world, and refuse to believe otherwise. If Gigli had starred Keira Knightly and Hugh Grant, these people would give you a swift boot to the berries for even suggesting that it's anything less than brilliant.

An aside to my two UK readers…I'm in the middle. I enjoy entertainment from the UK, especially The Office. However, guys, you HAVE to do something about the truly awful pop music you crank out. I'm not sure which one of you decided that Robbie Williams and Victoria Beckham were talented, but whoever you are, I hope you get crabs. We'll hold off on the debate about Canadian pop music until some other time…hopefully, when we produce some good pop music ourselves. (Oh Corey Hart, where are you when we need you?)

Maybe it's just me, but nothing turns me on more than an aggressive chick like this.

The movie opens with shots of various zombies, stumbling through streets and businesses, performing menial tasks with dead eyes, that sort of thing. I have days like that…I call them weekdays. Actually, these aren't According-To-Hoyle zombies just yet. But they might as well be. Score one for not-so-subtle social commentary.

We find ourselves in a pub. Oddly enough, I've found myself in a pub on occasion. I used to call them weekdays, too. There, we meet our hero, Shaun (Pegg), who is busy being lectured on being a good boyfriend by his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield). This is kind of funny, but it also reminds me of most relationships I've ever had. Along for the ride are Liz's friends David (Dylan Moran, who shows us what Harry Potter will look like in 15 years) and Dianne (Lucy Davis.)

And then there's Ed (Frost). Not to put too fine a point on it, but he's a fucking pig. Slovenly, fat, drunk, unemployed, and profane, he's like half the people I went to high school in Scarborough with…and that's being generous. But Shaun loves the big goon. Liz, on the other hand, likes him slightly more than a nasty yeast infection. She implores Shaun to please take her somewhere on a "date", where they can eat dinner like civilized people. She should count herself lucky…Morn has to deal with a hermit-like underachiever whose idea of a fancy dinner is frozen pizza. The grass is ALWAYS greener, folks.

"It could be worse, honey. I could be locked up writing movie reviews all day!".

The next day, Shaun goes to his dead-end job, selling electronics. Driving home the point that he's kind of a lovable loser, he's the oldest person in the store, and seems relatively unbothered by it. This made me laugh, until I realized that I spent six months selling mobile phones in a mall when I was 29, working exclusively with 19 and 20 year olds…including my boss. It's kind of hard not to cringe at the sound of the word "career" when your highlight of the day is selling a faux-leather case and hands-free headset with a phone because you're making an extra $3 commission. I don't know how I managed to keep the ladies at bay.

We're then treated to a fairly drawn-out sequence that is supposed to set things up, but honestly just takes too long. In a nutshell, Shaun is supposed to visit his mother (Penelope Wilton), gets visited by his jerk of a stepfather (Bill Nighy), forgets to make dinner reservations, and happens to notice that there are some strange things going on.

Well, Liz isn't all that thrilled that Shaun has fucked up their one real date in three years, and lets him know that he's been relocated to Dumpsville. Apparently, Dumpsville is ALSO home to his favourite pub, The Winchester, where he and Ed down copious amounts of beer. Ah, drowning the sorrows of rejection in lager and ale. I used to have nights like that. I called them weeknights.

'Cause this is Thriller...Thriller night...there ain't no second chance against the beast with 40 eyes...

On their way home, Shaun and Ed are, in a word, pissed. So pissed, in fact, that they're kind of oblivious to what's happening around them. Such as the zombie in the street moaning along with them as they sing White Lines. Or the zombie behind them that is busy chewing somebody's head clean off. But on the plus side, they're hammered. So they've got that going for them.

Back at home, they raise the ire of their roommate Pete (Peter Serafinowicz), a bitter, obnoxious, angry tool who has his panties in a bunch. And all because he doesn't like Ed, and they've woken him up at 4am. Some people are just whiners. He's sporting a nasty bandage on his hand, after being "bitten" by some "crackheads". Uh-oh. You don't exactly need Hercule Poirot to figure out what's going to happen to Pete, do you?

