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It’s been 20 years since zom-rom-com Shaun of the Dead was released, and 20 years since I last saw the film. And it still feels as funny and original as it did two decades ago.

The film stars Simon Pegg as Shaun, a directionless twenty-something dividing his time between a dead-end job and evenings in the pub with Ed (Nick Frost), his even more useless friend. Shaun is shuffling through life, largely oblivious to the world around him and, inevitably, it takes him a while to realise that his shuffling neighbours have become the shuffling undead.

Once he does realise, though, he leaps slowly into action with a plan to rescue his girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield) who has recently dumped him for being so unambitious, save his mum and seek the safety of… the local pub.

There is much to like about Shaun of the Dead but first and foremost, this is a really good film in its own right. It’s a truism that to effectively satirise something, you have to first love it — you have to see both the appeal genre and understand where it disappoints. In the case of Shaun of the Dead, the people behind it are clearly fans of the zombie subgenre and are thus able to deliver a film that is both a parody and a memorably effective entry into a crowded field.

Shaun of the Dead fully embraces its zom-rom-com designation too. So as well as being a very effective zombie film, it is also both a well executed romantic comedy and a buddy comedy with a lot more laughs than most.

Much of the film’s success comes down to the double act of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, both of whom bring their characters to life in a way that is both believable and funny. In this they are strongly supported by the rest of the cast, all of who deliver remarkably strong performances which keep both the characters and the comedy fully grounded.

As with the best of the zombie genre, Shaun of the Dead also incorporates some social comedy along the way. While this is not the first film to draw a comparison between shuffling consumers and shuffling undead, the comparison is effectively executed and, if anything, feels more relevant today than it did 20 years ago.

All in all, Shaun of the Dead is a superb film that is as funny and effective now as it was when it was first released, if not more so.

https://blog.lightlyseared.online/2024/10/24/shaun-of-the-dead/

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