Shaun of the Dead Review

I can’t add to the discussion or love that Shaun of the Dead rightfully receives. Its endearing nature has survived nearly two decades, and its admiration as a certified British classic is example enough to its charms, ability to express humour, and to comically repress the cliché narrative of the traditional zombie flick. Full of slight, sly references, incredible dialogue and a whole host of British legends coming together to make one of the finest films of all, it’s no real surprise that Shaun of the Dead has become a staple to the diet of the comedy film fan. Even further than that, though, the appeals of Edgar Wright’s first big-screen pairing of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost offers up more love, laughs, and giddy thrills than anyone could have ever expected. 

A bumbling loser, his parents, his dim-witted flatmate, his girlfriend, her two friends, and the step-dad he never took a liking to all gather together to ride out the apocalypse. Shaun of the Dead is a difficult film to talk about, since there’s no real place to start. It’s hilarious from the first opening shot, right up to those bittersweet closing scenes. Somehow packing a punch with both its dedication to horror, but also its strong comedic writing, a beautiful nirvana is reached, balancing the two with such fascinating care. They riff off of one another well, comedy found in the horrors of an apocalypse, but horror found in the bumbling idiocy of the comedic leading pair.  

It’s difficult to articulate initial thoughts on the film when it’s been a large part of your life for so long. I remember watching this years ago, for the very first time. Inevitably, it was on ITV2, and since then I’ve loved it. A classic piece that relies on its group of not-so likeable characters coming together for the good of a greater cause. Teamwork and survival, with two men at the helm who know nothing more than playing Black on their Playstation 2, electro vinyls, and a generally stagnant loser lifestyle. Re-watching Shaun of the Dead, it’s surprising to see some more critical jabs at the culture Wright and company found themselves in.  

Wright’s direction here draws up some parallels that feel like criticisms of the system that puts people down. It’s rather obvious, the comparison made between the braindead hoodlums and working-class characters, and the zombies themselves. Their monotony and poor existence don’t contrast their zombified states, they continue with mundanity. An improvement in their quality of life isn’t found, nor is there a dip. Without aspiration of dreams or success, the checkout employee, the corner-shop owner, they revert back to comatose states of zombification, but their flat tropes make for uncomfortable realisations that their life is more or less the same, infected or not. 

Still, apart from that little musing, Shaun of the Dead is a certifiably phenomenal time. It’s packed full of knock-out lines, iconic scenes, and set the standard for British comedy. The bar is extremely high, and it’d be Wright’s later collaboration with Pegg and Frost in Hot Fuzz that would hoist that bar higher. A rom-com with zombies, one of the rare occasions where the inclusion of the undead doesn’t feel like a hindrance. Instead, Wright and his talented cast and crew embrace this inconceivably strange scenario with open arms, and exit having crafted one of the most memorable, engaging, and brilliant comedies of all time.