Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Fifty viewings. Give or take. I've lost count, honestly, but I know that when Shaun of the Dead came out in 2004 I was immediately hooked, and two decades on it still makes me laugh just as hard as it did the first time. That's a rare thing. A genuinely rare thing.

Let me just say it plainly: this is the best comedy zombie film ever made. I don't think it's even close. And I'd go further than that. On my best-of-British list, this sits right near the top alongside films that cost ten times as much and carry a fraction of the joy. Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost made something that felt like it was made by people who absolutely loved zombie films, rather than people who wanted to poke fun at them. That distinction matters enormously.

Because Wright clearly did his homework. The Romero DNA runs through every frame of this. The slow shambling movement, the social satire baked into the horror, the idea that the real threat isn't necessarily the undead but the living who can't get their act together. Romero always used zombies as a mirror pointed at society, and Shaun of the Dead gets that completely. It's genuinely funny AND genuinely a zombie film. It doesn't have to pick one.

The writing is sharp from start to finish. The jokes are layered in a way that rewards repeat viewings, which explains how I've racked up fifty of them without getting bored. Lines and sight gags you don't even clock the first time suddenly land on the fifth or the fifteenth watch. There's real craft in that kind of comedy writing. The pacing holds up too. It never sags in the middle the way a lot of horror comedies do, and it earns its more emotional moments without feeling like it's switched genre on you.

I should mention, because I know it'll come up: I'm not really a Cornetto Trilogy completist. I've seen the others and Hot Fuzz has its moments, but Shaun of the Dead is the only one in that trio I'd call a film I truly love. It's the one that gets everything right in equal measure. The others feel like they're chasing something this one achieved almost effortlessly.

Pegg and Frost are a genuinely brilliant double act here. Their friendship feels completely real, which gives the film an emotional core that most horror films, comedy or otherwise, completely lack. You actually care what happens to them. When the stakes rise in the third act, it means something. That's not an accident. That's good writing and good performances working in tandem.

If somehow you've never seen it, sort that out immediately. And if you have seen it but it's been a few years, it holds up. Trust me on that one. Four stars.

Rating: ★★★★  | Year: 2004  | Watched: 2025-04-05

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Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Disney Plus
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Related on Movies With Macca

More from Edgar Wright: Hot Fuzz (2007) · Baby Driver (2017)
More with Simon Pegg: Paul (2011) · Hot Fuzz (2007) · The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022)
More from United Kingdom: Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Shinjuku Boys (1995) · The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) · Blue (1993)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More horror: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Viy (1967) · Nightmare City (1980) · Angst (1983)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)