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Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
After the Storm
66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The![]()
13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
64
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Shaun of the Dead

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 34 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 106 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Comedy | Horror | Romance
Written by:
Simon Pegg
Edgar Wright
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 24, 2004
DVD: December 21, 2004
Running Time: 99 minutes, Color
Origin: UK
Summary
RATING: R for zombie violence/gore and language
Starring Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Nick Frost, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Nicola Cunningham, Peter Serafinowicz, and Penelope Wilton
This "rom zom com" (romantic zombie comedy) follows the bloody funny adventures of underachiever Shaun (Pegg) and his best mate Ed (Frost) as they cope with a zombie invasion of North London and attempt to rescue Shaun's girlfriend Liz (Ashfield) and his Mum (Wilton). It's going to be one hell of a weekend. (Rogue Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Hot Fuzz
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
The most original comedy from either side of the pond in years.
Read Full Review >Premiere Aaron Hillis
Whatever you want to label this quick-paced crowd-pleaser, it is definitely one of the year's must-sees.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder
A gleefully gory, pitch-perfect parody of George Romero's zombie films. But this isn't a movie about other movies. Shaun of the Dead stands on its own.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
The daffy, innately British joke that propels the cheeky U.K. comedy hit Shaun of the Dead is that although real zombies have risen up -- slacker wankers Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his best pal and roommate, Ed (Nick Frost), are too slack, wankerish, and blitheringly British to notice.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ernest Hardy
In this truly retro horror flick, the heroes and heroines don't just quip over the action (though they do get off some funny lines); they're knee-deep in it, and scared sh------.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
By treating the genre as a joke, this satire, whose title plays off George A. Romero's 1979 golden oldie, "Dawn of the Dead," yields ironic dramatic dividends.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
If the zombie genre steadfastly refuses to die, we can be grateful to Shaun of the Dead for breathing fresh, diverting life into the form, with subtle visual humor and a smart, impish sense of fun.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
Mixing horror and humor is no mean feat, but Shaun Of The Dead tightens throats in fear without making the laughs stick there in the process.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
The movie's wonderfully original, fast-moving and funny.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Pegg and Wright are out of their depth in the second half, when they try to engage the more disturbing elements of Romero's movies, but their disaffected slacker take on the genre is a welcome alternative to the usual bloodbaths.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Every moment... is a cleverly constructed live-action joke on aloofness: The world is ending, and these people are too self-centered to notice.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
I like the way the slacker characters maintain their slothful gormlessness in the face of urgent danger, and I like the way the British bourgeois values of Shaun's mum and dad assert themselves even in the face of catastrophe.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Leah McLaren
Plays perfectly on two levels it's a clever comedy, but disguised as a fun, dumb horror flick. A movie made to delight, and even accidentally enlighten, both the living and the dead.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Offers a welcome riff on a well-worn horror standard.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
Pegg and director/co-writer Edgar Wright mix numerous references to other zombie flicks with hilarious bits of their own. The best has Ed and Shaun deciding which LPs can be used as ammo.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Mines a great deal of its humor from the can't-be-bothered attitude of British culture, but the jokes survive the trip across the Atlantic mostly intact.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
This gory horror romp is a goofball medley of "Dawn of the Dead," "28 Days Later" . . . , and Monty Python-style severed-limbs/blood-spurting sicko comedy.
Read Full Review >Variety Derek Elley
A classic example of a clever idea that could easily have run out of steam halfway. However, co-scripters Pegg and Wright structure it as a classic three-acter (set-up, journey, finale) with enough twists, character development and small set pieces to keep the comedy boiling.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker Anthony Lane
Pegg co-wrote the screenplay with the director, Edgar Wright, and together they have fashioned a smart, cultish, semi-disgusting homage to the fine British art of not bothering.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Ray Bennett
It's worth sticking around for the coda too as it contains some hilarious and very politically incorrect suggestions as to how zombies might be put to work once they've been tamed.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson
Good, goofy fun, but given the attendant hype, there may be a danger of excessively high expectations from horror fans.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Michael Atkinson
The actors are all on target (particularly Penelope Wilton as Shaun's relentlessly cheery mum), and taken on its own shaky legs it's a wittier genre coda than "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein."
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
The comic high point in Shaun of the Dead comes when Lucy Davis, from the great BBC sitcom "The Office," teaches the band of survivors how to lurch like zombies so that they can pass among the undead.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
It's a grisly but sweet ode to friendship, love and the George Romero zombie trilogy.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Both genuinely funny and authentically horrifying, it puts the average horror comedy to shame.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
Enjoys the weird distinction of being one of the year's funniest comedies and one of the best zombie movies ever made.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
For those who like their spoofs silly and their cartoonish gore vivid, Shaun offers some amusement.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 106 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Michael B. gave it a10:
Each time I watch this I find it funnier and funnier, and its bloody funny to begin with. Has to be in everyone's top 10 movies.
Brady H. gave it a10:
My favorite zombie movie of all time. Stays respectful to its inspiration through the hilarious parody.
Michael C gave it a9:
I find Shaun of the Dead to be a wonderful satire of zombie movies, with witty humor and a hilarious plot line, yet it was still able to retain the traditional survivor-mentality. I think both Pegg and Frost played great idiot-saviors in the film, and Moran's role as the resistor and eventually the next meal was hilariously stunning. He had it coming.
Andrew G gave it a10:
Will go down as the best horror comedy of all time.
Average Critic UK gave it a9:
For a British film, Shaun of the Dead hits the spot, particularly as a lot of the horror movies have come from America, zombies in particular. Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright have written the film realistically and added in the homages and traits in a way that doesn't make it look too much like mass advertising or copying. Gore is bearable and the ending with the British Army culling the zombies has remained one of my all-time favourite horror movie scenes. While some of the jokes do not always appeal to all ages, the film largely increased my interest in the zombie genre. All in all, it makes a good homage and it's good to see Britain is capable of making good films after all.
IanRey P gave it a9:
It's a dumb comedy. And mixed with horror. Just inventive! No movie like it. I had a good laugh, and a little scare. The music was just great!
Stephen K gave it a6:
I think I laughed 3 times during this movie. The only thing that kept me watching was hoping it would get funnier. I thought it must get funnier because everyone had raved about this film; it never did. The best I can say was that it was OK. Hot Fuzz was much better.
