The Film
The comedy horror genre is littered with dismal failures, personally I’ve always found the parody style of the likes of Scary Movie and Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th to be tired and unfunny, very much using the shotgun approach to comedy, throwing every gag they can imagine at the screen and hoping some of them stick. With Shaun of the Dead Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright took a different approach, creating a comedy with horror in, rather than a comedy about horror, and that subtle change in attitude has created the years funniest film so far, an instant cult classic and a movie the British film industry can really be proud of.
http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/protectedimage.php?image=MattDay/SOTDvacant.jpg
Shaun (Simon Pegg) works in a small electrical retailer, he shares a house with career minded Pete (Peter Serafinowicz) and layabout and amateur drug dealer Ed (Nick Frost). Spending all his nights either glued to the Playstation or down the local – The Winchester – it’s the ideal life for a 20 something bachelor. Unfortunately Shaun isn’t single, his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) doesn’t quite enjoy the bachelor lifestyle as much as Shaun, she wants to go places and do things, but Shaun’s ideas of going places and doing things are always the same, the trusty Winchester. In a desperate attempt to save his relationship Shaun promises Liz a slap up meal at a real restaurant, it would have bought him some time, had he remembered to book a table, instead the failed night out gets Shaun nothing but dumped. Come Sunday morning, Shaun finds himself in the aftermath of drowning his sorrows, presented with a drunken note scrawled on his fridge “Sort Life Out” but even that rather basic plan may not be easy to put into effect, as London seems to be the epicentre of an outbreak of the undead.
http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/protectedimage.php?image=MattDay/SOTDworried.jpg
If it weren’t obvious from the title Simon Pegg has taken his cues from the George A Romero classic Dawn of the Dead in building the film’s structure. Although Pegg and Wright have put far more emphasis on the journey, rather than the siege, they make no attempts to hide their inspiration, instead they revel in it – though you might not notice unless your youth was as misspent as theirs. Eschewing the obvious references and parodies Shaun of the Dead is much more subtle, with cult horror directors and actors now immortalised in the names of restaurants and supermarkets, it’s a blink and you’ll miss it test for the gore hounds. That’s not to say though that the only laughs are for observant geeks, just that the real jokes can be understood by anyone, as it’s the script that drives Shaun of the Dead to greatness. Hardly a line is wasted, everything is either a joke or a keen foreshadowing of future events, which in essence makes it a joke the next time you watch the film – and it is a film you’ll watch again. Some even become in-jokes before the film is over, with several important conversations conducted in two entirely different contexts, seemingly innocent conversations become far more important, and it’s clever touches like that which keep the script bubbling.
http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/protectedimage.php?image=MattDay/SOTDfreeze.jpg
The casting is perfect, somewhat surprisingly Pegg didn’t cast his Spaced co-star Jessica Stevenson as his girlfriend – though she does have a smaller role – but Kate Ashfield was probably a better choice, as her character is one of the few that have to deal with any kind of sensible dialogue, and she adds a seriousness to her role the Stevenson isn’t known for. She’s still funny, she just isn’t asked to be as much as most, the lion’s share of the laughs, though, don’t belong to Pegg, but Nick Frost. Best known as Tim’s army obsessed best friend Mike in Spaced, he leaves the TA behind him to create the best character in the film. Ed is lazy, insensitive, rude, and downright hilarious, he’s a fantastically inappropriate character, and almost every line he utters will have you laughing. Liz’s friends David (Dylan Moran) and Di (Lucy Davis), dragged along for the ride to The Winchester, have some great moments, though Davis is somewhat underused and Moran’s voice of cutting dissent makes an excellent verbal sparring partner for Shaun.
http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/protectedimage.php?image=MattDay/SOTDlineup.jpg
But it isn’t just the comedy aspects that make the film enjoyable, the team have also managed to include scares and special effects far superior to those found in many ‘straight’ horror movies. The make up department was run by Stuart Conran who was brought to Edgar Wright’s attention after he watched Peter Jackson’s Braindead – the film which set the world record for the use of the most fake blood – so that gives you an idea of what to expect. Whilst the blood flow isn’t constant, whenever there’s an opportunity to open a vein it’s grasped heartily. They’re also not afraid to kill off the cast, you never know when somebody is going to be torn limb from limb, and unlike most horror movies, you actually care when someone dies. By making the film about the characters first and the zombies second Wright and Pegg build an attachment to the characters that will lead to genuine tension, as you worry about your favourites fates.
Ultimately Shaun of the Dead does feel like Spaced: The Movie, but I can’t see how that is a bad thing. All the wit of the series has been carried over, the references have been toned down, which makes it feel like a more mature effort, but not that much more mature, it is a zombie movie after all, and being allowed free reign with the blood and language has made things far more entertaining, surely anyone that can laugh at a disembowelment will know swearing can be very funny. And if you don’t think it now, wait until Ed offers to get a round in…
http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/protectedimage.php?image=MattDay/SOTDtwins.jpg
Shaun of the Dead is the funniest film of the year so far, and is an instant classic. Like all the best comedies it has endless re-watch value, which would warrant a DVD purchase on its own, but the filmmakers have pulled together to produce a DVD more than worthy of the special edition tag. In short, this is a must-own release. There were rumours that this disc would carry a director’s cut of the film, running for an extra 9 minutes, but those have proved unfounded, but after listening to the commentaries and watching the deleted scenes there appears to be very little that hasn’t already made its way onto this release, so I would guess a second release would be very unlikely, there really is no reason to stop you from snapping this one up.
On DVD release now in the UK. Theatre release everywhere else.
) and once again since then
