Britflix: Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead was the film that kicked off the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy and set the benchmark for zombie comedies. It’s a beloved cult classic and it is celebrating its 20th Anniversary, making it a perfect candidate for a Britflix retrospective.

Shaun (Sean Pegg) is a 29-year-old underachiever. He’s the oldest salesman at an electronic store, he spends all his time at The Winchester pub, and Ed (Nick Frost), Shaun’s best friend holds him back. This leads Shaun’s girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield) to break up with the bloke. However, this happens just as the zombie apocalypse strikes London and Shaun needs to save his girlfriend and mother (Penelope Wilton) by taking them to The Winchester until the whole thing blows over.

Shaun of the Dead came at the beginning of the zombie revival. It started with 28 Days Later in 2002, and Shaun of the Dead came out in the same year as the Dawn of the Dead remake. The title was a reference to George A. Romero’s zombie series and the film earned Pegg and Frost a cameo in the fourth Living Dead film. Shaun of the Dead had a big cultural impact. Shaun of the Dead was followed by a number of zombie comedies like Zombieland, Fido, Zombie Strippers, and Warm Bodies. Shaun of the Dead even inspired British zombie comedies like Cockneys vs. Zombies, Anna and the Apocalypse, and Dead Set, and other British horror comedies took inspiration from Shaun of the Dead, such as Lesbian Vampire Killers and Attack the Block.

Shaun’s look is simple yet iconic: a white shirt, red tie, and a cricket bat. It’s easy to dress up as the character. I have a Three Flavours Cornetto T-shirt and the Shaun of the Dead is represented by a man in a shirt and tie and wielding a cricket bat.

Shaun of the Dead was Edgar Wright’s first major film as a director. His previous work was A Fistful of Fingers, a low-budget film he made when he was 20, and the cult TV series Spaced. Shaun of the Dead was a fast-paced film with quick editing making the film a breezy watch. It was a style he perfected for Hot Fuzz.

Shaun of the Dead still holds up. It’s a film filled with classic joke after classic joke. As already stated, there was the joke about Shaun and Ed coming up with their plan to save Shaun’s loved ones. It is one of the most popular jokes in the film. There were lots of zombie jokes throughout the film. It started as background jokes as the zombie apocalypse slowly happened. It increased after Shaun’s second trip to the shop and being completely oblivious to the world falling apart. The zombies may not be able to speak but they were great comedy fodder, whether it’s staring through a window or when one gets run over. I loved the scene where Shaun and his party had to learn how to act as zombies.

Shaun of the Dead did reference the Living Dead series. The Living Dead series was filled with social commentary and Shaun of the Dead honoured that tradition. The opening scenes highlighted this since it showed people drudging through life as they worked, travelled, and looked at their phones. Great to see life has changed so much over the past 20 years. The zombies carried on drifting through existence as they went to the shop or pub. The gag where Shaun’s recently transformed stepdad (Bill Nighy) turns off the car radio was a reference to “Bub” in Day of the Dead. After the apocalypse, society was able to get back to normal and used the new zombie population as free labour and cheap entertainment.

As well as being a horror-comedy about the living dead, Shaun of the Dead was a film about relationships. The film was promoted as a romantic comedy with zombies, or a rom zom com. Shaun was trying to win back his girlfriend and he had to battle her annoyance and a potential love rival. The film had archetypes like the main character, the object of his desires, the love rival, and the slacker best friend, and Shaun of the Dead entertainingly repacked these. Shaun of the Dead was filled with British comedy talent, having a supporting cast that included Dylan Moran (Black Book), Lucy Davis (The Office), Penelope Wilton (Ever Decreasing Circles), and Peter Serafinoficz (The Tick). Because of this humour expanding beyond horror and gore, there were hilarious lines like the argument about whether dogs can look up, Shaun’s descriptions of Liz’s flatmates, and Pete’s (Serafinoficz) constant anger towards Ed.

Shaun of the Dead was a story about Shaun needing to mature. He was thrust into a position of leadership and needed to take responsibility. During the film, Shaun is required to reconcile with his stepdad and realise Ed was a fuck-up. Shaun was pulled in many different directions throughout the film.

A debate within the fandom regarding which film in the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy is which film is better, Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz. I favour Hot Fuzz but that’s because of genre preference and geographical bias, if someone said Shaun of the Dead was their favourite in the trilogy, I would respect their opinion and understand their reasoning.

Shaun of the Dead is a great horror comedy that has stood the test of time. It’s funny, gory, and a film that was a homage and a loving parody of the zombie sub-genre.