“How’s that for a slice of fried-gold?”
Shaun of the Dead. To put it simply, this is a fecking masterpiece! There are those out there that think Pegg made this film to make fun of Romero movies. Quite the contrary. I admit that it is a parody and a satire but to paraphrase the great Mel Brooks “to truly parody something you must love it” And Simon Pegg loves George Romero and especially loves Dawn of the Dead (1978). He even has several chapters in his book Nerd Do Well mostly about zombies and Romero.
Shaun of the Dead is about a slacker and his companions trying to survive a zombie infested London. Shaun is for all intents and purposes essentially the same character as Tim from Spaced. In fact, he could have easily written the movie as part of the show with all the same character. The film is produced, directed, and for the most part, stars, the same people who produced, directed, and starred in Spaced. Shaun=Tim, Ed=Mike, Yvonne=Daisy, Pete=Dwayne. Peter Serafinowicz is just great at playing dicks. His words, not mine, but I have to agree with him. He does a great job as Dwayne and Pete.
Shaun is not having the greatest of days. His girlfriend of five years as just left him, his best friend only holds him back and is usually the cause of all Shaun’s problems, and he is stuck at a dead-end job.
The film uses a clever blend of irony, foreshadowing, and puns to give the film a nice circular feel and comedy about it. For example, the night before the shit really hits the fan, Shaun writes down all the things he needs to do the next day which are to go visit his mom, get his girlfriend (Liz) back, and sort out his life. Funny enough, because of the zombies, he accomplishes all these things; mostly protect the ones he cares about. Also part of this blend relies heavily on dialogue; lines certain characters said to another are used in reverse later in several situations.
Shaun is not actually a hero. Well, he is and he is not. He would have been more successful if Ed did not keep fecking up everything, and really most of the causes of death can be related back to some of Ed’s earlier selfish actions. Even Pegg says it in his book, that Shaun is not a hero per se, just a guy, trying to do the best he can with what he has and trying to protect the ones he loves. He is not the smartest guy, and he is certainly not the strongest or trained in any field of survival of combat and yes, by this description, Shaun is not a Hollywood action or horror hero. However, to my mind, all the qualities make him a true hero because even though by all rights he could have been killed at any time, he tried his hardest and did some very brave things.
Shaun of the Dead also has a really nice look to it. Wright is great with directing. The film uses quick montages as in close up flashes of related things such as getting ready in the morning, giving it an action movie feel.
Despite it being primarily a comedy, the movie is still a horror film. Now most people will not be ‘horrified’ as such by the film but (!SPOILER!) likable characters do die and the zombies are really fecking realistic esp. compared to other zombie films that came out around the same time. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I prefer the look of the Shaun of the Dead zombies to the look of the zombies in Romero’s Land of the Dead, and Pegg’s zombies are based right off Romero zombies.
This is why this film is more of homage to Romero rather than an insult. This is essentially Pegg’s love letter to Romero. The zombies are only ever as fast as Bill Hinzman (the cemetery zombie) is in the original Night of the Living Dead, which is also the rule that The Walking Dead uses. The make-up in Shaun is fecking fantastic! These are some of the best zombies I have ever seen next to The Walking Dead zombies.
The film also references Romero’s films constantly, taking elements from Night, Dawn, Day, and the 90’ remake of N.o.t.L.D. The music that opens the film before the camera cuts to the pub is from the scene in Dawn of the Dead where they land the helicopter at the airfield. Shaun’s mother is named Barbra and when Shaun and Ed call her to tell her they are on their way and she argues with them, Ed yells into the phone “We’re coming to get you Barbra” referencing that famous line from Night of the Living Dead (1968). The music that plays during Shaun’s rescue-run-through is the fighting music from Dawn of the Dead. Later when Shaun and Ed start throwing stuff at the zombies in their yard, the end credits music from Night of the Living Dead (1990) plays in the background. Then towards the end climax of the film when they all are acting like zombies, Shaun acts like ‘Bub’ from Day of the Dead, which is in fact his favorite zombie ever. Finally, at the end of the film when Shaun is flipping thru the channels and gets to the game show about zombies trying to grab meat, the game music is mimicking the Gonk music that is from Dawn of the Dead.
There is also a reference to Spaced when they are running from the apartment; the music playing was used several times in Spaced. Of course, that could just be because they already had the rights to the music.
When Pegg was growing up he loved movies, and he still does. When he first saw Dawn of the Dead, he fell in love with it. It was the European cut version so there was not much gore but he would later see the U.S version as well as Romero’s other films.
Romero clearly appreciates the film that Pegg and Wright made. Although he was not aware that they might cameo in Land of the Dead, when asked at a press conference if he was considering it he just said something like “sure, I guess, why not?” Which goes to the laid back nature of Romero who is always open to suggestion for his films—he loves input. So, the nest time you watch Land of the Dead look out for Pegg and Wright. They are the zombies a person can get their picture taken with and Pegg got to use the mold that made Bub’s mask which made him ecstatic. In addition, Romero had Pegg do a voice cameo in my personal favorite of his zombie films, Diary of the Dead; listen closely to all the various newscasters throughout the film and you will spot him.
The Winchester pub is actually based off the tavern Pegg used to always hang out at and formed a relationship with the owners whose names were John and Bernie which are the names for the characters who own the Winchester. Shaun also mentions the pubs weekly quiz in the film, which is also taken from the real-life pub
The Winchester pub is actually based off the tavern Pegg used to always hang out at and formed a relationship with the owners whose names were John and Bernie which are the names for the characters who own the Winchester. Shaun also mentions the pubs weekly quiz in the film, which is also taken from the real-life pub
Coldplay has a cameo in the movie as the band that is working with “Zomb-Aid” and in fact, Pegg did work with Coldplay for a little while.
Finally, there is a great message in the film. The film goes back to one of Romero’s old messages about how we are essentially zombies anyway. Watch the beginning of the film and look at all the people you see. They all end up as zombies you see later on but it is filmed in a way that they already look or act like zombies. The famous line from the 90’ remake of N.o.t.L.D “they’re us and we’re them” or the whole monologue in Dawn about how people are drawn to a mall. So, this horror-comedy comes with a philosophical message which makes it even more awesome
I give Shaun of the Dead 5 out of 5 stars. This movie turned me on to Pegg and kick-started my journey into zombie obsession.
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