Shaun of the Dead: Zombies, gore, jokes...

[Downhome 0]

The official Shaun of the Dead website!

 

 

 

 

Dog Soldiers.

 

28 Days Later.

 

Haute Tension.

 

Undead.

 

Over the past year or so, it seems that just about all of the great horror films have come from everywhere but the USA. With the release of Shaun of the Dead, that streak seems to want to keep on keepin' on.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, I do believe that I now have a brand spankin' new "favorite zombie film ever". We've talked about this in a few threads so far this year, have it be about the trailer or whatever, and I just now got the chance to watch this instant classic tonight. When I woke up today I didn't have any intention on view it today, but thank God that all of that changed. I woke up, did a quick look on VCDQuality, realized that the screener had been released, went to SuprNova.org to download it, and in just a few short hours it was finally mine to watch. I burned it onto two CDRs and I was able to view this film on my DVD player, in VHS or better, quality.

 

Fore those not in the know, here is the IMDB plot summary.

 

Shaun (Simon Pegg) is your below average thirty something who it seems has no real goal in life. Lacking any real ambition. He drives his long suffering girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) around the bend. He seems to pay more attention to his fellow loser pals and housemates Ed (Nick Frost)and Pete (Peter Serafinowicz). Other than his basic faults. Shaun is other wise a decent enough sort. But soon realises how much Liz means to him when with out warning. The undead begin to walk the earth (or to shorten it down, Crouch End in London). Now it's a race against time for Shaun to not only spring to the rescue of the girl he loves. But his dear sweet Mum as well. After watching this. You'll never look at 'Dawn of the Dead' the same way again.

 

The film starts out somewhat slow, a rather odd pacing for a film of this sort. We are introduced to all of the characters right off the bat, in a way that feels more like a drama or a romantic comedy than any sort of horror film. Then again, as the tagline says, it is basically a romantic comedy...with zombies. Starting out, I was questioning the way it began, but once it was all said and done it made the start of the film just feel perfect to me. You had enough of all of the characters by the time the real action started, that all of the characters actually meant something to you.

 

I appreciate that, especially in a film of this sort. Many filmmakers never take the time to allow the viewer to have any sort of understanding of any of the characters in a film like this, with the exception of one or two main stars.

 

So yeah, a romantic comedy...with zombies is basically what we have here, and by God it's absolutely perfect. Even at the start, when the plot seems to be going at a slower pace, there are things in the background letting you know what is to come, various little things where you see the zombie epidemic starting up, and it's just a riot. Shaun doesn't seem to expect anything, and why should he? Afterall, who in their right mind would actually take small details and come to the conclusion that zombies must be a comin'?

 

I can't remember the last time a "horror" film had such a perfect mixture of, well, everything. Laughs (a lot of laughs), sentimental moments, straight up action, gore gore and more gore, a great script, a fantastic and simple plot, and every other thing you could ask for. It's all here, and it all comes together unlike any film in recent memory.

 

Oh yeah, the zombies in this film...they aren't kung-fu stars, they don't run up and down the streets, and they aren't superhuman. What we're dealing with here are old school, hard-core, wanting nothing but YOUR flesh zombies who can hardly stand up or walk.

 

Just the way I like em.

 

Without even needing to think about it for even a second, without second thoughts, this gets an instant 10/10 rating from me. Dawn of the Dead? House of 1000 Corpses? House of the Dead? I don't think so, nothing like that can even touch this film, it's not even a contest. Hey, I loved Dawn of the Dead just as much as the next guy, it was great also, but Shaun just blows it out of the water in my opinion.

 

It's weird, in Shaun I literally do not have a single complaint. There wasn't even a character that I hated, like there almost always is in a film like this. I either flat out loved every character in the film, or I loved to hate them. If this one is released in theaters here in the USA, you can be sure that I'll be the first one standing in line. I already want to see it on the big screen, and I really want the DVD right now.

 

Yeah, I say it's my favorite "zombie" film, but it's much more than that also. I mean, I have the same sort of feeling now that I've seen this film that I had after seeing flicks like Big Fish and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind earlier this year. That feeling being of 100% satisfaction.

 

Download it, then watch it in the theater when it comes out here in the USA, and then buy the DVD.

 

And pray to God for a sequel of some sort, or at least another feature film from the duo of Simon Pegg (main star) and Edgar Wright (director). They also co-wrote the script with one another, this being their first major feature film. So that's all for now, I'm sure I'll make more comments on this as the thread goes forward. I just wanted to get a few things off my chest before bed. Hopefully this will get a few of you interested in it, just as I helped some of you do for Haute Tension, Undead, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

 

We can't allow films like these to go unnoticed.

