Shaun of the Dead: TimeSplitters and English Zombies

Hello everybody! For this week’s movie club, we have the first entry of the Cornetto trilogy, Shaun of the Dead.

SHAUN OF THE DEAD

DIRECTED: Edgar Wright

STARRING: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Penelope Wilton, Bill Nighy

GENRE: Horror, Comedy

YEAR: 2004

COUNTRY: United Kingdom, France

Its been quite a while since I watched the Cornetto trilogy. For the next two weeks we will be watching the first two entries of the trilogy, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. We will not be watching The World’s End, as we already have a review for that one. Anyway lets start.

Shaun doesn’t have a very good day, so he decides to turn his life around by getting his ex to take him back, but he times it for right in the middle of what may be a zombie apocalypse… But for him, it’s an opportunity to show everyone he knows how useful he is by saving them all. All he has to do is survive… And get his ex back.

I attribute Shaun of the Dead to the beginning of my love for black comedies. They are fantastic and I could watch their demented humor all day. For being a British cast I primarily haven’t heard of (except Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) they all worked their archetypes well and performed to the best of their ability. As the beginning of the film Pegg and Frost pairing, these two bounced off of each other perfectly with limitless chemistry. Shaun of the Dead actually wasn’t half bad of a zombie film either.

Initially, my biggest gripe was that there are many references from British culture that I didn’t understand, obviously since I don’t live in the U.K. This time around, I got most of them and picked up most of the Easter eggs as well hidden throughout the film. Did you catch them all? My only other gripe is I wish I cared more about the more useless supporting characters. All I see them as is stereotypical Banta fodder.

PROS:

• Zombie genre.
• Cast performances.
• Chemistry.

CONS:

• Too much British references.
• Useless supporting characters.

SCORE: 7.0/10

If you have any suggestions for films/TV/Games/Music/Anime for me to review, drop me a comment!

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Brandon Stuhr

Who am I? Just some guy who decided to start writing on the Internet years ago and now operates his own brand and site. Owner/Operator of Modern Neon Media, I make all kinds of niche content to suit my interests at the time. DIY Enthusiast, Brewmaster extraordinaire, and avid freak for geek culture. Follow on my socials for a more “on” version of me.