Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead - ****

Whenever a British comedy makes its way to North American theatrical markets, I'm always excited to check it out for a two reasons. First, it's always refreshing to check out films that are made outside the North American mainstream, which those of us who live in the continent are completely overexposed to, and grow tired of before long. Second, when a movie is successful enough to be taken out of Europe and thrown in to the sharktank with other North American movies, there has to be a damn good reason. With Edgar Right's Shaun of the Dead, the reason is simple: it's really, really good. As opposed to the two dimensional and overly childish satires generally produced in Los Angeles, this film is witty, sharp and consistently hilarious, all the while delivering an acceptable amount of horror and gory action sequences. The cast is filled with British TV actors such as Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Spaced), Lucy Davis (The Office) and Dylan Moran (Black Books), not exactly an A-list cast from an exposure perspective. However, for the purposes of this film, a cast of up and comers is perfect; everybody delivers solid performances, and the film benefits. Thumbs way up.