STUFF YOU GOTTA WATCH - Shaun of the Dead (1978)

SHAUN OF THE DEAD

(2004)
With Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Nick Frost
Directed by Edgar Wright
Reviewed by JB

You've got red on ya Forget juvenile tripe like the SCARY MOVIE series. If you want to laugh at horror clichés, try SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Simon Pegg plays Shaun, a British retail clerk whose laid-back lifestyle and devotion to his slacker of a mate Ed causes his girlfriend to dump him. So devoted is Shaun to his daily routines, he goes out one morning to pick up something to drink at the local convenience store and then heads off to work without once noticing the streets are filling up with the undead. When it does dawn on him that things have gone awry, his plan to save mankind is pretty much the same as his plan everyday - pick up his girlfriend and head, along with Ed, to the local pub. Some of the best dialogue comes during those lulls where the snailpaced zombies are mounting an attack, leaving plenty of time for Shaun and Ed to discuss such matters as which records from Shaun's collection to fling at the creatures' heads ("The soundtrack to BATMAN?" / "Throw it!"). Not every joke and sequence works, but enough of them pay off to keep this film highly amusing throughout. When it's all over, you may agree with Shaun's mum: it's been a funny sort of a day, hasn't it? - JB

ADD ANOTHER QUOTE AND MAKE IT A GALLON

"Why can't we go up there?"
"Because (A), he might be one of them, and (B), he might still be annoyed."