PopHorror Let's Get Scared
It’s been 13 years since comedy trio Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright took the horror world by storm and created the most influential zom-com ever – Shaun Of The Dead! Released April 9, 2004, in the UK, this classic zombie flick is one of PopHorror’s favorites. Take a trip back in time with us and remember, there’s no “I” in “team” but there is an “I” in “pie.”
(Synopsis provided by IMDb.com):
Shaun (Simon Pegg) 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 had risen from the dead to eat the living.
Shaun Of The Dead is horror satire at its most brilliant. The script throws in so many zombie movie references. For instance, when Ed (Nick Frost) yells into the phone, “We’re coming to get you, Barbara!” Horror fans immediately recognize the quote from Night Of The Living Dead (1968). However, when zombie godfather George A. Romero first watched the film, he had no clue it was a direct lift from his own movie. Romero was so impressed with Shaun Of The Dead that he even asked Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright to cameo as zombies in the fourth installation of his own Dead series, Land Of The Dead (2005).
There’s also a reference to the original Day Of The Dead near the beginning of the film. When Shaun is leaving the grocery shop with a can of Coke and the Cornetto, there is a pizza place behind him and to his left. The pizza place’s name is Bub’s Pizzas, referencing the smart zombie, Bub (Sherman Howard), in Day Of The Dead (1985).
Shaun may not have been the hero London wanted, but he was definitely the hero they needed! When Shaun and the group ran out of Liz’s apartment, you’ll notice that Shaun is the only one hitting and killing zombies while the rest of the group stand in the background with their weapons, not doing anything. This scene showed the audience that Shaun was the only one courageous enough to fight. In actuality, Simon Pegg was the only one with a fake weapon while everyone else had real ones, so they couldn’t actually hit any of the zombie extras.
Shaun Of The Dead is one of the most influential and quotable horror comedies to this day. Even if you aren’t a horror fan, Shaun Of The Dead is still a must-watch. If you’re not sure what to watch tonight, pop Shaun Of The Dead into the DVD player, sit back, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over!
