Slow zombies good, fast zombies bad. Yeah, that's the ticket. No, these words aren't uttered at any one point during Shaun of the Dead's running time. But the cast and crew members who were on hand for a preview screening in Philly the other night made sure to get this point across to the audience before the film rolled. Obviously die hard horror fans themselves, but more so than that, fans of Romero's quite often underrated zombie films. The folks behind Shaun of the Dead apparently just wanted to make papa George proud. I'd say that right about now, George is probably beaming.

The story of mild mannered Shaun and his ever so mundane 'London living' existence is one that I'm sure many twenty somethings could relate to. Shaun spends most of his time at The Winchester, a local pub that his girlfriend Liz is absolutely sick of being taken to, yet Shaun has (of course) grown accustomed to. Then there are his flat mates, Pete and Ed. Pete isn't so much the professional that he thinks he is, while Ed just likes to smoke up and enjoy his Playstation time with Shaun. Heavily influenced by Ed, Shaun just doesn't see the rut that he's actually stuck in, (day in and day out like a zombie himself?) working at a local electronics store, his nights spent at The Winchester. It isn't until London is unexpectedly overrun by zombies that Shaun is able to make a serious attempt at taking control of his life. Once Shaun and Ed actually realize exactly what's going on, it's up to them to save their friends and family from the impending zombie attacks. Their ultimate destination? Yup, The Winchester.

While the influences here are many, Shaun of the Dead is anything but pretentious thievery. Something I wish I could say about other recent cinematic zombie efforts like 28 Days Later or the Dawn of the Dead remake. Taking its influences in stride, the folks behind Shaun of the Dead make sure to put their own unique spin on the proceedings, in turn making it their own. At its heart, Shaun of the Dead is a mild cross between Romero's zombie epics and Peter Jackson's pre Lord of the Rings effort, Dead Alive AKA Brain Dead. While Shaun of the Dead is neither as gory nor as funny as the films it emulates, it still receives high marks for effort. And in the end Shaun of the Dead gets the job done in a seriously respectable manner. The job being that of delivering an unexpectedly gory, funny, witty, horror comedy that certainly won't cause die hard horror fans to groan or squirm in disapproval.

What really works in Shaun of the Dead? Well, just about everything it has to offer actually. A proportionate amount of likeable/unlikable characters, smart and funny dialogue (Dare I say sassy? I think I just did!), and enough of the actual horror element to satisfy the gore hounds. The genre references are generously sprinkled throughout, but not a one will cause you to turn up your bloody nose in disgust. Not even the moment when Ed, while speaking to Shaun's mother mid zombie attack says "We're coming to get you Barbara!" The comedy plays extremely well here, and director Edgar Wright has assembled and impressive ensemble cast, including co-writer Simon Pegg who actually plays Shaun himself. Piecing together a film with a comfortable mix of the funny, horrific and sometimes heart warming is not an easy task, but Wright and Pegg make it look SO easy, you'd think that perhaps it weren't that difficult a task at all.

Above and beyond everything else, I'm appreciative of the obvious time, effort, love and respect that was put into the making of this film. When I hear a dedicated team of filmmakers tell me that it took them a total of 3+ years to see their film completed, I know there has to be something special happening, and I'm willing to give it that chance. Putting your film on the fast track to make a quick buck, no good. Investing the time and effort into a film that you not only want to make, but that you want to make right? So good. Shaun of the Dead gets it right in so many ways; it's definitely the cinematic horror/comedy/zombie/love story to see this year. Highly entertaining and highly recommended.