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| STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED |
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| FILM DETAILS | Certificate
TBC | | Cast
Simon Pegg
Nick Frost
Bill Nighy
Dylan Moran
Penelope Wilton. | | Directors
Edgar Wright. | | Screenwriters
Edgar Wright
Simon Pegg. | | Running Time
100 minutes |
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Shaun of the Dead
Plot
Shaun, a North London loser, is a disappointment to his girlfriend, family, friends and flatmate. Only his mate Ed, an even bigger loser, looks up to him. Then flesh-eating zombies overrun the city and Shaun is forced to take responsibility for the survival of his corner
of humanity… Review
Somewhere out there is a movie graveyard for the careers of British comedians — successful in home entertainment — who died a death trying to make an impact on the big screen. For every break-out Peter Sellers or John Cleese there are a dozen disappointments, as national institutions such as Morecambe and Wise, Smith and Jones, and… um, Cannon and Ball land with a thud.
In Shaun Of The Dead, director-writer Edgar Wright and star-writer Simon Pegg — plus many of their mates from the innovative Channel 4 sitcom Spaced — spin off a Resident Evil sketch wrapped-up inside five minutes in one episode into a whole feature.
This is a rare TV-to-film transfer that retains the things you liked on television but still comes on like a proper (if low-budget and shambolic) movie. A difference between American crazy comedy and the British variety is that Hollywood always puts out pretend losers as leads — in Bruce Almighty, for instance, we’re supposed to accept Jim Carrey as a failure, though he has a job on television and is living with Jennifer Aniston; Pegg’ s Shaun watches a lot of television and is living with a friend from college
who hates the friend from primary school who’s on a permanent visit.
The point is not to make you feel good, but to prompt laughs of horrified recognition that we really are like that. The basic joke is that Shaun stumbles zombie-like through his regular life, not paying attention to the Night Of The Living Dead crisis taking place in the background, but shapes up when society falls apart and, though still essentially useless, becomes the best chance his friends have to survive (most of them, it’s fair to say, don’t).
It’s a workable premise and the early scenes, with unnoticed zombies on buses, working checkout tills or snogging in the street, are creepy-funny. But the film gets impatient (especially in two or three awkward ‘serious’ bits) and eventually winds up down the pub, with beer on the table, inappropriate music on an apparently malign jukebox and hordes of zombie flesh-eaters hammering at the doors as idiot Ed (Nick Frost) tries to cheer up his just-dumped mate with, “It’s not the end of the world.”
Verdict
A surprisingly good TV transfer for the Spaced crew. It may not exactly be Ealing, but it’s funny for long stretches. Even when in danger of self-destructing, it cadges laughs with smart lines, silly observations or blokish inside jokes about zombie movies, video games and pub nibbles.
Reviewed by Kim Newman
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Average user rating for Shaun of the Dead
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| A great comedy from Edgar Wright. | | To begin with this film is now 8 years old, but still holds up well. To begin with the cast, they are all brilliant and funny in their own unique way, with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as the two leads. The jokes come fast and when they hit, they really hit. There is also a nice bit of zombie action as well which is good and the story isn't exactly out of this world but you're watching a comedy, not a drama after all. A fun movie that has tons of re playability. ... More | | | Posted by reaper996 at 12:30, 29 August 2012 | Report This Post | |
| | | Shaun of the Dead Review | | Shaun of the Dead cleverly balances scares and witty satire, making for a bloody good zombie movie with loads of wit. ... More | | | Posted by the film man at 01:40, 29 February 2012 | Report This Post | |
| | | Shaun of the Dead Review | | Shaun of the Dead cleverly balances scares and witty satire, making for a bloody good zombie movie with loads of wit. ... More | | | Posted by the film man at 01:40, 29 February 2012 | Report This Post | |
| | | 3 Star | | Not A Fan Of Horror, But When Comedy Is Involved, Then Count Me In. ... More | | | Posted by ryanchallenger at 22:17, 13 February 2011 | Report This Post | |
| | | 3 Star | | Not A Fan Of Horror, But When Comedy Is Involved, Then Count Me In. ... More | | | Posted by ryanchallenger at 22:17, 13 February 2011 | Report This Post | |
