(2004) ***1/2
I kind of feel like I cheated a little bit in reviewing this movie because it seemed way too fun to be in Horrorthon - but as I had pre-approval, I figured it would be a good way to ease my way in. Of course I also had to pause it about ten times in the beginning because my son has developed an aversion to going to bed, part of my own personal Horrothon...
Anyhoots - Shaun of the Dead opens in The Winchester, the local pub where Shaun, his slacker friend Ed, Shaun's girlfriend Liz and a couple of her friends spend most of their time. Actually, Liz and her friends, Dianne and David, are harassing Shaun about Ed and the fact that Shaun never takes Liz anywhere other than the Winchester.
One of the things I liked about this flick was the way the zombie "infection" was slowly ratcheted up. The first morning, all seems pretty normal, couple errant news reports that you never really hear the gist of, a woman fainting on the street, things like that. Did that guy in the park just bite the head off of a pigeon, is he just a drunk vagrant...Ozzy Osbourne fan? It is during this day that Shaun screws up and Liz dumps him. Ed and Shaun go on a drinking binge at The Winchester and narrowly avoid several encounters with the undead on the way home.
By the next morning pretty much all hell has broken loose, but our boys are still in the dark. Finally, after dispatching of two of the zombies - (or the "zed-word," Shaun doesn't like the term zombie) - Ed and Shaun wake up to the fact that all is not well.
They hatch a plan to go get Shaun's Mum, pick up Liz and go to....The Winchester. Our hero starts to show his true colors and smashes his way through a bunch of zed-words with his cricket bat in the pursuit of his plan.
They make it to The Winchester with all players intact: Shaun, Ed, Shaun's Mum, Liz and Dianne and David. From there things start to unravel pretty quickly. I don't want to give too much away as maybe some of the other newcomers might like to watch this one if they prefer Horrorthon "lite."
There are definitely some bloody, gory scenes - like this one:
But there are also some tender moments too, which I don't think you find in many horror flicks. Mostly though, it's really good fun.
3 comments:
Awesome! Shaun of the Dead is an excellent title to start with. I love day one of that movie, just packed with little clues.
This is one of those weird times in which the flick is a comedy and a bona-fide horror movie.
Brava DCD! I agree with Octo about the blend of comedy and horror in Shaun of the Dead; the movie works well at both levels.
I seem to recall Scream falling into that category; anyone have thoughts about this? If Scream has sufficient "horror" to be thon-worthy, I'll put it on my list.
Oh you can totally put Scream on your list. In fact, Octo reviewed it a Thon or two ago. You might be disappointed though, I believe the general consensus has been that it doesn't hold up. The sequels are awful.
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