Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Directed by Edgar Wright

Movie Review by Al Fleshrot

Summary
Shuan and his slacker buddy Ed wake up after a night of heavy drinking to find a dazed woman in their garden. After a good laugh and a tussle she stumbles back and impales herself on a metal pipe, only to rise and stand there with a fist size hole all the way through her midsection. Let the zombie madness begin! In non-stop comical yet bloody action, Shaun end Ed wade pick up Shuan's mum and step dad at their home, then his ex-girlfriend and another couple at her flat, and proceed to their favorite pub The Winchester. They abandon the car when Shuan's step dad dies from an earlier zombie bite, and himself turns into one. Shuan then leads the rest of the group to the pub, but once there they find it to be surrounded by a zombie horde! They make it to the front of the pub by impersonating zombie actions and eventually end up trapped inside. Tensions mount between everyone inside, culminating in Shuan having to shoot his mother in the head when she succumbs to a bite and turns. Zombie chaos ensues and ultimately only Shaun and his ex make it out alive, as they are rescued by the military. In the end, Shaun gets his girl, his pub, and his best friend Ed (albeit a zombie Ed that Shuan keeps chained up in the garden shed!) back and life goes back to normal.

Review
Any zombie fan will love this film - a comical parody of the classic zombie greats. It's a laugh all the way through, especially to those who are familiar with Romero's movies. And comedy aside, this is also a great zombie horror movie with blood, guts and plenty of zombie head bashing.

Best Zombie Kill
Shaun's nemesis the jealous "twat" panics in the pub and steps too close to the window. The zombies break the glass and pull him outside. In a tribute to Day of the Dead, they tear him in half and rip out all his innards. In a tug of war between the zombies and the pub occupants his head is pulled clean off and his friends inside the pub are left holding his severed legs! The twat's girlfriend decides to get revenge by rushing outside and bashing zombies with one of the leftover legs, and is soon a victim too.

Best Zombie Death
So many! I really enjoyed Shaun and Ed's first encounter with zombies in their garden. They take a basket of various household items outside and proceed to throw everything at a pair of zombies slowly approaching them. Then they break out the record collection and start winging them at the zombies with miserable results! All the while they are arguing over which records to throw. Finally they go to the shed and grab some serious hardware and bash the zombies in the head repeatedly.

Memorable Scene
After abandoning the car, Shaun and the gang are accosted by a pajama wearing zombie coming out of his back door. Someone hands Shaun a tether ball poll, so he whirls it around and hits the zombie in the head with the ball! Obviously having no effect, Shaun takes a hint from his ex and uses the pole like a spear to impale the zombie, pinning it to a tree. Shaun then takes a peek over the fence and sees his destination - the pub - surrounded by zombies. The "failed actress" of the group then uses the impaled zombie as a model to coach everyone how to act like a zombie and they meander to the pub right through the horde impersonating the walking dead.

Al Fleshrot wants your brains

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