THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Whether we like it or not, our wake-up calls will happen when we least expect it. If you can’t believe it, look at Shaun of the Dead. PLOT
The film follows Shaun, an electronic salesman who lives in Crouch End with his slacker best friend Ed and mature flatmate Pete (Peter Serafinowicz). Shaun struggles to take direction in life and gets dumped by his girlfriend Liz when he fails to make decent plans for their anniversary. When he takes it out by getting drunk with Ed, Pete would berate him for being able to get it together. By morning, a zombie outbreak has overwhelmed London and Shaun & Ed do not realize what is happening until being attacked by zombies themselves. They are able to defend themselves by killing three with household items, after being advised by the news to destroy their brains. They get on alert when it’s also reported in the news that people can turn into zombies when being bitten. Realizing that Pete has turned due to being bit by a mugger the night prior, Shaun & Ed devise a plan to go somewhere safe until the outbreak blows over. They agree to pick up Liz and Shaun’s mother Barbara before taking shelter in their favorite pub, the Winchester. They ride Pete’s car to reach Barbara’s home, but crash the vehicle on the way there. When they leave with Barbara and her husband Philip, he gets bit as well before taking off in his Jaguar. They still keep him around until he officially turns. When Shaun reaches Liz’s apartment, he picks her up as well as her flat mates/friends, David and Dianne. They would eventually have to abandon the Jaguar when Philip officially turns, causing the group to sneak through the neighborhood. After killing another zombie with a swingball pole, the group pretends to be the infectious creatures to pass through the horde and get to the Winchester. Just when they reach the pub’s front door, Ed’s phone goes off. Shaun’s decision to call him out on it would only get the horde’s attention, causing him to lure them away as long as he could. He would return to the pub once the group settled in, but the same zombie horde ended up following him anyway. Ed would make another mistake by activating a jukebox machine, alerting not only the horde of zombies but also the Wicnhester’s zombified landlord. Despite killing the latter, Barbara would confess of getting bit earlier, leading to the group debating on putting her down. The debate would only lead to animosity as Shaun calls out David for hating him due to being in love with Liz, which Dianne agrees. When Barbara officially turns, she is officially executed by her son with the pub’s rifle. Although David assured him he did the right thing, he is still punched by the protagonist out of spite. David would make the mistake of trying to shoot him, which would only backfire for him due to it being empty. Knowing that he is disliked the whole group, he tries to leave the Winchester only to get devoured by the zombie horde. Dianne would leave as well and try to avenge her boyfriend by fighting through the horde. However, her exit would let the zombies in through the front, whereas more would come from the back. Ed would get bit by two zombies, one of which included the zombified Pete. Shaun is able to shoot off the zombies surrounding his friend and is able to help him take cover by the bar with Liz. Shaun would then start a ring of fire to keep the horde at bay. But that decision would cause the other bullet shells to go off, killing a few zombies in the process. This leads to the remaining survivors taking further cover in the cellar. With only two bullets left, Shaun & Liz consider taking their own lives, but Ed volunteers to be eaten by the horde which would allow the two make a break for it. The couple would leave the cellar and attempt to fight off the zombies outside. Thankfully, they get rescued by the British Army and are taken to safety. Six months after the outbreak, the issue of zombies appears to be contained as the remaining creatures are used for cheap labor and entertainment. The film would end with the reveal of Shaun & Liz now living together, but the former now has a zombified Ed tethered in his shed to play video games with.
