Shaun of the Dead is a romantic comedy with zombies directed by Edgar Wright, and stars Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Penelope Wilton, Bill Nighy, and Peter Serafinowicz.
The titular Shaun (Pegg) is stuck in a bit of a rut in many aspects of his life - he works in an electronics shop as a salesman, and his relationship with his girlfriend Liz (Ashfield) is on the rocks. His association with his boorish best friend Ed (Frost) doesn't help matters. One evening Liz finally dumps him and he gets very, very drunk, and resolves to sort his life out the next day. That next day, however, happens to be when the zombie rise happens, and Shaun and Ed wind up gathering up Liz, her flatmates David (Moran) and Dianne (Davis), and Shaun's mother Barbara (Wilton) and going to the one place Shaun always feels safe and at home: the Winchester pub.
This movie hits all the beats of a zombie movie - the growing horror at seeing people that you know become monsters, the grief at watching your loved ones die and then having to shoot them to save your own life, and the hopelessness as the walls close in and realizing you're better off shooting yourself than getting bitten. But, in addition to that, the movie is genuinely funny, and, as Edgar Wright movies tend to be, almost perfectly symmetrical (that is, the back half mirrors the front half, as we see extras we saw going about their daily lives now turned into the undead). Pegg anchors and carries the movie as Shaun, a good-hearted, if not especially bright, fellow trying to be a better man on the worst day of his life. His relationship with Liz feels real and important to him, but obviously the relationship that he really cares about is his friendship with Ed.
In addition to just being a strong movie on its own, we also get all kinds of references to classic zombie (mostly Romero) movies. My favorite is unquestionably Ed yelling "We're coming to get you, Barbara!" to Shaun's mom, but there are so many more, and so many other little details that you'll never catch the first time through. Wright's movies are amazing because nothing is accidental, and that level of attention to everything can sometimes make the movies feel forced in places. Shaun of the Dead makes up for that with scenes that are really raw and emotional (Pegg's performance after discovering his mother has been bitten really shows off his chops).
I think this is my favorite of the "Three Flavors Cornetto" trilogy (the other two being Hot Fuzz and World's End).
My Grade: A
Rewatch Value: High
Next up: The Shawshank Redemption
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