Horror Movie Review: Shed of the Dead (2019)

Shed of the Dead is a horror/comedy film that was written and directed by Drew Cullingham, releasing in 2019.

Trevor spends his days hiding away in his beloved allotment shed with his equally unemployable friend Graham. Together, they paint figurines and battle each other in fantasy warfare. In his wildest imagination, Trevor is the handsome and brave Casimir but in reality he’s stuck in a hateful marriage with Bobbi. Also, the other users of the allotment want to evict Trevor as he does nothing to maintain his space. A neighbour confronts Trevor and accidently dies after falling onto a pitchfork. Trevor attempts to dispose of the body but before he can finish, the corpse reanimates. That’s right, zombies!

Shed of the Dead is clearly a massive rip-off of Shaun of the Dead. There’s no getting away from that fact. Unfortunately, this is Shaun of the Dead if it had none of the elements that made that film such a classic. The main issue is the characters. They’re all so unlikeable it makes it impossible to want them to survive or even laugh at anything they say. Trevor and Graham are a pair of mysogonstic losers. That may be the intention but it doesn’t make having to spend time with them enjoyable. If you’re going to have characters be this way you have to make them good natured at the same time. If not, they just come across like douchebags and that’s exactly what they are.

Also, the dialogue feels like it must have been written by a child who just started puberty and discovered that women exist. Dialogue can be poorly written but it’s possible for the right actors to save it with their delivery. Unfortunately, the actors in this film fail to do this. The timing and general effort from them just feels off. I cannot tell if they don’t really care or if they’re simply not good enough.

I get it, Shed of the Dead is a horror/comedy film that really shouldn’t be taken too seriously. The biggest problem is that it just isn’t funny. The plot is paper thin and the characters suck. It’s filled with plain weird moments that just fall completely flat. There’s a small amount of gore and for the most part it doesn’t look too bad all things considered. Also, the ending is weak and totally unearned.

Would I ever wish to re-watch this film? It’s a resounding no from me.