THOUGHTS
Zombie movies have definitely had their crowd since George Romero brought these fictional creatures to life in Night of the Living Dead. Multiple filmmakers have given their own version since and Director/Co-writer Edgar Wright makes the sub genre his own to make a downright wild adventure. For the most part, this film earns its points in being creepy due to how the zombies appear and the mixed visual/practical effects pay off in being standardly graphic in such a setting. It’s one thing to see an impaled hole, but I was stunned seeing David get ripped apart like he did, being just as shocking as Romero’s Day of the Dead. On the other hand, this was a hilarious film in general because it felt like I was seeing a reflection of how I would react in any crisis. This movie came out a few years after 9/11, whereas we never prepared for terror but we would go about our lives until it gets worse and actually affects us individually. The entire first act in which Shaun is oblivious of the outbreak until the zombies target him is the funniest first act ever within the 2000s for again giving an honest interpretation of how society would react to a crisis. The tracking shot of Shaun not paying attention to what’s going on while getting ice cream, in which he also ignores the blood on the glass door and doesn’t react to almost slipping on a puddle of blood is the best scene of the whole film off of nailing how clueless we can be with our surroundings no matter what goes on around us. For the second act, I thought it was funny how Shaun & Ed tried killing the zombies with records before using better choices like a cricket and a shovel. It’s a nice nod to how it isn’t easy to achieve a firearm in the UK compared to the USA. And then seeing the remaining zombies used for labor & entertainment by the climax was genius for telling us maybe we’re all zombies because we’re willing to do anything for ourselves. With all the said commentary and all the jokes landing on cue, this would help make the movie work as a whole for teaching us the lesson to grow up. No one likes it but it’s an important part of our lives we have to go through to survive. What can benefit us when we go through it is having the right friends to guide us. That is literally the whole point of the character Shaun himself, who is played incredibly by co-writer Simon Pegg. We relate to Shaun for being afraid of making the changes we need to better versions of ourselves and sadly for him, he had to hit rock bottom to get back up. He acts codependent with Ed so much because he made him happy before he met Liz and he doesn’t want to lose that happiness no matter how annoyed he would be. Whenever you don’t like him for laziness, he makes up for it with loyalty which he displays towards everyone he cares about. Going into the rest of the cast, Nick Frost is right behind Pegg in the hilarity aspect for being a slobbish friend. Apart from playing video games, I would be impressed by an orangutan's impression every time. He’s too comfortable with how he lives and doesn’t want to change it up the way Shaun wants, which is why it was important for the latter of all people to tell him to quit fucking around. Even though he remained dim witted for the remainder of the journey, he did put it in consideration and stood by his friend’s side until the terror was over. And for that, Shaun returns the favor by keeping him around. I don’t know how he pulled that off, but at least he figured it out to maintain the memory he’s not ready to let go yet. I didn’t mind Liz at all since for the most part, Kate Ashfield makes her Shaun’s polar opposite for actually seeking a change in comparison. She chooses to get back with him by the end because she noticed how willing he was to do so when it came down to it. For that, I hope they continue to be happy together. I also enjoyed Lucy Davis as Dianne for coming off the most optimistic compared to her flat mates. The character may have not been the successful actress she wished to be, but she put it to good use to help the group blend in with the horde. I was even relieved to see a deleted scene confirm she survived fighting off the horde on her way out because it was way too badass for her to go out anyway. And of course, I think many are in the same boat when saying David was the absolute worst of the bunch. Thanks to a clever performance by Dylan Moran, he pulls it off in making him the most obnoxious due to having nothing but selfish intentions the whole time. It was still shocking to see him die, but he didn’t have any earned sympathy for his antagonism. was definitely a bummer when Barbara died because Penelope Wilton made her the most pleasant of characters the whole time, but it was really Phillip. The whole time, you can relate to Shaun’s awkward relationship with his stepdad because it’s hard to accept what makes your parents happy. Bill Nighy played it straight in making him a grumpy man who spoke out of love the whole time. Shaun thought he was ready to live without him until he wasn’t, which is a situation many people can have with relatives they don’t get along with. And for that, I applaud the shown realism. This movie was hella fun, yet there were still a few things that bothered me upon re-watching. In all honesty, I think Shaun should’ve bought two different set of flowers to save himself some trouble. I mean I’m sure that would’ve worked after the date backfired. That also has me thinking, is there more than one fancy restaurant in Crouch End? It’s not like the town is that small to look such. And there is no doubt Ed would’ve not gotten but had Shaun killed Pete before leaving the flat. I know it’s in Ed’s character to not take things serious, but he messes up a whole lot before he gets hit. It’s one thing to put Pete in a worthless headlock, but he messes up big time when not undoing child lock and not even trying to call for help on his phone. Other than that, this is still one hellacious movie. In short, Shaun of the Dead is one of the funniest films ever made for making great use of its setting and being homage to its sub genre as a whole. If you love horror and need a laugh, this is your dealbreaker.
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