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Shaun of the Dead follows the exploits of Shaun and his group of friends as the dead start to come back as zombies. Hilarity, I’m being literal here, ensues as Shaun soon realizes that a zombie plague isn’t all the fun he thought it would be.
It’s ironic that a movie like Shaun of the Dead, which was promoted as a comedy/horror movie, has more interesting characters in it than most “serious” horror movies. If we were to compare this movie to a zombie movie from the same time, say the remake of Dawn of the Dead, we find that the characterization in Shaun of the Dead is vastly superior. Unlike the remake of Dawn of the Dead, we get great insight into the motivations of most characters with some humor thrown in. The main character, Shaun, grows as the movie progresses. At the start of the movie Shaun is almost like he’s the living dead. We see that he is stuck in a dead end job, has a fear of commitment, and refuses to grow up. For lack of a better word, Shaun is stuck in a rut, which most people in real life are all too accustomed with. Because of the zombie plague, Shaun has to deal with his feelings for his girlfriend, his issues with his step father, his relationship with his mother, and his best friend, Ed, who has been holding him back for years. By the end of the movie, most viewers can’t help but feel good as they see Shaun settling into a new life with his girlfriend.
If you think that I’m making this movie sound like the feel good movie event of the decade, guess again. This movie delivers with lots of quality death and gore, which is surprising considering how light hearted this movie starts out. One of the scenes near the end of the movie is particularly graphic, featuring one of the characters, David, being torn apart by a pack of zombies. I still don’t know how they put that scene into the movie and still got an R-rating.
One problem with Shaun of the Dead is that the first half of the movie doesn’t have the same feel as the second half. Some people might find this change jarring as the movie goes from being a comedy to becoming a full fledge zombie movie. There are some very dark moments later on in the movie, which many viewers probably didn’t expect based on the first of the movie. This change of pace gives the movie a strange feeling overall. It seems like the makers of this film, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, started out wanting to write a comedy, but then changed their minds half through the writing process and decided to make a horror movie instead. I have a friend who simply classifies Shaun of the Dead as a weird movie because of this change of pace half through the film.
Another problem people might have with Shaun of the Dead is the resolution of the zombie plague. I personally didn’t mind this, but I could see why people might complain about it. It seems like Shaun and his girlfriend are doomed, but then the military shows up and saves the day. This might seem a little too convenient to some viewers. Everything that happens after that in the movie, like the zombies being absorbed into the workforce, is pure gold though.
I would recommend Shaun of the Dead to any horror fans. Its strange overall feel might confuse viewers, but the zombie goodness in it is too much to ignore. Add in the wonderful characterization of the character of Shaun and you got yourself a zombified winner.
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