Shaun of the Dead

(2004) ****

I couldn't help but be a tad disappointed with Shaun of the Dead, mainly because my expectations were sky high from the enormous accolades it received from Romero, Tarantino, Rodriguez, Stephen King and everyone else that saw it. Like From Dusk till Dawn, this flick was made by a huge fan of the zombie genre and takes careful time to develop the characters before throwing them into complete chaos.

Zombies are a perfect metaphor for the banalities of 9:00-5:00 living and Shaun is flawless as the underachieving slacker/drinker forced into heroism by ridiculous circumstances. The movie is hilarious mainly because it explores the awkward, boring and unpleasant side of life much like the Office series or the Christopher Guest movies. The zombies themselves are the standard slow moving ones (pre-28 Days Later) which suits the pace of the movie very nicely. Shaun of the Dead will innevitably be a zombie staple worthy of repeated viewings but I can't help thinking it would stand out much more if the Dawn of the Dead remake wasn't so goddamned brilliant.