A zombie infestation threatening the globe is bad. Your girlfriend dumping you (unrelated to zombies) is equally terrible. So what’s a twenty-nine year old Gloucester resident, whose life is a daily parade of waking up to messy, lazy, drug-peddling, farting roommates, working at a cheap electronics shop, and spending nights getting smashed at the Winchester Pub, to do when the two worst events of his life coalesce like fish and chips in a greasy paper bag?
The absolutely inspired zombie comedy with a hint of romance is everything it sets out to be. Written by frequent collaborators Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, and directed by Wright, Shaun of the Dead is a masterful British production that combines the kind of horizon-peering, dry, at times ghoulish, Brit humour with a macabre underpinnings, rooted in Italian and American horror effects work, and topped with a load of pop culture references, homages, and mincing details, all in service to a deceptively charming story of love lost and regained. Counter to the typical zombie tradition, it even has a happy ending.
What provides Shaun of the Dead with such a refreshing spark is the well-written script and on-key performances by Simon Pegg as the title character, Nick Frost as his roommate Ed, and Kate Ashfield as Shaun’s girlfriend Liz. Pegg is an urbanite who dwells with Pete and Ed, both of whom hate each other. Ed is the quintessential slob, but Shaun identifies with his fun-loving, beer-swilling ways, and finds himself frequently defending Ed’s behaviour to Pete. Shaun spends his days riding the bus to work in a dead-end job, completing his days at the Winchester Pub. The only problem is, his girlfriend Liz needs to move forward in life, and she just doesn’t think Shaun has the motivation to move with her.
Thus Shaun and Ed wake up from a break-up bender to find a zombie in their garden. They quickly realize that something is quite wrong with the formerly alive denizens of their fair town, and formulate a plot to rescue Simon’s mother and Shaun’s ex-girlfriend Liz. And what better place to be during a zombie infestation than their favourite pub?
Simon Pegg is especially good at portraying a deceptively fragile man who can’t seem to get past his own fears of moving on to better things. In one remarkable scene, Shaun finds reconciliation, albeit short-lived, with his stepfather, played by the wonderful Bill Nighy, exposing his true self in the heat and confusion of the moment. It is a wonderful setup for a later scene with his mother in the pub.
As zombie movies go, Shaun of the Dead still contains fare that has come to be identified with the genre: the shambling, slow-moving, “rather bitey” undead, the survivors’ realization of their plight, the last stand in a doomed location. Yet it is all done with a kind of playful tongue-in-cheek cheeriness, infusing the entire experience with a sense of peace and both light and grim humour. One never fears for the heroes, as lummoxed as they are, and the dwindling of the little band of survivors has its own delicious goriness that might make a few cringe in disgust.
The jibes at pop culture are endless. The soundtrack is infested with songs like “Zombie Nation”, “Zombi”, and “Ghost Town”, matching beat for beat the dull expressions of the living humans, who are barely distinguishable from the undead. Pegg and Wright are evidently fans of Star Wars, Reservoir Dogs, Evil Dead, and other popular and cultish films; the script is laced with movie and music references aplenty. There are the not-so-subtle moments: throwing crappy LP’s at zombies whilst holding on to the good pressings, the satisfaction of beating your neighbour over the head with a cricket bat, video game violence that turns into a farce of the real, and mockery of other zombie flicks, including fellow Brit Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later. All are paced nicely within the confines of a script that keeps to its purpose with relative ease.
Shaun of the Dead is, quite simply, the finest example of that strange synthesis of zombie horror and comedy. Its hilariously understated irony and collision with pop culture ring particularly effective. For lovers of British humour, it is a perfect match.
Fringe Rating: out of 5