Welcome to day 15 of
31 Days of Fright here at
Road To The Movies! In today's episode,
Jonathan shares a pint with...
SHAUN OF THE DEAD
2004
Rated R
So we’re halfway there, and I really wanted this one to be an epic review of an epic movie. So I decided to review my
FAVORITE zombie movie of all time (yes, of all zombie movies)
Shaun of the Dead. If you’ve never seen this movie, stop whatever you’re doing and go watch it right now. It’s that good.
There are many things that make this movie great, and hardly anything to complain about. The story is perfect, the acting is perfect, the gore is perfect…man, this movie is just plain perfect. Just for a little background,
Shaun of the Dead is a British horror movie released by the crew responsible for
Spaced (also one to check out). It’s about a man whose life is so drab and repetitive that when everyone in his neighborhood is turned to zombies, he doesn’t even notice! So we are immediately plunged into what looks like a straight up comedy. Not the case. There are moments of genuine peril and fright in this movie, and the makeup is phenomenal. The zombies are awesome looking (and quite convincing) and the gruesome death scenes are surprisingly believable. Most zombie comedies don’t put so much effort into makeup and such, because it adds so much to the comedic elements, but this movie stays authentic, which makes it even funnier.
Anybody who’s seen anything with Simon Pegg or Nick Frost knows that they’re phenomenal actors and comedians, but I saw this movie with no knowledge of that. I went to the theater simply because I was bored and I paid for and saw the first title on the board that looked interesting. That happened to be opening day for
Shaun of the Dead. I had never seen
Spaced and there was no
Hot Fuzz or
Paul to influence my decision, and I was blown away by the acting in this movie. The relationship between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost is so effortless, it flows the whole movie, and the comedy doesn’t ever feel out of place. It’s obvious these two have been working together for quite a while. Even the supporting cast is hilarious. A lot of care and time was definitely put into these characters, and it resonates on the screen. It’s not just the actors, though. The directing really pushes this movie forward. Edgar Wright has such an eye for chaos, even in the calmest of situations. Someone simply flushing the toilet or putting jam on their toast goes from a boring, everyday act to an intense work of art. This style only adds to the peril and severity of everything going on around the protagonists throughout the movie.
My favorite part of this movie, by far, is the story. It’s told flawlessly and it flows so unbelievably well. The story is genius to begin with, but they took it up another level (or five) with the foreshadowing. There are so many things hinted at in this movie, it’s almost impossible to catch them all the first time through. Sometimes you won’t get a joke or two until you watch it another two or three times. And that’s the beauty of it. It’s so insanely re-watchable. I’ve seen it about a hundred times, and I’ve never gotten sick of it. There’s always something small you missed, some little quip that pops up out of nowhere at the end, or a story that’s told at the beginning gets proven in the end. That’s what really makes a great movie, in my opinion, something that remains timeless because there’s so much to be explored.
If you’ve seen this movie, watch it again. If you haven’t, what the hell are you doing still reading this?! GO!!
10/10
-JONATHAN
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