10/25/06: Shaun of the Dead (2004)Traditionally, hot horror films from the festival circuit are a disappointment. The critics who show up at screenings aren’t the kind of gorehounds who’d recognize clichés. The acclaimed horror/comedy
Shaun of the Dead, however, wasn’t some overhyped retread like
Cabin Fever. Instead, it’s a zombie film that nicely flips the entire genre.
The movie would be creative enough just for having the titular hero mature amongst the assorted chomping.
Shaun also takes the best 10 percent of most zombie movies and turns it into 90 percent of a feature. Specifically,
Shaun dwells on the creepy dread as isolated incidents give in to chaos. This allows
Shaun—both the film and the character—to develop as a touching and comic tale of an overage adolescent. He has to grow up quick to save both his relationship and the lives of his friends.
Shaun also provides plenty of genuine shocks—mainly by refusing to become just another indie with predictable politics. After all, the vast majority of zombie films are inherently right-wing. There’s no better case for having guns in the house.
The film's also sympathetic to characters that most hipster horror films would gleefully use as zombie fodder. Shaun’s determination to survive the zombies has less to do with bravery than a need to impress his girlfriend and spite his stepfather. The latter would usually be a Dean Wormer type whose demise is celebrated. This film isn’t that simple.
In that same spirit, the script refuses to condemn Shaun’s old friend Yvonne. She’s originally presented as a cheery achiever who’s oblivious to reminding Shaun that his own life is moribund. Again, this would usually have her marked for humiliation.
Shaun chooses to celebrate Yvonne as a good role model.
A quick reference to Italian hack Lucio Fulci also acknowledges
Shaun’s role as another in a line of unofficial sequels to George Romero’s
…Dead films. Unlike the same year’s
Dawn of the Dead remake,
Shaun brings back the traditional shuffling zombie. It does so while sparing us Romero’s Leftist politics. In the franchise of the maestro, the zombies eventually end up as the good guys. With
Shaun, the zombies end up as—well, there’s no reason to spoil the whole film.
Make it your own: It’s crammed full of extras, but the current
Shaun of the Dead DVD lacks a director’s commentary. That’s too bad, since we know that Edgar Wright wouldn’t contradict us too much. In fact, this entry is pretty much lifted from
our interview with the director, and you’ll find him to be a reasonable guy when it comes to politics. We’ll also note that Wright and
Shaun star/co-writer Simon Pegg went on to make a fun cameo in Romero’s
Land of the Dead. That’s the one where Romero's zombies become lovable revolutionaries.
