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Shaun of the Dead
It's weird to think that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost started off as television actors before making their famous comedy films. Yet they did. In 1999, they were the little-known stars of the sitcom Spaced, following the lives of two friends - Tim and Daisy (not played by Nick Frost but Jessica Hynes) pretending to be a couple in order to live in the only apartment they could afford. During the series they end up in a number of larger than life scenarios - one episode - called 'Art' - featured Simon Pegg's character Tim seeing everyone as zombies as a result of drink, drugs, Twiglets and a lack of sleep. 'Art' provided the inspiration for Edgar Wright's first collaboration with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost: Shaun of the Dead, one of the greatest comedies of all time.
Shaun of the Dead follows the story of Shaun (Simon Pegg), a sales advisor from the local electronics shop Foree Electronics who lives with his best friend Ed (Nick Frost) and former roommate from college Pete (Peter Serafinowicz). He is dumped by his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) over his irresponsibility; when Shaun finds himself in the middle of a zombie invasion, he must learn to become a more responsible adult in order to survive the invasion and get back with Liz.
One of the things I love about Shaun of the Dead is the brilliant social commentary in the film. One scene at the beginning of the film features hooded chavs walking like zombies. The satire during the opening scene is very true to real life and is a joke that conveys a thought-provoking message about the similarities to zombies we display as the human race. This message is further enforced by Shaun's movements and reactions in the film, such as the way he walks to the shop to pick up a Cornetto and a fizzy drink can. In many ways Shaun as a character is almost a zombie himself; he's constantly tired, moves very slow and has a low intelligence. The fact that Shaun later in the film can easily impersonate the zombie in order to find his way to the Winchester amongst all the zombies shows how close he is to being one of them and it's a clever bit of characterisation by writers Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright.
There's a brilliant sense of irony present through the entire film too. The scene where they fight the zombies in the pub to Don't Stop Me Now to me is one of cinema's greatest comedy moments. The Don't Stop Me Now music works perfectly as it is the last song you would expect to play whilst a group of people are fighting zombies and the entire scene is brilliantly blocked and choreographed by Edgar Wright. Whilst he understands the scene is silly, he also gets that the characters need to appear as though they are taking attacking zombies with pool cues seriously in order for it to work. Edgar Wright is quite simply a comic genius.
A big part of the appeal of Shaun of the Dead is the way it deliberately plays with the idea of genre conventions. Shaun of the Dead isn't a traditional comedy but neither is it a traditional horror. It's basically a mix of both. Zombies are usually presented as a major threat in horror films but here they are ridiculed by showing just how pathetic they are for comic value. They are slow, they are lumbering and genuinely a laughable threat. On the other hand, the film is shot like a horror movie - one scene features a mid shot of Liz's secret admirer David (Dylan Moran) in front of the curtains in the Winchester Pub as the shadows of the zombies outside are reflected on them.
This is a bold idea by Director of Photography David M. Dunlap and helps create the identity of Shaun of the Dead as a film. In many ways, Shaun of the Dead is similar to Ghostbusters in that it doesn't simply parody horror movies but creates a believable and realistic tone over a horror environment and uses the horror aesthetic to generate the humour whilst still maintaining the horror where necessary. It does satirise horror films but it doesn't send it up in the same way a film such as Scary Movie would. The zombies for example still have their signature horror groan and it treats the zombies' ability to eat human flesh and thereby turning an unconverted member of the human race into a zombie seriously. Shaun of the Dead is a comedy but it's no parody of the horror genre.
It's no wonder that this film saw the beginning of a long partnership with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have incredible chemistry onscreen; you can tell they are best friends in real life and Shaun and Ed's friendship is perhaps more believable than Shaun and Liz's romance. Shaun and Liz do feel somewhat like a couple but Simon Pegg and Kate Ashfield don't have as much chemistry as Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes. Edgar Wright completely understands Simon Pegg's comedy also; Shaun of the Dead feels like a Simon Pegg comedy. It's hard to imagine anyone else starring in the film other than him. Robert De Niro wouldn't be right and Ben Stiller probably wouldn't have worked. Simon Pegg on the other hand makes the absurdity work. You can tell he and Edgar Wright wrote this film with the intention of Simon Pegg being the lead.
Overall, Shaun of the Dead is one of the greatest comedies of all time. The social commentary present in the film is hilarious and it effortlessly plays with the idea of genre conventions in a funny and engaging way. Shaun of the Dead is the modern day Ghostbusters: unlike films such as Scary Movie, it doesn't set out to parody horror films but instead maintains the horror when the plot requires it. Sure, it pokes fun at how terrible zombies are as horror monsters but not at the expense of tense and dramatic scenes. It's no different to how Ghostbusters features both cartoony and realistic ghosts. The film is shot like a horror film to further emphasise that this isn't a sending-up of the horror genre but rather a love letter to the way horror films work. Whether you like this film will however depend on whether you like Simon Pegg's comedy as at its core this is essentially a Simon Pegg movie: it wouldn't work with Robert De Niro or Ben Stiller in the lead role. If you're a fan of Simon Pegg, you'll love this film. If not, then you're probably best avoiding this one.
