AS rock legends Led Zeppelin once asked of an audience in the middle of their most famous song (Stairway To Heaven): "Does anybody remember laughter?"

Laughter seems to have dried up in cinemas in recent years. Bruce Almighty may have made a lot of money, but, seriously, did it make many people laugh? Romantic comedy Love Actually wasn't very funny actually. And current release Starsky And Hutch is about as funny as Schindler's List.

But just when you thought the comedy genre itself was on its last legs, along comes a weird and wacky bunch of British TV sitcom stars to present us with one of the funniest films for ages.

Shaun Of The Dead - an unashamed, in yer face horror spoof - has turned out to be a refreshing and delightful surprise.

The film was co-written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, two of the creative forces behind cult Channel 4 comedy series Spaced. Wright also directed the film, and Pegg is its star. He plays Shaun, a 29-year-old loser who works in an electrical shop, has girlfriend issues, and whose best mate Ed (Frost) would seem to be a cross between Bernard Manning and Jabba the Hutt.

But Shaun's life is about to change when he sets out to save the world well, North London from a plague of zombies that are suddenly roaming the streets and getting their teeth into any piece of living flesh that they find.

Shaun takes it upon himself to get Ed, his mum (Penelope Wilton), stepdad (Nighy), girlfiend (Ashfield) and a couple of friends (Davis and Moran) to safety in this case, the local pub before they become zombie food.

Shaun Of The Dead is funnier than a hundred Scary Movies. Much of this is to do with the familiarity of it all besides Pegg, there is Davis from The Office, Moran from Black Books, Nighy from just about anything you care to name, plus all sorts of blink-and-you'll-miss-them cameos from TV comedyland.

But credit must also go to the writing this is a script that is on the whole hilarious (despite the final 15 minutes when ideas seem to have dried up), but also clever without being smug about it. It references all sorts of horror films, not least the one that is punned in the title (the remake of which is on current release and will make a great double bill with Shaun).

Not a line or a character is wasted. Even when the set is splattered with blood and gore, a simple gag like "I know first aid" somehow still brings the house down.

The film also comes up with some practical ideas. Ever wondered what to do with those old vinyl LPs? Shaun Of The Dead can show you what death by Sade or Dire Straits really means.

And, dammit, behind all the buffoonery this film has something to say. Earlier scenes depicting soulless nights in pubs, blank-faced checkout girls in supermarkets, or dead-eyed commuters in bus queues before the living dead arrive leave us asking: just who are the zombies really?

But don't dwell on this too much. This is a comedy, a daft, delerious, engaging romp that hits all the right buttons.

If you want a good night out, go and see it. But be warned you may die laughing.

Rating: 8 out of 10

BY STEPHEN WEBB