 

Sincerely,

...Downhome...

[Guest El Satanico]

Since you liked it so much and have a region free DVD player, you should buy the DVDs for the Brit TV show "Spaced".

 

Spaced

[Downhome 0]

Since you liked it so much and have a region free DVD player, you should buy the DVDs for the Brit TV show "Spaced". The writers/makers of the show wrote and made Shaun

I'm in the middle of searching for that right now.

[Guest El Satanico]

Figured you'd be on the hunt for Spaced before too long.

[Guest OctoberBlood]

I'm watching this tonight. Can't wait.

[Downhome 0]

I'm watching this tonight. Can't wait.

Let us know what you think!

[{''({o..o})''} 0]

I was just going to make this topic in fact. Definately one of my favorite zombie movies of recent years, if only for the slow zombies. Anything else I had to say has been said by Downhome better than I could. A very high recommendation.

[2GOLD 0]

That was one of the better movies I have seen in a long while. Slow start but it worked well, tossed in some early laughs to make sure the pace wasn't unbearable.

 

Once it got going, it was a very nice mix of humor, action and sharp gore I must say when they used it. The stabs at other movies were also fantastic.

 

Probably one of the best films of 2004 for me easily, not even close at the moment.

[Downhome 0]

I downloaded two episodes of Spaced, and now I want to own that series, heh.

[2GOLD 0]

The exchange that had me cracking up the hardest was:

 

Liz [i think]: "Is it clear?"

Shaun: (like he is about to cry) "......no....."

 

I lost it when they panned up and showed the street, one of the funnier moments in horror movie history and this film was loaded with them. I was stunned how well they mixed in emotional moments with comedy and horror.

 

It switched gears from comedy to horror and then back to comedy so well that I was beyond stunned how well it was directed and written.

 

Between this and Eternal Sunshine, I have seen two very impressive movies that give me hope for the film industry.

 

And unlike the unintentional comedy of "DAWN", this comedy was very much intentional but it didn't distract from the zombies. That is just excellent work.

 

I'll have to check out "Spaced" now, I've seen bits and pieces but never anything whole.

[Downhome 0]

Ok, I gave in and started to watch just one more episode of Spaced before I buy it. The start of the third show in the first series is just awesome. The main star in Spaced, the main guy in Shaun, is killing zombies, etc.... and you even see a poster for Evil Dead 2.

 

This is gold!

[Guest OctoberBlood]

Absolutely fucking loved it.

[Downhome 0]

The DVD is coming!

 

http://www.dvdanswers.com/index.php?r=0&s=1&c=4406&n=1&burl=

 

Extras will include an audio commentary by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, a second commentary by Pegg and co-stars Nick Frost, Dylan Moran, Kate Ashfield and Lucy Davis, a third with stars Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton and a fourth by the zombies themselves! The disc will also feature extended bits with commentary, outtakes, a Man Who Would Be Shaun feature in which Simon Pegg and Nick Frost impersonate Sean Connery and Michael Caine and a new Funky Pete sequence in which Pete's swearing sequence is re-dubbed. But wait, there's more. Three comic strip sequences will fill in some of the plotholes (such as how did Ed get from the cellar to the shed) and a TV Bits feature which carries extended versions of the TV shows within the movie (Coldplay on T4, It's a Knockout Zombies, Trisha etc). Completing the set will be A Raw Meat making of featurette, five trailers and TV spots, three Zombie pic galleries, a storyboard comparison and a Zomb-O-Meter trivia track.

[dubq 0]

The DVD is coming!

 

http://www.dvdanswers.com/index.php?r=0&s=1&c=4406&n=1&burl=

 

Extras will include an audio commentary by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, a second commentary by Pegg and co-stars Nick Frost, Dylan Moran, Kate Ashfield and Lucy Davis, a third with stars Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton and a fourth by the zombies themselves! The disc will also feature extended bits with commentary, outtakes, a Man Who Would Be Shaun feature in which Simon Pegg and Nick Frost impersonate Sean Connery and Michael Caine and a new Funky Pete sequence in which Pete's swearing sequence is re-dubbed. But wait, there's more. Three comic strip sequences will fill in some of the plotholes (such as how did Ed get from the cellar to the shed) and a TV Bits feature which carries extended versions of the TV shows within the movie (Coldplay on T4, It's a Knockout Zombies, Trisha etc). Completing the set will be A Raw Meat making of featurette, five trailers and TV spots, three Zombie pic galleries, a storyboard comparison and a Zomb-O-Meter trivia track.

