Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead is an independent British feature film of the horror and comedy genres. It was written and directed by Edgar Wright and co-written by Simon Pegg, who is also the lead actor in the film. The movie was produced by WT2 Productions in association with Big Talk Productions, and Inside Track 2, and developed with the assistance of FilmFour. It was presented by Rogue Pictures, StudioCanal, and Working Title Films. The movie premiered in London, England on March 29th, 2004. Simon Pegg plays the titular protagonist character, Shaun, who finds himself at a bit of an uncomfortable crossroads with his girlfriend Liz, who wishes for him to become more committed to their relationship, in favor of his usual day-to-day exploits, which consists of working at an unsatisfying job as a low-level manager at an electronics outlet, sitting at home playing video games with his flatmate Ed, and tossing down pints at their favorite pub, The Winchester. But then a zombie apocalypse breaks out and everything goes to shit. Now Shaun is forced into a leadership role that he was never prepared for, as he struggles to save his friends and family from growing hordes of the undead.

Notes & Trivia

 * The tagline for this film is "In a time of crisis a hero must rise... from his sofa".


 * Shaun of the Dead (2004) redirects to this page.


 * This movie is rated R because it has nasty poo-poo words, zombie man-butt, and numerous acts of somewhat bloody violence, including a pretty boss evisceration followed by a decapitation.


 * Production on Shaun of the Dead began in May, 2003. Filming concluded in July, 2003.
 * There are a total of forty-six credited cast members in this film.


 * Cast members in this film are credited based on order of appearance.


 * The movie was filmed on-location in London, England. The Duke of Albany pub was used for the shots of the exterior of the Winchester and was located at 39 Monson Road in New Cross. It has since been shut down and turned into flats in 2008.


 * The flat were Liz, Dianne and David stayed was filmed at Cunningham House, an actual residence, in Hillcrest in Highgate.


 * Exterior shots of Shaun's house were filmed at 83 Weston Park in Crouch End.


 * The interiors for Foree Electronics was actually shot at Garland Electronics in North Finchley.


 * Exterior shots of Barbara and Philip's house were filmed at 37 Abbots Gardens.
 * Shaun of the Dead grossed $13,542,874 domestically in the United States. It grossed $30,039,392 worldwide.


 * At its widest release, Shaun of the Dead was screened in 675 theaters.


 * Shaun of the Dead closed out of theaters on December 2nd, 2004.


 * Shaun of the Dead was first released on Region 1 DVD by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on December 21st, 2004. It had a 100-minute running time and an aspect ratio of 2:35:1.


 * Shaun of the Dead was released on Blu-ray in Steelbook Edition by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on November 4th, 2014. Special features include U-Control storyboards, a Zomb-O-Meter, outtakes, and video diaries.


 * Shaun of the Dead was also packaged with Hot Fuzz as a Blu-ray double-feature.
 * Night of the Living Dead director George A. Romero was so impressed with this film that he invited director Edgar Wright and actor Simon Pegg to play characters in his film Land of the Dead. Pegg and Wright were equally excited about the opportunity, but insisted on playing zombies.


 * This is Edgar Wright's second feature film and his first work in the horror genre. His first film was A Fistful of Fingers in 1995, which is a western comedy and a pastiche of the Clint Eastwood film A Fistful of Dollars.


 * Director Edgar Wright is also known for creating the British comedy series Spaced, which starred Simon Pegg.


 * Noel, the 17-year-old employee at Foree Electronics, is the first character to say "You got red on you" to Shaun. This line is later repeated by Ed and by Philip.


 * Director Edgar Wright is the voice of one of the newscasters in this film. He is heard towards the end of the movie speaking about the theory of the virus being carried via rage-infected monkeys.
 * Nelson, the convenience store proprietor, is the first named Zombie in this film.


 * The song that a drunken Shaun and Ed are singing when they unwittingly witness their first zombie is "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.


 * The song that is playing on the jukebox at The Winchester when Shaun, Liz, and Ed are taking turns swatting at the pub owner is "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen.


 * Actress Jessica Hynes co-starred with Simon Pegg in Spaced. Other actors from this film who appeared on the show include Nick Frost, Julia Deacon, and Peter Serafinowicz.

Allusions

 * The most obvious allusion in this movie is the film title itself, which is a rewording of Dawn of the Dead, which is a 1978 zombie film directed by George Romero and is the second installment in his original "Living Dead" trilogy. The movie was remade in 2004 and directed by Zack Snyder.