It's weird to think that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost started off as television actors before making their famous comedy films. Yet they did. In 1999, they were the little-known stars of the sitcom Spaced, following the lives of two friends - Tim and Daisy (not played by Nick Frost but Jessica Hynes) pretending to be a couple in order to live in the only apartment they could afford. During the series they end up in a number of larger than life scenarios - one episode - called 'Art' - featured Simon Pegg's character Tim seeing everyone as zombies as a result of drink, drugs, Twiglets and a lack of sleep. 'Art' provided the inspiration for Edgar Wright's first collaboration with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost: Shaun of the Dead, one of the greatest comedies of all time.
Shaun of the Dead follows the story of Shaun (Simon Pegg), a sales advisor from the local electronics shop Foree Electronics who lives with his best friend Ed (Nick Frost) and former roommate from college Pete (Peter Serafinowicz). He is dumped by his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) over his irresponsibility; when Shaun finds himself in the middle of a zombie invasion, he must learn to become a more responsible adult in order to survive the invasion and get back with Liz.
One of the things I love about Shaun of the Dead is the brilliant social commentary in the film. One scene at the beginning of the film features hooded chavs walking like zombies. The satire during the opening scene is very true to real life and is a joke that conveys a thought-provoking message about the similarities to zombies we display as the human race. This message is further enforced by Shaun's movements and reactions in the film, such as the way he walks to the shop to pick up a Cornetto and a fizzy drink can. In many ways Shaun as a character is almost a zombie himself; he's constantly tired, moves very slow and has a low intelligence. The fact that Shaun later in the film can easily impersonate the zombie in order to find his way to the Winchester amongst all the zombies shows how close he is to being one of them and it's a clever bit of characterisation by writers Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright.
There's a brilliant sense of irony present through the entire film too. The scene where they fight the zombies in the pub to Don't Stop Me Now to me is one of cinema's greatest comedy moments. The Don't Stop Me Now music works perfectly as it is the last song you would expect to play whilst a group of people are fighting zombies and the entire scene is brilliantly blocked and choreographed by Edgar Wright. Whilst he understands the scene is silly, he also gets that the characters need to appear as though they are taking attacking zombies with pool cues seriously in order for it to work. Edgar Wright is quite simply a comic genius.
A big part of the appeal of Shaun of the Dead is the way it deliberately plays with the idea of genre conventions. Shaun of the Dead isn't a traditional comedy but neither is it a traditional horror. It's basically a mix of both. Zombies are usually presented as a major threat in horror films but here they are ridiculed by showing just how pathetic they are for comic value. They are slow, they are lumbering and genuinely a laughable threat. On the other hand, the film is shot like a horror movie - one scene features a mid shot of Liz's secret admirer David (Dylan Moran) in front of the curtains in the Winchester Pub as the shadows of the zombies outside are reflected on them.
This is a bold idea by Director of Photography David M. Dunlap and helps create the identity of Shaun of the Dead as a film. In many ways, Shaun of the Dead is similar to Ghostbusters in that it doesn't simply parody horror movies but creates a believable and realistic tone over a horror environment and uses the horror aesthetic to generate the humour whilst still maintaining the horror where necessary. It does satirise horror films but it doesn't send it up in the same way a film such as Scary Movie would. The zombies for example still have their signature horror groan and it treats the zombies' ability to eat human flesh and thereby turning an unconverted member of the human race into a zombie seriously. Shaun of the Dead is a comedy but it's no parody of the horror genre.
It's no wonder that this film saw the beginning of a long partnership with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have incredible chemistry onscreen; you can tell they are best friends in real life and Shaun and Ed's friendship is perhaps more believable than Shaun and Liz's romance. Shaun and Liz do feel somewhat like a couple but Simon Pegg and Kate Ashfield don't have as much chemistry as Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes. Edgar Wright completely understands Simon Pegg's comedy also; Shaun of the Dead feels like a Simon Pegg comedy. It's hard to imagine anyone else starring in the film other than him. Robert De Niro wouldn't be right and Ben Stiller probably wouldn't have worked. Simon Pegg on the other hand makes the absurdity work. You can tell he and Edgar Wright wrote this film with the intention of Simon Pegg being the lead.
Overall, Shaun of the Dead is one of the greatest comedies of all time. The social commentary present in the film is hilarious and it effortlessly plays with the idea of genre conventions in a funny and engaging way. Shaun of the Dead is the modern day Ghostbusters: unlike films such as Scary Movie, it doesn't set out to parody horror films but instead maintains the horror when the plot requires it. Sure, it pokes fun at how terrible zombies are as horror monsters but not at the expense of tense and dramatic scenes. It's no different to how Ghostbusters features both cartoony and realistic ghosts. The film is shot like a horror film to further emphasise that this isn't a sending-up of the horror genre but rather a love letter to the way horror films work. Whether you like this film will however depend on whether you like Simon Pegg's comedy as at its core this is essentially a Simon Pegg movie: it wouldn't work with Robert De Niro or Ben Stiller in the lead role. If you're a fan of Simon Pegg, you'll love this film. If not, then you're probably best avoiding this one.