Now that the fall movie season is rolling in, the filmgoer is left with less and less appealing choices as the studios reload for the holidays. It is in this period around the autumnal equinox when a movie like "Hero," originally released in China is 2002, can find the top slot in the U.S. box office charts. It is also in this interim when a movie like "Shaun of the Dead" can find the audience it deserves.
When recently faced with choosing a movie to see with a friend, I was confronted with a lot of unappetizing alternatives. When "Shaun of the Dead" was suggested, I was reluctant, despite the recommendation of "Lord of the Rings" helmer and campy horror film aficionado Peter Jackson (see Jackson's "Frighteners" [1996]). However, with a dearth of better options in the post-summer, pre-winter lull, I figured, "Why not give it a shot?" As it turns out, Mr. Jackson is one to be trusted.
Originally released in the UK this past August, "Shaun" deftly blends not only comedy and horror as the trailer suggests, but romance and a spot of drama. Directed by Brit Edgar Wright, the film follows Shaun (Simon Pegg), an oblivious but well meaning bloke, as he leads a motley crew of friends and family in battle against a horde of zombies swarming the English avenues.
Writers Pegg and Wright, who are alums of the British cult sitcom, "Spaced," adroitly balance the comedic and horror elements of the film. Perhaps the only instance in which they try too hard to achieve an ominous tone among the hilarious banality of Shaun's world is the proliferation of "Requiem for a Dream"-like jump cuts that appear in the early part of the film. However, besides these awkward contrivances, the film does indeed manage to establish an eerie sense of dread while Shaun sleepwalks through his day.
Shaun's zombie-like existence prevents him from noticing the living dead populating his block. This juxtaposition helps to establish the surreal tone of the film, and allows us to fear for Shaun, but at the same time laugh at his predicament. The presence, but not abundance, of British colloquialisms also gives the film some subtle British humor.
The film does not only provide consistent chuckles along with the graphic floggings of zombies with shovels, logs, a cricket bat and even vinyl records, but also exhibits a tenderness between Shaun and those close to him. Amongst this oftentimes hilarious romp, Wright and Pegg actually confront the viewer with serious moral dilemmas. Indeed, the real thrust of the film is not the comedic obliteration of the zombie race, nor the triumphant survival of Shaun and Co., but in fact the maturation of Shaun from a going-nowhere electronics store assistant manager.
The main subplot, and really Shaun's motivation to take on the zombies, is his attempt to win back his girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield). Early in the film, Shaun botches anniversary dinner plans, and this is the straw that breaks the camel's back. When Liz breaks it off, she enumerates the deficiencies in his character and notes his lack of ambition. The invasion of the zombies enables Shaun to prove himself, provides him with the opportunity to show he is a competent, even heroic, adult. In this way, "Shaun" is somewhat of a love story.
In other ways it is a coming of age film. Shaun must confront his housemate and childhood chum Ed (Nick Frost, also of "Spaced"). Ed is a doughy lay-about whose best skill is imitating an orangutan, and who makes a living by infrequently selling marijuana. As Shaun comes into his own he sees what a screw-up Ed is, and the friendship between these two is tested during the battle with the undead.
Shaun even has to come to terms with his thorn-in-the-side stepfather, and later must make a serious decision concerning the fate of his mother. We watch as Shaun grows up from a hopeless man-child, yawning his way through life, to a dependable and noble boyfriend, best friend and son. By the time Shaun ascends through a cellar door onto the street, with his red tie wrapped around his forehead, brandishing an axe, we have seen a true evolution.
The film also slyly winks at its zombie film predecessors. The zombies themselves are delightfully deranged and blood hungry, not above tearing out someone's insides. The flashes between various television newscasts describing the crisis cleverly mock the emergency news reports of previous films and also perhaps our own media-driven society. One newscaster even speaks the same exact words as a reporter in "Night of the Living Dead" (1968).
By blending so many elements, the filmmakers allow us to care enough about the characters that we don't want them torn apart by the zombies, but at the same time, we're really not that all upset when they are. In the end, during this frequently droll film season, "Shaun of the Dead" kills, delivering one of the better times you'll have in the theater this fall.
