A major turning point in the lineage of the horror genre, Edgar Wrights introductory entry into the Cornetto trilogy kick-started a glut of British horror comedies that would come flushing down the pike in subsequent years, though none could quite live up to the brilliant wit, smart in-jokes and creative gore of Shaun Of The Dead. To whip the film into shape, Wright and the film's co-writer/star Simon Pegg, pooled their shared affinities for the classic George A. Romero zombie movies of old together; more importantly, though, they saw the spot-on correlation that can be made with lifeless corpses shuffling around aimlessly and uninspired adults drifting through life in dreary jobs and mundane surroundings. Thats where the nonstop comedy derives from. Wright utilizes every trick in the book to launch meta joke after joke at the audience (who can forget the "We're coming to get you Barbra" line?). It's a love letter to past horror movies, but thankfully perfectly capable of standing on it's own two feet if all the references go over your head.
Jesse Gumbarge is editor and chief blogger at JarvisCity.com - He loves old-school horror films and starting pointless debates. You can reach out at: JesseGumbarge@JarvisCity.com
