It's been precisely five years since the UK tossed "Shaun of the Dead" in to the American shores and so successful was it with fans that most of America's directors (both independent and mainstream) have tried anxiously to deliver what the "Spaced" clan have. Along the way the after effect of the movie brought us some good clones (Fido) and some just purely awful (The Mad) and the quest to create our own version of what Edgar Wright gave us hasn't ended, not by a long shot. So here we are again five years later and we finally have a movie that works along "Shaun of the Dead's" tone while paving its own signature in the horror comedy subgenre.

"Zombieland" is a raucous and visually pleasing take on the zom com staple that tells the story of Columbus a young recluse who has managed to live through the zombie apocalypse thanks to clever methods of surviving and a rule book that he refers to throughout the film that he assures the audience will be helpful if the apocalypse were to come in the form of brain dead zombies who originally were brought down on mankind thanks to rancid beef that turned them in to monstrous blood gushing flesh eaters. While it's not the most original storyline what puts "Zombieland" ahead of the rest is that it makes good on promises of bringing forth gore galore to the tune of dark comedy that guarantees to be as funny as "Shaun" was. Nine times out of ten the promise is kept and the writers never push their luck.

By the end of the experience we're left gearing up for some more of this mouth watering fun and the crew throws the hint that they've only scratched the surface of what material and delightful characters "Zombieland" can explore.

The performances are respectively top notch as four of the better actors in Hollywood take this movie by the balls and never let go. Jessie Eisenberg is a stitch as the skilled survivor Columbus who has survival from the dead down to a fine art. Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee is close to the greatness of "Evil Dead's" Ash, a zombie fighting, weapons expert who takes pride in taking down as many gut munchers as possible. They're helped by Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin also survivors who take to conning people purely for survival. Halfway through knowing the film ends in a carnival I was nervous we'd end on a weak note but by then I realized there isn't a weak note in Fleischer's opus. It's just another goregasmic zombie feast that makes you laugh while shuddering in your seat.

Filled with scares and laughs, director Ruben Fleischer takes the reigns and never lets up bringing us a horror comedy almost as good as "Shaun of the Dead" that guarantees laughs and scares and never lets the audience down. No matter what genre you peg "Zombieland" in, the fact is that it's one damn great piece of filmmaking and likely one of my favorite films of 2009.

• Originally considered for the role of Columbus was Michael Cera.