Last years 28 Days Later proved that the British horror genre and especially the sub-genre of the zombie movie could be big business in both blighty and across the pond. So it is unsurprising that this zomedy was put speedily into production.

Shaun of the Dead sees actors Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright re-team after the televisual delight of Spaced to tell a tail of comedy, romance and the undead.

Shaun, (Simon Pegg), a lowly electrical store worker is the classic apathetic middle-ager who has just broken with his girlfriend Liz, (Kate Ashfield). While chaos reins in his love life, a strange disease ravages the world turning middle-class Britain into flesh eating hell-dogs. Light social satire or gritty realism is for you to decide, but this leaves Shaun needing to rescue his Mum and re-establish his relationship with his girlfriend.

Loosely based on the structure of Dawn of the Dead and not withstanding the odd handful of Resident Evil post-modernity, this is a canni –ballistic comedy. Using the humour and geeky fan-boy style of the earlier Spaced backed up with some gruesome effects.

Shaun also manages to resolve his oedipal complex by killing his step-father, (Bill Nighy), who turns into one of the undead. The gang who are later joined by David, (Dylan Moran), and Dianne, (Lucy Davis), hold up in a pub, which seems to be the centre of Shaun’s life and the reason for the downfall of his relationship with Liz.

The particular prominence of the pub is an interesting meta-commentary on binge drinking culture in the U.K, where life for some revolves around the escapist pleasures of alcohol, much like the cinema one might say.

Beyond any socio-cultural concerns of the film is a trio of good performances from Pegg, Frost and Peter Serafinowicz as Pete, Shaun’s housemate, who interestingly also voiced Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I : The Phantom Menace.

The only menace to the enjoyment of this film is the final thirty minutes of screen time that drag on awfully. The resolution is clogged by Shaun and Liz’s coming together which feels like a poor attempt at a Richard Curtis film. It also lacks the residual jokes and one-liners to really leave the audience with a satisfied feeling in their stomach.

Director Wright does an excellent job of keeping everything visually exciting with all the jump-cuts and flash-pans of his earlier work as well as some slightly less schizophrenic compositions which maybe indicates a more mature turn for the once television director. However, you can’t help but feel that this is small screen fodder and would have been served on the inferior medium.