Cinema Macabre Issue 5: Zombies! - Page 4

Shaun of the Dead aces it. It's not just a great horror comedy, but it's a great entry into its chosen horror sub-genre: the zombie movie. So it covers all the bases: very, very funny; suitably scary; and ticks all the boxes for the zombie genre it's simultaneously spoofing and contributing to.

There's the helpless survivors, the lack of suitable weapons, the last stand in a barricaded refuge. And there's the armies of the undead; only a couple at first, but then inescapably numerous, and deadly.

It's a film so comfortable in its genre that Romero himself could have made it, yet so English, and so amusing that it's recognisably the work of the Spaced team - Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and director Edgar Wright. And it plays by the rules: if you get bitten, you become a zombie; there must only be one or two seemingly harmless zombies initially, but that must ramp up as the film nears its conclusion. The survivors must hole up in a position of strength, but by some flaw of humanity, some human weakness, must open themselves up to their inevitable fate. The body count should be significant, and characters should lose someone they care about.

There's a more important element to Shaun's success beyond the fact that it adheres so strictly to the rules that Romero invented, including the use of gore; beyond its string of hilarious sequences and quotable dialogue; and beyond the extremely clever references to other horror and zombie movies of the past. Shaun's greatest strength is that it features a set of characters you care about and can identify with. They're not SWAT team members, not cops, and not military personnel; they're you and me, the everyman and his mum, his girlfriend, and his friends.

It's that blend of real-life through the sitcom lens (a "reality" we're all familiar with) merged with the zombie apocalypse scenario that ensures that you never really know where Shaun is going, but care about its characters every step of the way.

Shaun of the Dead is as important an entry into the zombie canon as Romero's, Fulci's, and Boyle's offerings. It's magnificent in every sense, and the sort of film that doesn't come along very often. If by some miracle you've not already seen it, visit your local DVD emporium and pick it up immediately. And while you're there, get yourself a Cornetto.

Article Author: Ian Woolstencroft

Ian Woolstencroft was brought up on a diet of John Wayne movies and Marvel Comics and still has a passion for both. Now as a blogcritic he finally understands what Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben meant when he said ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ …

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