Simon Pegg was an English stand-up comedian who drew interest from BBC for creating a TV show. From that came Spaced, a BBC sitcom written by Pegg and his friend Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson). The show was directed by Edgar Wright (who we have just seen direct Scott Pilgrim) and was very successful. Pegg had brought his best friend Nick Frost into Spaced to play his best friend on the show. After two series were aired, Pegg, Wright and Frost decided to move onto a movie. That is where Shaun of the Dead comes in. Pegg and Wright wrote it, Wright directed it and Pegg and Frost starred as best friends. And it is the funniest undead film you will ever see. So, who is Shaun and what is his problem?

Shaun (Pegg) is a late-20s slacker salesman who is being dumped by his on again/off again girlfriend Liz due to his lack of ambition. Shaun prefers to stay up late gaming with his buddy Ed (Frost) who is sleeping on Pegg’s couch (and royally pissing off Pegg’s roommate Pete) and going out to his favorite pub every night. After forgetting their anniversary, Liz dumps Shaun who proceeds to go out drinking with Ed again. As they drunkenly stumble home, they miss the first zombies shuffling around the street (in their defense the zombies do look like a bunch of drunks in the middle of the night). When Shaun wakes up the next morning and finds his routine disrupted by the zombies, he knows what he has to do: save Liz, save his Mom (even if that means saving his annoying step-father) and hide out somewhere with Ed until the zombie problem is finished.

Of course, the situation isn’t as easy as Shaun hoped and many, many goofy adventures happen until they can be rescued. Most of the humor comes from Shaun and Ed’s interactions, such as when they rifle through their record collection to determine which ones they are willing to sacrifice by throwing at zombies. Or when they try to imitate being zombies, but get into a fight, which lets the zombies know that they are alive. Most of the humor is from the situations and the characters. Shaun has issues with Ed, Liz, Pete, his mom and his stepdad. The movie shows Shaun finally learning how to handle himself and take control of his life as he fights his way through a horde of zombies running around the city.

Wright and Pegg’s script does a great job of keeping the action moving, the jokes flowing and the characters moving along. It is an amazing achievement for what was basically the first movie eiother of them made. It does a great job not only keeping the action and comedy balanced, but it also brings in an emotional depth to the characters and makes us care about their survival. The world is in great hands with Shaun and his friend out to save us. Recommended. (P.S. Pegg and Wright’s next movie is coming out in March. It is a science fiction alien adventure named Paul)