The next morning, after passing out in the kitchen, Shaun gets up, stumbles outside, heads to the corner store, buys a beverage, and stumbles back home. In his drunken/hung over stupor, he doesn't realize that everyone on the streets is a dead, hungry zombie. But, in his defense, it's early. You can't expect him to pick up on every little detail, can you? A quick technical note…this entire scene is one continuous shot…pretty damn cool.

"Bl..." "...ood" "BLOOD!" "Gu..." "...ts" "GUTS!"

So, yeah. Apparently, the dead have risen from their graves. It's all over the news, but Shaun just flips by, because news is for losers. Ed notices a "drunk" girl in their garden, and they pop out to offer her a hand. But the poor, drunk girl is actually a ravenous zombie…and THAT, 25 minutes in, is where the REAL fun begins.

In a nutshell, Shaun and Ed, despite being clueless, realize that it's up to them to rescue the people who they care about. This includes Shaun's mother and Liz, even though she dumped Shaun's sorry ass just a few hours before. It must be love. They also need to find a safe place to hole up…and I'll give you three guesses where they finally decide on.

From here, it's an absolutely hysterical comedy, full of the best kind of slapstick. But, as I said earlier, it also works as a pretty solid zombie-horror flick. There are some scares to be had, with at least one scene - which I won't ruin for you - that is definitely not for the faint of heart. As horror, I've seen much scarier, but it still got a couple of jumps out of me.

They're not zombies...they're Christmas shoppers trying to get the last iPod.

It's more comedy than horror, that much is clear. But it's not dumb or gross-out comedy, like SOME horror-comedies I could mention, starring the Wayans brothers, that sucked ass. No, this one is pretty damn smart. The writing here is as sharp as anything else you'll see. And it's so funny that I watched it twice and laughed the second time at all the jokes I'd missed the first time.

That's not to say that you won't get your money's worth of physical comedy. There are some sight gags that literally had me in tears. The problem is that it's hard to really discuss them without totally spoiling them. There's a scene with a kiddie slide which is just priceless. And when you hear Queen's Don't Stop Me Now, get ready…the scene you're about to see is one of the funniest and perfectly choreographed fight scenes you'll ever see.

"We'll start the bidding at 20 dollars...do I hear 25? 25 from the gentleman up front. Looking for 30. 30 dollar bid from the guy with his eyeball hanging out..."

One thing I will say about the movie is that it is VERY in-jokey. Unless you're a film buff in general, and a fan of Romero's Zombie movies in particular, a lot of smaller jokes will fly over your head. For example, the restaurant Shaun is supposed to take Liz to is called "Fulci's", a reference to the Italian horror-master Lucio Fulci. (Don't ask how I know that…you don't want to know.) The music, at times, is taken more or less directly from the 1978 Romero classic Dawn Of The Dead. There are at least a dozen more "references" that only the most die-hard fan will get. This is a bonus for real zombie nuts, but the good news is that it won't spoil anything for non-fans.

As a loving homage, it obviously worked. Pegg and Wright were invited to my hometown of Toronto to appear in Romero's upcoming Land Of The Dead. And now that's just one MORE reason to see it.

I'd never heard of these guys before this, but as it turns out they've all worked together on a popular Brit-com called Spaced, which is now on my must-see list. Pegg and Frost are decent enough comic actors and get the job done well. Pegg in particular has one scene with an absolutely perfect reaction (just after climbing off of the kiddie slide, for those of you who have seen it.) I was also happy to see Lucy Davis in the cast…after The Office, I'd watch that girl in anything. Rowr.

Now I know why the UK hip-hop scene never really took off.

They've put together a solid DVD too. The "extended" scenes are okay, but for the most part the trimming they did was well-warranted. There are a couple of features that are fantastic, though. The "Plot Holes" feature is priceless…it tells you, in tongue-in-cheek comic-book form, what happened during certain parts of the movie that left some unanswered questions.

Overall, it's the best horror-comedy since Army Of Darkness, and that, my friends, is saying something.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to head to the pub. It may not be a weekday, but you never know when the zombies will attack, and I want to be safe.

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