| | | its electro...prik! | | kill phil ... More | | | Posted by jamiebanks at 14:54, 29 September 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | its electro...prik! | | kill phil ... More | | | Posted by jamiebanks at 14:54, 29 September 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | Classic | | Made with a lightness of touch and a genuine love for everything Horror. Edgar Wright proves that he can hang with the likes of Romero, Raimi and Carpenter. Shaun of the Dead is a classic among the Horredy genre. ... More | | | Posted by bnicholson50 at 20:11, 20 August 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | Awesome | | when I first saw the cover from the dvd of shaun of the dead i thought this is gonna be a stupid on original movie. But when i saw it I watched it six times in 3 days. So if you like horror, comedy and romantic movies. than this is a big plus for you! I loved it and when you watched it I think you love it too! ... More | | | Posted by Anke at 14:43, 11 August 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | LOL | | Absolute JOKES ! ... More | | | Posted by elimonator at 02:20, 19 May 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | 2nd best | | this film is truly awesome. second best british film EVER!!!! (second to billy elliot) ... More | | | Posted by Saam3003 at 18:01, 18 February 2010 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Execellent movie very whitty and extremley funny, zombie effects are very good in all a great laugh. At times it swicted to a serious tone and at times was quite sad. Brilliant movie definetly recommend watching. ... More | | | Posted by RyanNolan32 at 17:33, 09 November 2009 | Report This Post | |
| | | Shaun of the Dead | | Its an okayish film but not the best horror comedy out there compared to Doghouse. ... More | | | Posted by deppfanatic at 20:43, 15 October 2009 | Report This Post | |
| | | Boring | | Simon pegg (Twat) simple as. ... More | | | Posted by Horrorguru at 18:57, 02 October 2009 | Report This Post | |
| | | How's that for a slice of fried gold? | | Best British comedy film ever! ....sorry, I meant best comedy film ever, period!
Fast paced, intelligently written, great direction and a shit load of zombies!
Bliss!
... More | | | Posted by SkullKassidy at 00:53, 08 March 2009 | Report This Post | |
| | | Brilliant! | | a fantastic film and one of my favourite comedy films of all time up there with Hot Fuzz, Autstin Powers, Airplane and Team America so so so so so funny! ... More | | | Posted by THE DALTONATOR at 07:50, 25 January 2009 | Report This Post | |
| | | Who died and made you fucking king of the zombies? | | Best.British.Film.Ever. ... More | | | Posted by Dr Manhattan at 22:32, 13 December 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | Shaun of the dead | | I think this has to be the best horror comedy film ever. Some of the gore is outrageous and some of the lines are hilarious, especially the one where the woman zombie is in Shaun's back garden and he says 'OH MY GOD SHE'S SO DRUNK'. Nick Frost is brilliant as Shaun's slobbish mate and Dylan Moran is hilarious. ... More | | | Posted by CIW at 03:16, 29 October 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | i <3 zombies | | this film is amazing in evey way it was funny it was gory (lest just say that david had it comin) but most of all i loved its relasionship between shaun and ed i will love the movie 4 ever ... More | | | Posted by bradzilllla at 15:52, 31 July 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | Bored of the dead | | I'm a huge fan of romero's original trilogy, this film although aspiring to be a tribute is only a one watch deal. nowhere near as sublime or funny as stuart gordons Re-Animator, it doesnt have the comedic violence of Braindead. SOTD is an average comedy aimed at middle class twats in their thirties. like all british movies it stumbles into "it looks like a extended television episode" territory.
it's nothing special. like 28 days later before it, yet another dissapointment from bri... More | | | Posted by Horrorguru at 15:21, 19 July 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | Damn Brilliant! | | What a hoot! I love Shaun Of The Dead, so funny and true romance along the way with dead zombies! Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are a proper duo, best friends and moving moments between them. It's a rom-com-zom and it has it all, romance, comdey and a lot of zombies! Adore the plan, gotta be the best funny moment ever! I did enjoy it and I can't wait for more of this funny duo! ... More | | | Posted by joanna likes films at 09:02, 30 April 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Come on empire, this movie clearly is a classic by now, maybe the star rating should change? Fantastic movie though, Nick Frost steals everyscene ... More | | | Posted by tango fett at 19:15, 27 April 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | Best of da British | | This is the best zombie film ever ... More | | | Posted by Hedgehog Nolan at 17:32, 08 April 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | A Romantic Comedy. With Zombies. | | 'Shaun of the Dead' is, perhaps, the greatest British film I've ever seen. That could be saying something about me, but there's no doubt 'Shaun' is brilliant!
Great humour + love + family + friendship + perfect acting + the undead = A five-star review! ... More | | | Posted by 1der at 14:24, 25 March 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | Best.Film.Ever!!!!! | | I first saw this when I was 8. It has been my No. 1 fave film from then on. Every film i see compare to this. Nothing cuts the biscuit. Maybe apart from Gladiator... ... More | | | Posted by cdxbl empire at 20:09, 14 March 2008 | Report This Post | |
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