The comedy/horror genre is an underdeveloped, under-appreciated, rarely used medium for characters and plots. Perhaps it appeals only to a small number of people. Perhaps it is incredibly difficult. Perhaps it’s, well, a stupid idea. Whatever it is, “Shaun of the Dead” nails it.

“Shaun of the Dead” revolves around the lovably apathetic loser Shaun, a young Brit who works as a salesman in an electronics store and loves, but ignores, his girlfriend, Liz. His roommate, Ed, is a total slob who’s “idiot” character responds to Shaun’s “straight man” in such a fresh and hilarious way it hardly seems like a cliché.

After forgetting to make re-servations for dinner, again, and ignoring his and Liz’s upcoming anniversary, Shaun is brutally dumped by Liz. Too distraught to notice the zombie invasion happening around him, Shaun gets smashed with Ed and they stumble back to their apartment to fall asleep.

When he awakens, Shaun, in a stupor, wanders outside, passes zombies, slips on some blood, wanders past more zombies (even pausing to talk to one of them), then plops down on his couch to watch TV.

I won’t give away any more of the plot, because the genius of this movie, directed by Edgar Wright and written by and starring Simon Pegg, is in its ability to blend slapstick humor, subtle British comedy and, believe it or not, spectacular character development.

By the end you’ll connect with Shaun and Liz, and wish Ed were your neighbor. The movie shifts effortlessly between total lunatic comedy to genuinely sad scenes, where parts of characters you may not expect to see become strongly evident and feel completely believable.

No movie is perfect. When mixing genuine feelings and plot with comedy, the occasional joke seems out of place, and sometimes you wonder if that line was actually supposed to be funny.

Overall, “Shaun of the Dead” is highly satisfying and never makes the mistake of taking itself too seriously. If you don’t mind a bit of gore (and by a bit, I mean this is one of the goriest movies I’ve ever seen), do yourself a favor and see this movie.