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</script></div>{/googleAds}How do you pull an entire genre from the precipice of overuse and keep it alive and kicking for at least a few weeks of U.S. box office take? When you're British sitcom veterans Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, you inject the newly revived zombie genre with a bit of wry humor, smart sarcasm and a touch of Monty Python that could only come from the Brits.

At Shaun of the Dead's soul lies the oft-contemplated enigma that might finally be answered. Are we are all just zombies, aimlessly trudging through our mundane lives, taking our romantic relationships for granted and not even noticing that those around us are suffering from the same symptoms? Sure, all zombie movies have addressed similar metaphors - some more successfully than others - but none has done it with the same brilliance of comic tone and right-on deadpan (pun intended) relevance. There has always been something ghoulishly appealing in mixing death and comedy, but Wright and Pegg have upped the ante by successfully throwing romance into the mix creating a self-proclaimed romzomcom (romantic zombie comedy) triumvirate that I'm certain will appeal to even you non-zombie movie fans out there.

Lovable but unkempt Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his slovenly flatmate, Ed (Nick Frost), spend most of their free time at the corner pub downing pints and concocting schemes that will allow Shaun to keep his girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield), without losing his video game freedom. When she finally leaves him, Shaun embarks on the unfamiliar initiative of taking control of his life and trying to win Liz back. But in his way is that pesky issue of zombies, zombies everywhere.

As Shaun trudges through his daily routine commuting to his job as a downtrodden sales clerk at the local appliance outlet, director of photography David Dunlap brilliantly keeps the zombies mostly unnoticed near the edge of the camera's frame. He slowly allows them to intrude as the story progresses. At first we notice headphone-wearing commuters in trance-like states and homeless transients walking aimlessly down the streets. But as the storyline advances so do the humorous dialogue, the madcap action and the zombie mania. Horror fans will most assuredly be pleased as well. The filmmakers mix in a healthy dose of blood, gore and ravenous mayhem that could easily become a turn-off were it not for the clever wit that somehow makes even the squeamish find a bit of ironic humor in the bloodiest scenes.

Shaun of the Dead is a movie that can please many people. It's a well-paced love story with a message; and it's a zombie movie with a sense of humor. Although the script never bogs down, and the dialogue always keeps things lively, I probably missed several jokes that stayed buried in the onslaught of the thick English accents. In short, Shaun of the Dead is one of the funniest British comedies to hit the big screen since the heydays of the Monty Python films.


DVD

DVD Details:

Screen formats: Widescreen 2.35:1

Subtitles: English; Spanish; French.

Language and Sound: English: Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1; French: Dolby Digital 5.1

Other Features: Color; interactive menus; scene access.

* Featurettes:
o Special Effects comparisons
o Edgar and Simon's pitch to the studio
o Simon Pegg's Video Diary
* Extended Scenes
* Outtakes
* Casting Tapes
* Photo Gallery
* Theatrical poster designs
* Ad Campaign

Number of discs: 1

Packaging: Snap case

{pgomakase}