Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Director:

Edgar Wright

Writers:

Simon Pegg (written by) and
Edgar Wright (written by)

Release Date:

9 April 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

It's just one of those days when you're feeling a little...dead.

Plot:

A man decides to turn his moribund life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend, reconciling his relationship with his mother, and dealing with an entire community that has returned from the dead to eat the living.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Zombie | Record Collection | Cricket Bat | Pub

Awards:

6 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Simon Pegg	...	Shaun
Kate Ashfield	...	Liz
Nick Frost	...	Ed
Lucy Davis	...	Dianne
Dylan Moran	...	David
Nicola Cunningham	...	Mary
Keir Mills	...	Clubber 1 (as Kier Mills)
Matt Jaynes	...	Clubber 2
Gavin Ferguson	...	Football Kid
Peter Serafinowicz	...	Pete
Horton Jupiter	...	Homeless Man
Tim Baggaley	...	The Usher
Arvind Doshi	...	Nelson
Rafe Spall	...	Noel
Sonnell Dadral	...	Danny (as Sonell Dadral)

Also Known As:

Shaun of the Dead (France)
Tea-Time of the Dead (UK) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for zombie violence/gore and language.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

UK | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Iceland:16 | France:-12 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Brazil:18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R13 | Singapore:R21 | Spain:18 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Archway, London, England, UK

Company:

Studio Canal

Trivia:

The distributor and production logos at the start of the film have an excerpt from "Figment" by S. Park played over them. This track was used to great effect in Dawn of the Dead (1978). Also, the end credits feature "The Gonk" by H. Chappell, the infamous shopping-mall music from the same film, in a new remixed version by Kid Koala.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The film is clearly contemporary, when public ownership of guns is illegal in the UK. The Winchester pub could not have a gun, working or otherwise, on public view.

Quotes:

[first lines]
John: Last orders, please!

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Soundtrack:

The Blue Wrath

When there is no more room in hell, Shaun will walk the earth and...

...He'll kill some zombies too! Brace yourself for some nonstop zombie action and laughs with the delightful horror-comedy "Shaun of the Dead."

Armed with a cricket bat, razor-sharp wit, and an attitude, Shaun (Simon Pegg) is perhaps the last guy that you'd want to save the world from the legions of the living dead that have suddenly begun to storm the London neighborhood where he lives. It could be stated, as this is a running gag here, that we're all dying slow deaths, so it's no surprise that when zombies begin to eat the flesh of the living, Shaun couldn't be any more oblivious to the chaos that has gripped most of London.

Shaun loves his dead-end existence of wasting his days at the Winchester, a local pub, with his friend and flat mate Ed (Nick Frost). The film's money shot arrives about 20 minutes in, when Shaun, hungover from a hard night's drinking, goes to the store and because he's so hungover and is worried about his ex-girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield), he doesn't even notice that the street behind him is teeming with the living dead.

While in the store buying a beverage, he doesn't notice the bloody handprints on the refrigerator door and he almost slips in a puddle of blood. I was quite amazed at the response this film got from people in the theater: it seemed that every time something funny happened, the response was almost always with riotous laughter.

Straight from Britain, we have what is certainly one of the most original horror movies to come out in a long time. Even in a genre that embraces gore, "Shaun of the Dead" is fairly light on it (at least for the first 45 minutes) and is dominated by laughs galore.

You may remember the character of "Ash" (Bruce Campbell of "Evil Dead" fame), who has remained pretty much the supreme demon slayer in the horror genre. But you know, Campbell's pushed past 40 and people today may not be weary of his history slaying evil Deadites in Sam Raimi's notorious film series. So maybe with "Shaun of the Dead," the torch has been passed to Simon Pegg, who slays more than his fair share of the living dead in this film.

It's pretty obvious that "SOTD" was greatly influenced by the works of George A. Romero (the director of 1978's supreme epic of zombie action-mayhem "Dawn of the Dead") and 2002's "28 Days Later" (directed by Danny Boyle). There are little itty-bitty references to the two zombie flicks throughout the movie.

Granted "Shaun of the Dead" is aimed largely at the gorehounds who idolized Romero's "Living Dead" trilogy, but it's also the first zombie flick to attempt making a hit with the mainstream. I guarantee any viewers out there that you'll spend more time laughing than you will being frightened.

10/10