On September 24, 2004, SHAUN OF THE DEAD saw its American release. Written and directed by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, and starring Pegg and Nick Frost, SHAUN is a bloody love letter to the zombie film genre and one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen. Sly and clever and gooey loads of fun. The film follows Shaun, a boring slob who seems to have great difficulty finding any goal or drive in his mundane life; his girlfriend has left him, his Mom has re-married an asshole and his oaf of a best friend just gets him into trouble. And now he has a zombie apocalypse to contend with as well! The casting is superb, a veritable who’s who of contemporary British comedy that includes Lucy Davis (The Office), Reece Shearsmith (League Of Gentlemen), and Matt Lucas (Little Britain). The sight gags and slapstick are enough but where SHAUN really shines is with the loving nods to Zombie cinema history. It was a film that made horror fans stand up on their desks and scream, "O Captain, My Captain!” The film was actually inspired by an episode of the comedy show Pegg and Wright worked on , called SPACED. Contrary to the norm, it received positive reviews from most critics and review sites. George Romero (The Grandfather of the shambling dead film) liked SHAUN so much he offered Wright and Pegg roles in his then newest film, LAND OF THE DEAD. They asked to be zombies instead of more prominent characters. Stephen King gave it a 10 on the “Fun Meter.” I tend to think his fun meter needs to tweaked to be more like a Spinal Tap amplifier, and go to 11. --John
Posted on: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 20:28:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015