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Shaun of the Dead
Rogue Pictures


8.7

based on 34 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 102 votes
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Rate this movie

FILM:

Hot Fuzz

MPAA 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)

GENRE(S):	Action \| Comedy \| Horror \| Romance
WRITTEN BY:	Simon Pegg Edgar Wright
DIRECTED BY:	Edgar Wright
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: December 21, 2004 Video: December 21, 2004 Theatrical: September 24, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	99 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	UK

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...

100

San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer

Remarkably fresh and inventive.

Newsweek Devin Gordon

Takes the prize. It's a bloody hoot.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

The most original comedy from either side of the pond in years.

Premiere Aaron Hillis

Whatever you want to label this quick-paced crowd-pleaser, it is definitely one of the year's must-sees.

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.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

It's bloody brilliant.

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.

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------.

Film Threat Jim Agnew

Extremely funny, side splitting good time.

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.

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.

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.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The movie's wonderfully original, fast-moving and funny.

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.

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.

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.

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.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Its social satire is so dead-on.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Offers a welcome riff on a well-worn horror standard.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

This is an unusual source of entertainment.

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.

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.

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.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Blast of fright and fun.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

It's a grisly but sweet ode to friendship, love and the George Romero zombie trilogy.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Both genuinely funny and authentically horrifying, it puts the average horror comedy to shame.

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.

USA Today Claudia Puig

For those who like their spoofs silly and their cartoonish gore vivid, Shaun offers some amusement.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 102 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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.

Leah T gave it a10:
Perhaps what is so endearing about this film, aside from the ceaseless humor and the spatterings of fun gore, is the fact that the viewers find themselves sincerely attached to the characters and their plights...the film is able to leap from hysteria-humor to seriousness in a second when Pegg and his cohorts will it. A brilliant film that is actually quite a bit better than any other zombie film I've ever seen.

Mutt D. gave it a10:
Funny, touching, serious, and even at times scary. It hits all the best spots from the romantic comedy and zombie genres.

Shaun of the Dead Rogue Pictures

Shaun of the Dead
Rogue Pictures