Cock it! (Shaun Of The Dead (DVD))

Member Name: SRowlands

Product:	Shaun Of The Dead (DVD)
Date:	04/01/06 (179 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The funniest movie since "Airplane!".... and it's got Trisha in too !!

Disadvantages: erm... not enough Trisha ?!?

A whilst back I went and saw "Dawn Of The Dead" (the new version), and one of the trailers at the start of the film was for "Shaun Of The Dead". I must admit that it looked awful - both my fiance and I looked at each other and said... "We'll wait for the rental version".

So why, after our initial impression, did we go to the cinema last night and watch it ? Well, I received an email offering the chance to win free tickets to a preview of this movie. I do enter a lot of competitions, and I am pretty lucky, so I gave it a go. Hey presto, the following day I received another email saying "Congratulations - You are a winner !".
I was prepared to watch the film with an open mind, and give it the benefit of the doubt. My fiance, on the other hand, did not want to see it. I had to drag her to the cinema straight from work, during which time she moaned, and said that this was going to waste nearly two hours from her life !!

As the lights went down the two of us, along with a hundred or so other winners, waited with an uncertain aprehension...

(Cue opening song... "Ghost Town" by The Specials)...

The film opens in a traditional London pub, with the main character Shaun arguing with his girlfriend and her friends about his fat, lazy friend Ed. At this point, Ed is introduced as a character in the background, hitting and swearing at a slot machine. Shaun defends Ed, saying that he does not have many friends - at the split second Ed comes over to the table and asks, "So, which of you *(very rude word omitted so as not to offend anyone)*'s want a drink then" !

This opening scene introduces most of the main characters in the film, but the film centers around Shaun (played by Simon Pegg). He is a 29 year old going through a mid-life crisis ! As a deputy manager in an electrical store, he suddenly realises that his life is going nowhere, and his dreams of becoming a DJ are fading away fast. His girlfriend, Liz, blames Shaun's best friend Ed for holding him back, but as a friend since school, Shaun is reluctant to push Ed away.

The infection that turns normal people into flesh-eating zombies is introduced to the story slowly. The film-makers point out that we are a lot like zombies anyway - sitting on the bus staring expressionlessly ahead - walking hunched along the roadside - staring at an image on TV. So when the infection does start to spread, Shaun is slow to realise the fact and any possible danger. On a trip to the local store to buy a paper and a Cornetto ice cream, he actually notices no difference to any other day despite the walking dead all around.
Shaun and Ed's first encounter with a zombie is when a girl is seen in their garden. Both go out to investigate what the girl is up to. As she turns around, she looks pale, is drooling and mumbling. Naturally, both men think that the girl is drunk, until things start to happen...

As you may have guessed by the title, and the tagline "A romantic comedy... with zombies", this film is very loosely based upon "Dawn Of The Dead", however I would stress that this is definately not a spoof ! This is a comedy horror movie in it's own right - the only similarities with the Dawn Of The Dead franchise is that this film a) has zombies in and b) the survivors head to a 'safe' place - in DOTD it was the mall, and in this it's the local pub !
Breaking down the different genres of the film, each works exceedingly well - the Romatic aspect is evident but not over slushy and does not detract from the other parts of the film. The horror is well handled - there are some "jumpy" and gory moments, and whilst some of these are extreme (a guy getting pulled through a window, whereupon zombies tear him apart and eat his intestines whilst the victim is still screaming !), they are all relevant to the plot and are intermingled with comedy so well that they become diluted.
The main genre of the film is the comedy. The film comes from the makers (and stars) of the TV series "Spaced". If you enjoyed that series, you are sure to find this movie hilarious. The comedy is drawn mostly from everyday life of us "Brits" - from experiences in local pubs right down to watching "Trisha" on television.

Each of these individual genres work well individually, but merging them together could have disasterous consequences if not handled correctly. Fortunately the mixture combines fantastically, due to an excellent script, story, direction and cast.

Most of the films cast will be instantly recognisable if you watched the "Spaced" sitcom, which was broadcast on Channel 4. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are fantastic, and each work together to create that unique gem, "comedy genious". Penelope Wilton and Bill Nightly (last seen as "Billy Mack" in Love Actually) play Shaun's mother and stepfather. Although minor roles, each play their roles with their fullest talent, which adds to the overall success of the film. There are also several cameo appearances - without giving away too many suprises, Matt Lucas (a.k.a. George Dawes from Shooting Stars) is one of them !

The film is helped along by a great soundtrack, that mixes some classic songs such as "Ghost Town" by The Specials and "Panic" by The Smiths with more up to date tracks like "Mister Mental" from 80's Matchbox B-Line Disaster. The tracks fit in well with the scenes, a typical example is when the crew are fighting off a load of Zombies which have managed to get into the pub to the sounds of Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now".

As I said at the beginning of this review, I had an open mind when I went to see this film, and my fiance was very reluctant. This was actually the funniest film I have seen in years - I was laughing from the opening scene until the closing credits ! My fiance too had to admit that her initial reluctance to see the film was totally unfounded, and she too thought that the film was hilarious.
I would highly recommend going to see this movie as soon as you can if you want to laugh your socks off, 'cause who knows what might happen tomorrow ?....



(By the way... the title refers to a Winchester Rifle !!) :o)

Summary: It's a Romantic Comedy... with Zombies !