Nice!!

 

I'm still waiting for my fucking copy of Undead from CDWOW, though. =\

[Downhome 0]

I got my copy of Undead already, and it's is nice nice nice, you'l love it.

[NoCalMike 0]

Not to start another rant on "mainstream american filmakers/film studios" but quite honestly, they just DON'T GET IT. I mean the fact that all these other countries are churning out spectacular zombie films and I haven't got tired in the least of them, you'd think america could better then Resident Evil and/or Dawn of the Dead remake(even though I thought both were decent, they pale in comparison)

 

Since Romero has had his 4th dead film greenlighted, and he is pushing for it to be shot in Pittsburgh, hopefully another fantastic zombie movie will be on it's way in the not to distant future. Oh and it got a name change also, "Land of the Dead"

[Vanhalen 0]

Its great tho, that so much of our decent output(not the shite crappy sitcoms), but things like Shaun of the Dead, Spaced, Ali G, The Office and so on, is getting noticed across the pond, albeit not on a massive scale, if you liked Shaun of the Dead and Spaced, I recommend you look for the first series these guys wrote, Father Ted, about some priests in Ireland, sounds crap, but its the most insanly surreal thing you will ever see, and absolutly hilarious, if you want to download a particular episode of Father Ted to sample it, download "Speed 3", I wont spoil it, but its fucking awesome.

[dubq 0]

I got my copy of Undead already, and it's is nice nice nice, you'l love it.

Kewl! Apparently the first copy got lost in the mail - so they're sending me a second [free of charge]. Cool, but still annoying that it's taking over a month to get this thing to me. =\

[dubq 0]

Finally got my copy of Undead - It RULES!! Never doubt Downhome, the guy knows what he's talkin' about. Can't wait for SotD! 2004 is fast becoming year of the Zombie~!

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Since Romero has had his 4th dead film greenlighted, and he is pushing for it to be shot in Pittsburgh

I heard on the radio today that it was going to be shot in Toronto. Take that for what you will.

 

And if you like this film so much why don't you MARRY it?...

[dubq 0]

Since Romero has had his 4th dead film greenlighted, and he is pushing for it to be shot in Pittsburgh

I heard on the radio today that it was going to be shot in Toronto. Take that for what you will.

 

And if you like this film so much why don't you MARRY it?...

I will literally shit my pants in joy if that movie is shot in my city! :D

[Downhome 0]

I hope to God that From Dusk Till Shaun gets made.

[Downhome 0]

A quick bump in case anyone is interested in reading this before they go see this on Friday.

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

Heh, I was reading this thread last week when I got it on DVD, but I thought it was too long.

 

Great movie. Surprised me how much I liked it, since I'm not a massive Spaced fan (Hippies, on the other hand, rocked). Seriously great movie that I reccomend to everyone.

[Downhome 0]

Wow.

 

The rating for this film over at RottenTomatoes keeps on going up. Right now it's at 90%/100%. I'm going to watch it sometime tomorrow, and I'm going to keep my eyes open on how many people are there, and I'm going to try and listen in to comments made after the film. I'm very currious about what Joe Filmgoer thinks about this movie.

[NoCalMike 0]

I saw Shaun of the dead this past weekend. Man it was FANTASTIC. that is all I really have to say, but yes, it was GREAT.

[Vyce 0]

Saw it this weekend too. I liked it a great deal, but reading the first post of this thread again, I would have to say that I wouldn't qualify this as a "favorite zombie film ever".

 

I think this movie was really served by Pegg and the other creators / writers being long-time zombie fans and totally understanding what makes those films enjoyable, and then incorporating it all wonderfully into their own film.

[cabbageboy 0]

I disagree that the original Dawn of the Dead has unintentional humor. I thought stuff like them going around knocking the zombies down and the bikers stealing their jewelry and throwing pies at them was meant to be funny.

 

Haven't seen Shaun of the Dead, but it's probably cool. Can't imagine it being the BEST zombie movie ever...I mean it's kinda derivative, that alone eliminates it from being the best.

[Downhome 0]

Well it's my favorite one, and that's all that matters to me.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

Unreal flick. Being a hardcore Romero guys myself, I will say that they couldn't have made the genre any more proud. Fun, creative, and just a great time all around. That and Shaun/Ed are fucking cool as shit busting some zombie ass!!!!! I can't wait for the DVD........