PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Hey, everyone! Sorry I have been gone a while. Things have been hectic… but suddenly I felt inspired to write about why I love the cult classic horror comedy, Shaun of The Dead. You can read another writer’s inspired retro review of the film right here.
In case you’ve been living under a horror-free rock for the past fifteen years, here’s the synopsis for Shaun Of The Dead:
Shaun (Simon Pegg) is a 30-something loser with a dull, easy existence. When he’s not working at the electronics store, he lives with his slovenly best friend, Ed (Nick Frost), in a small flat on the outskirts of London. The only unpredictable element in his life is his girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield), who wishes desperately for Shaun to grow up and be a man. When the town is inexplicably overrun with zombies, Shaun must rise to the occasion and protect both Liz and his mother (Penelope Wilton).
First off, let me just say that Shaun Of The Dead is the movie that opened me up to a whole new subgenre of film when I was a young teen, and that is the world of comedy horror. Since then, it’s pretty much become my favorite subgenre in horror, next to paranormal. The film introduced me and my dad to the trio known as Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright. The latter recently wrote and directed one of my all time favorite comedies, Baby Driver, while Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reuniting for 2018’s Slaughterhouse Rulez.
Now seemed like the perfect time to revisit my thoughts on this brilliant send up to classic zombie films, mainly the ones made by George A. Romero. The comedy is pitch perfect, and there are so many quotable lines, like:
“We take Pete’s car, we drive over to Mum’s, we go in, take care of Philip – ‘I’m so sorry, Philip’ – then we grab Mum, we go over to Liz’s place, hole up, have a cup of tea and wait for this whole thing to blow over.”
“As Mr. Sloan always says, there is no “I” in team, but there is an “I” in pie. And there’s an “I” in meat pie. Anagram of meat is team…”
“Who died and made you fucking king of the zombies?”
And the best one of all…
“You’ve got red on you.”
It’s not just the script that I love. Edgar Wright and comedy magnate Judd Apatow can go toe to toe with their great resumes of production and movies directed. Both Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have proven to be dynamic leads and scene stealers in their respective franchises and TV shows since, both the ones they’ve acted in together and the films they’ve done separately, like Hot Fuzz and The World’s End.
So, if you’re in the mood to watch something hilariously quotable and crawling with zombies, just watch Shaun Of The Dead again. You know you want to.
