Jen Hearts Shaun of the Dead [Movies I Heart Series]
You didn’t see anything from me last week, mainly because I didn’t want to give you another “movie from my childhood” story. I thought and thought and thought so much and so long that it was next week before I knew it! Then I realized, most of my favorite movies are either from when I was growing up or are due to films I watched during that period of my life. These influences have contributed to who I am as a person, a writer and a critic. Who am I to ignore something that shaped me so?
This week I decided to tell you why I Heart UK film Shaun of the Dead, a comedy/romance/horror about a man who tries to win his girlfriend back and fix his life amidst an army of the undead. First, you need to know that I am an avid horror fan, especially when it comes to zombies. I remember watching Dawn of the Dead, which is my favorite horror to this day, in my late teens and being mesmerized by the idea of the walking deceased. It definitely wasn’t the horror that got me started, that was probably the very old black and white Frankenstein or Werewolf movies which wouldn’t even elicit a squeal from today’s youths but made me nearly pee my pants with dread. Yet something about this Romero classic stuck with me and gave me a new appreciation for horror. The lower the grade, from B to Z, the better. I’ll watch anything from classy tales like the Sixth Sense to ridiculous slashers such as Happy Birthday to Me. I really can’t figure out why someone with such a sunny disposition has such macabre tastes, but there you have it. Give me blood and guts over sunsets and happy endings any day!
So after years of absorbing every horror from Nosferatu onwards, I saw the trailer for Shaun of the Dead by accident on the internet while looking for something totally unrelated. Sometimes I’m lucky and pick up on these things before they get big, so I knew about it and had a vague idea what it might be like, yet the trailer exceeded all expectations. Of course, it was months later before the actual movie hit the big screen in 2004. Some people might say I tend to build movies up a little (ok a lot) before they come out. They don’t have to be blockbusters, I just have to be excited about them. Well when Shaun debuted, I was there in the cinema that night, expecting to be spectacularly let down by a low budget totally lame piece of crap. Who could have known how wrong that thought was? Not only did it become one of my favorite films that year, I have to admit it’s one of my all time favorite films as well. It’s the one I always suggest is watched on movie nights to the unhappy groans of my friends and family who I’ve probably ruined it for. Despite this, I almost certainly know every word spoken or mumbled in Shaun of the Dead. Yes, I still laugh, out loud.
Shaun of the Dead stars UK comedian Simon Pegg who makes movies and TV shows with his friends Edgar Wright (director/co-writer) and Nick Frost (starring as Ed, Shaun’s best buddy). Oscar Winning writer of Juno, Diablo Cody, is a huge fan of their work on Spaced, a comedy show which is not to be missed (out on DVD in the US now). This crew is also behind the action spoof, Hot Fuzz, which has gained a cult following as part of the fabled “Cornetto Trilogy”.
You would never believe a RomZomCom could work, but Shaun of the Dead is unique, genuinely funny and like all movies I Heart, has a great big one of its own.
For more from Jen, check out her blog at http://www.jenreviewsmovies.com and if you have anything you’d like her to talk about here, email: info@jenreviewsmovies.com. (She promises not to use the Zed word in her replies)
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