Shaun of the Dead (Steelbook) (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet)

Apocalyptic Weapon of Choice: The Cricket Paddle
For some horror fans, satirizing the zombie genre (and let's face it, zombie films are practically a genre unto themselves) could seem like sacrilege. With the serious films that have come before - 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead, and, of course, Night of the Living Dead - SHAUN OF THE DEAD leads us down a path few have dared tread (Evil Dead fans should check out this film to see how a REAL spoof is pulled off). Leave it to the British to give us some gritty dialogue and bloody comedy all rolled into one. I, for one, say "thank you."

So what's this film all about ...

Shaun (Simon Pegg) leads a dull and mundane lifestyle; he works at an electronics store as a salesman, lives with a flatulently impaired and obese roommate named Ed (Nick Frost) and a second roommate, Pete (Peter Serafinowicz), who can't stand Ed. Shaun also has a girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield), who is suffering with him over his complete lack of motivation to accomplish anything in his life. And...

It's been a funny sort of day, hasn't it?
It is a very hard line to cross in today's cinema to make a film that part comedy and horror film. Normally, when this happens we end up with something like the Chucky series. It began serious, but after seeing the new preview, I know they have given up serious horror and invaded into the world of campy horror. I was afraid at first that this film was going to go into that direction, but then I remembered ... this film wasn't made in America, it was made in Britain where the humor is actually intellectually funny. As I was sitting and enjoying this film from beginning to end, I couldn't help but wonder why America has not been able to master this style of film yet. Why is our comedies still heavily based in the sex humor or bathroom jokes? While there were some in this film, I felt the majority of the humor was logic and intelligence based. "If you listen to the words, you will laugh at the jokes" style of comedy instead of waiting to see who will fall over what first.

With...

Everything you would expect in a zombie comedy and more
Hearing that "Shaun of the Dead" is the most popular British zombie comedy of all time does give one pause, simply because you have to stop for a second and wonder as to whether you have simply missed other British zombie comedies or if you maybe took "28 Day Later" way too seriously. The thing is that when you hear "British zombie comedy" you are thinking "Monty Python's Flying Circus" or "Benny Hill" or "Black Adder" or "Asbolutely Fabulous" or "Coupling." You are not thinking something that is as restrained as what Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright have put together (the pair co-wrote the film, Pegg stars as Shaun and Wright directs), which is probably the biggest surprise of all.

"Shaun of the Dead" is only four star funny, so we are not even close to "Airplane!" territory, which is still the funniest film of all time (measured in number of laughs generated) but there is another dimension to the film beyond the humor. The tagline tries to tells us that this movie is: "A...

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