 * The appliance store that Shaun works at is called Foree. This is named after actor Ken Foree, who played the role of Peter Washington in the original Dawn of the Dead.


 * In this film, Ed screams through the telephone, "We're coming to get you, Barbara", which is a re-wording of the famous line "They're coming to get you, Barbara", mockingly intoned by Russell Streiner in the 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead.


 * The Italian restaurant that Shaun fails to make reservations at is called Fulci's, and is named after Lucio Fulci, best known for directing his own version of Night of the Living Dead, simply called Zombi in 1979.


 * One of the newscasters at the end of the movie comments about one scientist's theory about people being attacked by rage-infected monkeys. This is a reference to the 2002 not-quite-a-zombie movie 28 Days Later by director Danny Boyle.


 * One of the characters in this film is named Ash, which is possibly a reference to the Ash Williams character featured in the Evil Dead film series. It may also refer to the Irish rock band, Ash, whose song "Meltdown" is played in this episode.


 * One of the store fronts is called Bub's Burgers. While this may be an actual business, it might also be a reference to 1985's Day of the Dead, which boasted a feature zombie named Bub.

Credits

 * Film score composer Dan Mudford is credited as Daniel Mudford in this film.


 * Actor Keir Mills' first name is mis-spelled as Kier Mills in this film.


 * Actor Sonnell Dadral is credited as Sonell Dadral in this film.


 * Actress Jessica Hynes is credited as Jessica Stevenson in this film.


 * Actress Phyllis MacMahon is credited as Phyllis McMahon in this film.


 * Actor Jon Buckland is credited as Jonny Buckland in this film.

Dirty stuff
This is all the stuff in the film that would make your grandmother soil herself.
 * Poo-Poo words: Fuck-a-doodle-doo! There's a fair share of profanity in this flick, including numerous variations of "fuck", as well as occasional usage of words like "shit", "cunt", and "twat". Pete drops a string of F-bombs during a heated exchange with Shaun.
 * Zombie man-butt: Pete, the twat roommate, is seen with his buttocks exposed after becoming a zombie.
 * Smoking: By today's standards, a character smoking a cigarette is considered nearly as profane as pedophilia. Shaun, Ed, and Liz all smoke cigarettes in this film, and there is a minor subplot about Shaun quitting smoking.
 * Drinking beer: Not exactly a profane act, and certainly not by British standards, but there are numerous scenes of characters drinking beer. Hell, an entire subplot of the movie is getting the survivors to a pub.
 * Disembowelment: The character of David has his stomach brutally ripped open by hungry zombies.
 * Decapitation: Once again, poor David. Ahh, screw it. He was a twat anyway. Even as his insides become his outsides, he also gets his head ripped off.
 * Eaten alive: Hell, yeah! It's a zombie movie. Of course people are getting chewed on! Philip gets bitten twice, and Ed gets bitten on both the arm and the neck. And again, there's David, who we already addressed earlier in the list.
 * Severed limbs: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Poor David. Twat. Dianne pulls his legs off while he's being eaten.
 * Head injuries: Lots of zombie getting whacked in the head. Shawn has a dart thrown into his head.
 * Impalement: Mary, the "drunk" zombie that Shaun and Ed encounter in their back yard falls backward, impaling herself on the support post of a table.
 * Gunshot victims: Because Shaun & co. have piss-poor aim, there are actually very few zombies who get shot. Shaun gets lucky and nicks two of them during the Winchester siege. He is then forced to shoot his mum after she turns. Shaun also shoots zombified Pete.
 * Racial slur: When Ed pulls the jag back around, he greets the group by saying "What's up, niggas!" He is not intending this to be racially offensive, he's just a bit of a jerk.

The year in film
Check out all these other flicks released in 2004!

Recommendations

 * Anna and the Apocalypse
 * Army of Darkness
 * Dance of the Dead
 * Dawn of the Dead
 * Day of the Dead
 * Detention of the Dead
 * Evil Dead
 * Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn


 * Idle Hands
 * Night of the Living Dead
 * Return of the Living Dead
 * Return of the Living Dead Part II
 * Warm Bodies
 * Zombi
 * Zombi 2
 * Zombieland

Keywords
Automobile accident | Bartender | Butcher knife | Cricket bat | Decapitation | Dismemberment | England | Evisceration | Flatulence | Gunshot victims | Head injuries | Impalement | London | Machine gun | Male rear nudity | Military units | Profanity | Rifle | Severed limbs | Shot in the head | Shovel | Smoking | Stabbings | Zombies