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Cockneys vs. Zombies

It’s a good time to be a fan of British horror-comedies. First, director Edgar Wright’s “The World’s End” has been doing fairly brisk business at the box office. Now comes this raucous zombie comedy, set in London’s blue-collar East End. Granted, director Matthius Hoene B-movie can’t match “World’s End” in polish and style, but it’s still bloody good fun in its own right, telling the story of a group of Cockney hooligans who teach the invading zombie hordes that there’s more to British culture than crumpets and scones. As much fun as the resulting chaos is — including a brilliantly conceived low-speed zombie chase at an old-age home — perhaps the most endearing thing about the film is its obvious affection for the too-often denigrated Cockneys, who might talk funny and perhaps lack a certain polish but who are an admirably tough and loyal lot — not to mention deservedly proud of who they are. (Think of them as the Chalmatians of London.) Granted, you might have to turn the subtitles on to understand all of the dialog, but it’s worth it, guv’na. DVD extras: Commentary tracks, featurettes. Feature running time: 1 hour 38 minutes. Rotten Tomatoes score: 69 percent.