"John, it's time at the bar!" (Shaun Of The Dead (DVD))

Member Name: andrewl

Product:	Shaun Of The Dead (DVD)
Date:	10/08/09 (81 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Top-notch cast giving career high performances

Disadvantages: None

Shaun is a 20-something Londoner stuck in a dead-end job with irritating flatmates. His troubled relationship with Liz comes to a head after he forgets to book a table at a restaurant, and he seems doomed to spend the rest of his days drinking in the local pub with his friend Ed, who is convinced that dogs can't look up. After a drunken confrontation with his other flatmate Pete in the small hours of Sunday morning, Shaun decides to sort his life out, and then passes out in front of the fridge.

His new determination is scuppered, however, when he wakes up later on Sunday and zombies are stalking the streets of London. After fighting off two zombies with a cricket bat and a box of records, Shaun and Ed decide they need to pick up Shaun's Mum, Liz, and get somewhere safe, somewhere familiar, where they know all the exits and there are plenty of supplies.

The pub.

Shaun of the Dead was inspired, infamously, by an episode of seminal 90s sitcom Spaced, in which Simon Pegg's character (Tim) hallucinates zombies attacking his friends at a performance art drinks reception. Now playing Shaun, with Spaced co-star Nick Frost as Ed, and Edgar Wright still directing, Pegg turns in probably his finest performance to date. His screen chemistry with real-life best friend Nick Frost is fantastic, as are all the performances. It's a bit of a shame that Spaced's other main player Jessica Stevenson is relegated to an extended cameo, but Kate Ashfield does a convincing job as Liz, probably the only straight part in the film.

Bill Nighy cemented his rise to cult status (following acclaimed performances in Love Actually and State of Play), and Penelope Wilton was on fantastic form as Shaun's Mum, the first time I'd seen her in anything since an RSC production of The Cherry Orchard in the late 90s. Lucy Davis from the Office doesn't have a great deal to do, but Dylan Moran makes an excellent foil for Pegg as David, a partnership which would later be renewed in the otherwise disappointing Run, Fat Boy, Run.

When I first moved to London in 2004, Shaun of the Dead was gearing up for its cinema release, and it seemed that everyone I spoke to had a best mate who'd appeared as a zombie in the climactic scenes at the Winchester. I later found out this was because there'd been a casting call on Spaced fan websites for fans to appear as zombie extras. If it hadn't been for my abortive attempt at a teaching career, I'd so have been there.

The film begins as a romantic comedy, and gradually develops into a (very funny) piece of zombie horror as it progresses. Everyone has their own favourite scene, whether it's Shaun and Ed arguing over which records to throw at attacking zombies ("That was the second album I ever bought!"), or the "short-cut" sequence, or my personal favourite - the heroes bludgeoning an elderly zombie to death with pool cues to the tune of Queen's Don't Stop Me Now ("John, it's time at the bar!"). Apparently that was the only point at which Pegg and Wright thought they might get into trouble with the censors.

Pleasingly gory (but obviously cheap) effects abound, as does fantastically obscene dialogue (one of Nick Frost's first lines is "can I get any of you c**ts a drink?" which pretty much sets the bar) - one of the DVD extras is a hilarious attempt to re-record scenes with a different word instead of the f-word, in order to try and get the film in a state fit to be shown on airlines. Regular readers will know how rarely I can be bothered to watch DVD extras, so take this as an extreme recommendation.

As with Spaced, references to popular culture are absolutely everywhere, and generally too subtle to notice. There is a 'trivia track' subtitle feature on the DVD, in line with the Spaced boxset's 'homage-o-meter', but I doubt anyone would spot them all on a single viewing. I can honestly say that Shaun of the Dead is the only zombie film I've ever seen, so I missed them all apart from a sly dig at 28 Days Later, but it never affected my enjoyment of the film.

The film's cultural impact has been huge. Quentin Tarantino has been heard shouting "Yes, but dogs can look up!" on set, it's impossible to hear that Queen song without shouting "John, it's time at the bar!", and Pegg and Frost have become a very British kind of megastar. In that they've done a lot of voiceovers and started appearing in Richard Curtis films. Dressing up as Shaun has become the lazy man's option for Halloween parties.

Are there any downsides to this film? Not really. It's pretty much the best British film since the 60s, full of perfect comic performances and some genuinely scary bits as the zombie menace ("we don't use the z-word") builds. While the sort of sequel Hot Fuzz disappointed a few people (but not me), there really isn't a stick you can bash Shaun with. Even the soundtrack is awesome. Shaun of the Dead is probably the cult film for my generation, and I recommend it completely.

I paid £15 for the DVD, but in time-honoured fashion, you can now get it for about four quid, or just stick on ITV2 one night, as it's on pretty heavy rotation there.

Summary: Best British film this century.