Having recently seen Land of the Dead, I think I was in the perfect frame of mind to watch Shaun of the Dead this afternoon. The former left almost no lasting impression, while the latter really does demand a repeat viewing.

A brief comparison and contrast:

Similarities:
1) Legions of undead threatening the living. Really, that’s about it. In style, tone, cinematography and genre, these are diametrically opposed films. Well, apart from the zombies I just mentioned.

Differences:
1) Land = night; Shaun = day. That’s not meant to be a clever “these movies are as different as night and day” statement. One is just generally set in the daytime, while the other isn’t.
2) Romance. Land has a slutty Italian chick and Shaun has an actual romance.
3) Humor. Shaun is mostly a comedy while Land is buoyed by some good one-liners, but would never be mistaken for a comedy.
4) Gore. Land uses gore much like people use air to breath. Shaun uses gore mostly for comedic purposes.

I could go on forever, but I won’t. I’ll just say that Shaun of the Dead is the perfect post-modern answer to the corporate, over-budgeted excess of a horror monstrosity that is Romero’s latest.

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